Global automotive supplier DENSO and Nagoya University have developed an in-vehicle battery-based energy management system (EMS), which uses forecasting models of household electricity demand and vehicle use to reduce electricity costs.
The two organizations will start to evaluate the performance of the system in October under the Toyota City Low-carbon Society Verification Project, one of the Next-Generation Energy and Social System Demonstration Projects in Japan led by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
The EMS coordinates with batteries used in electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to use their stored electricity to help keep down electricity bills. The system measures power consumption, the amount of power generated by solar panels, vehicle use, and other household characteristics to construct models for forecasting household electricity demand and vehicle use. Based on these estimates, the system controls the charging and discharging of the in-vehicle battery in real time, reducing the amount of power purchased when the rates are high while increasing it when the rates are low to save money on electricity.
Batteries used in electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are frequently connected (when the vehicle is parked) and disconnected (when the vehicle is used) from the EMS. To use these batteries effectively, there are issues to be resolved, including accurately predicting the times of the day when the vehicle is parked and optimally controlling battery charging and discharging depending on the household electric power demand.
To address these challenges, DENSO and Nagoya University have been working together since 2010 to develop this EMS by combining DENSO’s vehicle-to-home (V2H) technologies to supply power from in-vehicle batteries to home devices and Nagoya University’s modeling, forecasting, and optimization technologies.
In October 2012, the development of this system was chosen as a new focus for FY2012 under the Strategic Basic Research Project (CREST), a basic research program conducted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency.
Based on the results of the field test that will be held from October 2013 to March 2014, DENSO and Nagoya University will consider commercializing this system.
