Almost three years ago my husband, Mike, brought home a new EV. We have been reaping the benefits of super cheap, clean energy powered transport ever since.
Back in those prehistoric, halcyon, olden days we would trickle feed power into the car at 2.4 kW (15 AMP) per hour. We don’t drive a lot, so we were content with that.
Things changed for us late last year. We decided it really was time to upgrade our 1.5 kW solar system (really???) to a bigger array. I initially suggested a 6.5 kW system would be ‘right size’ for our needs, but our astute installer (Zaren Henderson) rapidly persuaded us a 10 kW system would be a good deal – so up it went.
And we also wanted a battery – if we couldn’t get a rebate at least we could get in quick before the mad rush that any future rebate would no doubt precipitate. We weren’t wrong about that!
We have three phase power at home, so picking the right battery took a bit of careful research. Mike once again came to the rescue and identified the new kid on the block – the altogether, handsome, versatile and super slick Sigenstor modular battery array.
This thing did more than look good, it had the option of a modular 12.5 DC charger for the EV (or even a 25 kW charger) integrated with the battery storage system.
And, we were tentatively told, this DC charger would be all ready for bidirectional charging when that becomes a thing. It was the icing on the cake for my husband who was prepared to fork out the fairly hefty sum of $6,000 to replace the cords-all-over- the- floor- while we-trickle-charge-the-car look of yesteryear.
And so it was, my early Christmas present (solar and a battery) arrived, and Mike was happily charging the car (a BYD Atto 3) with his super-duper 12.5 kw DC charger. Not too long after that, news broke that Minister Bowen had approved standards for bidirectional, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging.
Great timing Minister Bowen, thanks for that …. but don’t hold your breath, relevant equipment would still need to be approved by the CEC and state-based energy companies, which in our case was Energy Queensland.
So, we waited …. and waited … and waited. Then one day in March I happened to sit down beside Mr Peter Kilby, Senior Grid Transformation Engineer with Energy Queensland – and a true superhero of the energy transition in our view.
Peter politely informed me both the CEC and Energy Queensland had already approved the Sigenstor DC charger for bi-directional charging – so I could already do it.
I politely informed Peter “no we can’t”. Peter was not to be deterred – and four months later, Peter and Sigenergy have finally delivered. It’s our Christmas in July present, V2G charging capability from our garage back into the grid.
Meanwhile, just as Santa was preparing his special mid-year treat for us, Mike had decided to move on to the next toy, a four-wheel drive EV (Zeekr X). What great timing! We now have two EVs in the garage, one of which does very little driving, and a DC charger with V2G capability… so there’s no stopping us now.
After two weeks of living in the world of V2G charging, I can happily report the experience is mind-blowingly fantastic!
This is truly a triple win – for us, for Energy Queensland and for the environment. Prior to V2G, I was regularly producing 50 kWh of solar power a day from my 10kW array. The vast majority of that power went straight back into the grid.
My 16 kW household battery filled up pretty quickly most days and, despite my initial good intentions, I never got motivated to switch over to Amber and sell my night-time surplus (realistically about 8 kWh of power a night).
I liked the simplicity and convenience of AGL’s Ovo for EVs offering – which gives me an additional three hours of free midday charging. I was Energy Queensland’s worst nightmare – an abundant rooftop solar producer pouring power into the midday grid at the same time as everyone else but when no one actually wants it.
With the click of a switch – or more accurately, the download of an app on my phone – that story has completely changed.
Now I need all the solar I can get to feed into my 60 kWh battery on wheels in preparation for discharging every evening and early morning. Previously I could have been feeding in about 8 kWh per night – now I can easily feed in 40-50 kWh – and that’s a deal I am certainly not going to miss out on.
When we started this journey, we had no expectation of a realistic payback period on our $25,000 investment, we just wanted to do the right thing. But V2G has changed all that.
Now we are confidently predicting a maximum 5-year payback period for all this investment with another 15-20 years of pure profit after that.
The addition of a monster battery on wheels – that came at no extra cost because we bought it to drive about in – has totally transformed the economics of this exercise.
And while that makes us very happy, Energy Queensland can also rest assured there is light at the end of the tunnel. Give us the right tools and we consumers will happily do all the load shifting you can ask for!
And that, ultimately, frees up more space for feeding ever more rooftop solar into the grid. The cheapest energy Australian households will ever get.
Twelve months ago, I put my hand up at a seminar hosted by the CEO of Energy Queensland, to beg for a household battery rebate.
His comment was that household batteries fill up too quickly so they couldn’t solve his problems with minimum demand and peak midday supply.
That is no longer the case – V2G charging changes that narrative completely. We consumers can fix even Energy Queensland’s biggest headaches – just give us the chance.
So come on all you EV owners out there – let’s bring on the storage tsunami and knock the utility companies for six.
Dr Philippa England is a home energy enthusiast and retired Griffith University lecturer.
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