Electronics design consultancy ByteSnap Design and a consortium of partners have been awarded a two-year collaborative project VIGIL (Vehicle-to-Grid Intelligent Control) under a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) competition, funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
ByteSnap along with partners Aston University, Nortech Management and Grid Edge will be focussed on developing a new communication and control platform for Vehicle-to-Grid/Building (V2G/V2B) systems: an off-vehicle system that controls how, when and the rate at which electric vehicle batteries are charged/discharged with respect to local substation constraints and EV/building energy requirements.
ByteSnap will be developing a communications adaptor, leveraging its expertise in EV charge post design. The adaptor will ensure flexibility and enable the VIGIL platform to operate with different manufacturer’s V2G charge-points. The consultancy will also be creating a V2G mobile application which will be delivered together with an optimised building management system.
Earlier this year OLEV and BEIS announced that 21 projects (8 feasibility studies, 5 collaborative research and development projects, and 8 real-world v2g trial projects) were to receive funding of £30m to develop the business proposition and core technology around V2Gm and demonstrate those with large-scale trials.
The projects involve over 50 industrial partners and research organisations from both the Energy and Automotive sectors, in what will be the largest and most diverse activities on V2G in the world, and involve trialling more than 2700 vehicles across the UK.
The V2G projects represent a significant step towards the transition to a low-carbon transportation and a smart energy system. Enabling EVs to return energy to the Power Grid when parked and plugged for charging, will increase Grid resilience, allow for better exploitation of renewable sources and lower the cost of ownership for EV owners - leading to new business opportunities and clear advantages for EV users and energy consumers.
Author
Neil Tyler
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk