Best use of a Leaf battery
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Now I would be interested in that! I have '64 plate Nissan Leaf which has a few dents and scratches and is not of a great value any more given the relatively limited range compared to newer EVs. I am just looking into batteries for the house so given I have (nearly) 24kWh almost unused it would be cheaper and more eco to re-purpose the Leaf.
My very minor claim to fame is that Robert Llewellyn stayed at my house once! I know about the battery add-on people. There is a UK company that does this as well. Trouble is that it takes up boot space and needs suspension strengthening - then you have difficulty is getting insurance for the modified vehicle. My solution to that was to buy a Tesla, hence the Leaf is only used for local tasks.
You'll need a big arsed inverter too though and some way of swapping between grid in or battery in to the houses consumers unit?
I watch the Will Prowse videos on YouTube and I have to say the guys enthusiasm is pretty infectious and the equipment he features should be available here too as it's mostly out of China.
I watch the Will Prowse videos on YouTube and I have to say the guys enthusiasm is pretty infectious and the equipment he features should be available here too as it's mostly out of China.
Retro-fitting into a house can be an issue so that big arsed inverter will be an issue. But, build lighting, TV and most other devices to 12v and the inverter becomes less of a prob.
Apparently Tesla cars begin to dislike their batteries around 70% and really struggle at 60% so a decent management system in a house can use them for years.
Apparently Tesla cars begin to dislike their batteries around 70% and really struggle at 60% so a decent management system in a house can use them for years.
There are no shortage of 'big arsed' inverters - looks at Victron Multiplus II for instance. No need to have complex switching because the inverter is grid tied and just provides as much power as it can, after which power is also imported from the grid. The issue is interfacing such a device to car batteries and understanding the BMS to do this.
You can't easily do this as the voltage drop is a kicker. A friend rewired all his lighting to 12v but had a lot of trouble with it. In the end he went back to 240v downstairs but 12v upstairs where he could easily put in new heavy duty cable to minimise the issue (also his batteries where in the attic charged from his solar)
In the first instance I could see something like a repurposed EV battery working in an off grid garden office with solar and the battery configured to output normal mains voltage to allow for conventional electrical accessories and appliances on the inverter output and thinner cables from the battery to the inverters input, the batteries could then be located further away for safety.
The BMS for an assortment of different lithium batteries would be the weird science part of such an install and there are quite a few contributors on YouTube who scratch the surface of just this including Jehugarcia and that Danish guy who actually uses Leaf and Zoe batteries.
The BMS for an assortment of different lithium batteries would be the weird science part of such an install and there are quite a few contributors on YouTube who scratch the surface of just this including Jehugarcia and that Danish guy who actually uses Leaf and Zoe batteries.
The other thing to keep in mind is that EVs work at 400v DC (and newer ones at 800v DC) so the inverters, most solar panel strings in homes work in the 30pv DC region.
Generally the closer you are in DC to the peak RMS voltage of AC the considerably easier generating AC from DC is, in terms of efficiency and stress.
You need to be super careful at these levels though, you are not playing with 12v vehicle DC anymore. Both AC and DC can easily kill, hence all the safety paranoia in EV systems.
www.brighthubengineering.com
Generally the closer you are in DC to the peak RMS voltage of AC the considerably easier generating AC from DC is, in terms of efficiency and stress.
You need to be super careful at these levels though, you are not playing with 12v vehicle DC anymore. Both AC and DC can easily kill, hence all the safety paranoia in EV systems.
AC and DC Electric Shock Effects Compared
The debate as to which is more dangerous AC or DC electric shock has been since the " War of Currents" between Edison and Westinghouse. The effects of AC on heart is to cause fibrillation and eventual cardiac arrest if not rectified. The DC current on the other hand freezes the heart, which has...
www.brighthubengineering.com
The expertise is there and as we're in the early stages of an emerging tech it's still possible for the bloke in his shed to build an off grid system.
The main problem with any off grid system trying to combine with the grid is one of matching the grid frequency and voltage to be able to dip in and out of the grid at will seamlessly and also not pump your power into the grid when the provider has their supply isolated locally to work on.
Off grid installations from solar and wind are definitely possible right now though.
The main problem with any off grid system trying to combine with the grid is one of matching the grid frequency and voltage to be able to dip in and out of the grid at will seamlessly and also not pump your power into the grid when the provider has their supply isolated locally to work on.
Off grid installations from solar and wind are definitely possible right now though.
