Tom Friedman predicted in one of his books, possibly The World Is Flat, that someday in the future Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) would be rolling batteries that when plugged into the grid could either charge or give the grid a buffer for peak demand. Ford provides a two way charge port on their “Lightning” BEV truck, one that can receive a charge and deliver one as well, which makes for a very valuable energy backup system for home owners if combined with a battery backup system collecting solar energy. It would make a weeks-long power outage such as the one suffered in Texas last winter survivable. But what about an everyday money saving system for consumers and a load sharing during peak demand solution for the power generating utility?
In the North East there is enthusiasm for solar energy but not enough Sun to make it economic so that the market for battery backup systems collecting and managing solar energy from the rooftops of New England homes will remain small. Nevertheless utilities everywhere always have the capacity to generate more power than needed in the middle of the night. Connecticut has load shedding agreements with some of its business customers where they agree to cut back on the energy drawn from the grid when power is in peak demand. These agreements allow the companies to enjoy off peak pricing which is substantially less than that provided to retail customers. I suggested in an editorial in the Connecticut Mirror that the State Legislature should allow utilities to make the same offer to homeowners with Battery Backup systems, solar or not.
Should Tesla and other BEV manufacturers make their charging ports capable of both charging and discharging than homeowners would have access to tripling their backup storage in the event of a power outage by keeping their vehicle plugged in their home system while they wait out the storm.
