DENSO Steps Into The Vehicle To Home Power Supply Race

Why is that important? In many parts of the world where the grid is over taxed and hasn’t been upgraded, brownouts and blackouts are a daily part of life. Even in the US, where after decades of lack of maintenance and improvements, the current heat wave is wreaking havoc on our grid, a vehicle-to-home system could keep your home stay cool for a day or more, depending on your needs. You can read this article; How To Power Your Home With An Electric Car for more information.

DENSO and the V2H Industry. DENSO, a global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components for thermal, powertrain control, electric, electronics and information and safety, is developing its own vehicle-to-home system. By partnering with Toyota, read this article; Toyota Also Has Its Own Vehicle-To-Home System for more information. The company is providing valuable expertise to the Japanese carmaker who is just starting to launch electric cars.

In fact, according to Hikaru Sugi, senior executive director of DENSO' s Engineering Research and Development Center and President and CEO of DENSO International America, Inc: "DENSO and Toyota is working together to develop a V2H power supply system that uses alternating current, and has been conducting demonstration tests using plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV) to ensure the system can efficiently use energy. "With our newly developed system, we will now perform demonstration tests on a V2H power supply system that can be also used for EV."

DENSO' s HEMS System. DENSO' s home energy management system, HEMS builds on top of Toyota’s with the ability to quickly charge an electric car with direct current from the HEMS storage battery, as well as supply electricity from the vehicle back to a house. The system becomes even more attractive if you happen to have some sort of alternative energy source, such as photovoltaic systems array (solar panels) or windmills.

Technically Speaking. Its two main features are quick charging and what the company calls Eco-V2H. By quickly charging an electric car, the amount of power used goes up substantially, which means an increase in electricity and bill. Using DENSO' s HEMS and V2H, you not only can quickly recharge an electric car at home in 15 minutes, but also replace the need for a dedicated home charger.

The second feature is a way to charge and discharge your stocked electricity whenever convenient. Any energy surplus produced by an eventual alternative energy source can be stored in an electric car, instead of being sold back to a utility. The advantage of this is to do away with complicated and expensive utility smart meter, but mostly it is a way to manage everything at home for your convenience.

As we go forward with the advent of plug-in hybrids, PHEV and electric cars, EV, the idea of storing electricity locally becomes an important feature many households will ask for. We welcome DENSO’s HEMS allowing a smart vehicle-to-home, V2H system that should help us save energy, as well as manage it locally.