Enphase introduces bi-directional electric car charger

The North American company Enphase, specialized in the development of microinverters, has presented a home charger for electric cars that has the peculiarity of having bidirectional capacity. A technology that will be key in the future where vehicle batteries will be part of the electrical system.

is that when we talk about a system 100% powered by renewable energy, we are talking about a system where backup technologies will be essential. Among them will be those capable of taking advantage of the capacity of the batteries of the millions of electric cars that will be on the streets in the future, and which will need technologies such as bidirectional charging. The main problem is that there are hardly any products on the street, and those that are have high prices. Now Enphase has given a first demonstration of the operation of its home charger, which will work together with the Enphase Energy System, which includes IQ microinverters, IQ Gateway and the system controller. These are all managed by the Enphase app, where owners can view power flow and see the charge level of their vehicle's battery in real time. The Enphase bi-directional charger can be used in three ways:

Vehicle-to-home charging, V2H, allows the system to use the vehicle's battery to service the home in the event of a power outage, or in the case of an off-grid installation, and to do so fully automatically. .

Charging the vehicle to the grid, V2G, allows owners to inject energy into the electrical grid from their vehicle's battery, for example when they do not plan to travel and have surplus autonomy, and be able to deposit money in exchange for that contribution. “Green charging” is a smart charging feature that allows homeowners to use the bi-directional charger to power the home during periods when electricity rates are high, thus avoiding consuming from the grid at those times. higher cost, using the vehicle battery to service the home. It can work with practically any vehicle, although it will need to have a CCS Combo or CHAdeMO socket, which seems essential due to a question of communication ports. For its designers, this bidirectional charger will be a very important change for those looking for maximum control over their energy. What we don't have at the moment are prices, and Enphase is currently working with several electric car manufacturers, regulators and other players in the sector, to put its bidirectional charger on sale in 2024. It remains to be seen how this charger integrates with inverter in an installation that already has its own inverter or its own battery, although the potential is enormous.

There is the question of the impact of the battery charge and discharge cycles. But as we remember, normally the injection into the grid should be carried out intelligently, controlled by special software, which allows the injection to be carried out within very specific battery charge ranges. A format with very shallow cycles, which barely have an impact on the useful life of the battery itself.

You can download the technical sheet.