Solar charging at GE with a Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid

[msirach]

"GE brings good things to light"

Alex Nunez - CONSUMERSEARCH - June 01, 2011

GE brings a design that could be a trendsetter. Will you see one in your neighborhood? --Ed.

It's like a regular Prius, only better. That, in a nutshell, sums up the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid (aka Prius PHV). The example Toyota loaned us for a week is a prototype--the production version arrives next year and joins the growing Prius lineup.

We requested the car because we were invited to the GE Energy headquarters in Plainville, CT for the opening of its new solar carport for EV charging. Since GE employees and visitors to the office would now have the ability to recharge electric vehicles during the day, we figured we might as well drive up in a car that could take advantage of the facility, too.

A row of satellite trucks was already lined up in the parking lot when we silently rolled in (the TV coverage was for Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy, who would address GE employees as part of the opening ceremony). Having seen an artistic rendering of the solar carport, we were familiar with what to look for, but the sheer size of the installation took us aback.

425 solar panels cover the carport's long, V-shaped roof, which shelters forty parking spaces and features six GE EV charging stations spaced along the parking area's center line.

We weren't sure we'd be guaranteed a spot under the new carport (there are separate EV chargers for staff and visitors in the main parking lot as well), but when one of the event organizers saw that the Prius was a plug-in car, he happily told us to pull up to one of the open chargers in the solar facility. We wound up nose-to-nose with a Chevy Volt, one of several on hand (GE plans to buy a lot of them). A couple of Smart Fortwo Electric Drives (which I tested just a few weeks ago) were also stationed under the carport and plugged into chargers. We plugged in the Toyota, ensured the charging light was on and waited for the ceremony to begin.... [Read More]

[herm]

425 panels, assuming 250w each would charge 27 Leafs at the max 3.8kw L2 rate (3.3kw go into the battery), fully charging the battery in about 8 hours while you work.. obviously parking in the shade is also a plus. Funny how they dont mention the cost and how the cost compares to wiring EVERY parking slot in the whole parking lot with a regular 120V socket. The again any business that got one of these would gather a lot of green credit and free publicity... the grant money would just flow in.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well, I'm sure this would be more expensive than wiring every parking spot, but just wiring up a connection to every parking spot would be liable to increase electricity consumption, while just using solar chargers would mean no extra consumption and nobody trying to steal electricity at night.

Hopefully, one day, all flat parking lots will have solar canopies, preferably with charging points. If you wire the parking lot for charging points it would make sense that you could wire 120V points as well if you want them. (Although I wonder whether it would be cheaper and good enough to run cables up through poles and along the canopy rather than through the ground).

Besides the additional electricity generation the canopy means:
- less exposure of cars to rain
- more shade to keep cars cooler and reduce A/C use
- more shade to keep asphalt cooler: widespread use would help reduce urban temperatures
- rain capture: a guttered canopy can redirect water in a controlled way, including into a gray water system.

In a snowy climate you might stick to canopies at edges of parking lots where dumping snow off the panels wouldn't cause problems, so you wouldn't be able to have as many canopies in a parking lot.

[RichXKU]

Originally Posted by ItsNotAboutTheMoney

In a snowy climate you might stick to canopies at edges of parking lots where dumping snow off the panels wouldn't cause problems, so you wouldn't be able to have as many canopies in a parking lot.

Yes after my first winter with solar panels, I now anticipate shoveling my driveway twice, and not parking too close when there is snow or ice up there.

I wonder how that askew V shape will do? Seems like they will be writing off any output for weeks after any snow.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by RichXKU

Yes after my first winter with solar panels, I now anticipate shoveling my driveway twice, and not parking too close when there is snow or ice up there.

I wonder how that askew V shape will do? Seems like they will be writing off any output for weeks after any snow.

I'd hope they'd easily be able to vary the shape according to location.

[waltermlee]

FYI ... for BEV/PHEV drivers ...
By the fall of 2011, Maryland should have 80 charging stations across the state.
A company called SemaConnect[1] will install two in Rockville, MD and three in Silver Spring, MD. It will cost 55 cents per hour for the first four hours and 1.00 dollar per hour after that. Each charging station outputs at 7.7kw@240VAC. The charging station is activated/started by a special card or by making a call via your cell phone.

[1] http://www.semaconnect.com/

[rfruth]

A Focus EV would help complete this

[herm]

$0.55 per hour sounds steep but its not.. at $0.11 per kwh average that works out to $0.85 per hour just in electicity costs, note the Leaf can only use 3.8kw out of those available 7.7kw EVSE so they dont get as good a deal.. but still good.. BTW dont call them chargers, they are just fancy safe extension cords.

The Focus, if its ever available in quantities has a charger that can make use of those 7.7kw EVSE in full.. so should the Leaf by 2013 once production in TN begins.