Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corp. will collaborate with Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for a prototype integrated solar-assisted electric vehicle charging station to be erected at EPRI's research laboratory in Knoxville, Tenn. Additional stations are planned for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Nashville, Chattanooga and another site in Knoxville.
The prototype charging station used by EPRI and TVA, also known as a Smart Modal Area Recharge Terminal, or SMART station, will provide information on energy usage, the time when the equipment is used, the amount of solar-generated electricity produced and stored, and the potential impact of load clusters – when several vehicles are refueled at the same time – on distribution system reliability.
The collaboration will create a model charging facility that will charge electric vehicles quickly and reliably, and it will produce data to assist in implementing key components of a smart electrical grid. These components could include integrating renewables onto the grid, utilizing a battery storage system, assessing the impact on reliability of a distributed resource generation, testing advanced metering infrastructure and analyzing electric vehicle supply equipment.
SOURCE: Eaton Corp.
