Free webinar on secondary use of vehicle batteries.

[petefoss]

http://www.automotiveworld.com/webin...icle-batteries

[tboult]

Thanks.. Sounds interesitng. I'll at least have some students attend :-)

[DonC]

Seems interesting. Thanks very much for posting. I'll definitely tune in.

I'm just not sure how I feel about this. I've only had the car for a year and I've got to think about what to do with the batteries at EOL? Sort of a buzzkill. I don't want to think of that quite yet. Give me a few more years! LOL

[tboult]

Seems interesting. Thanks very much for posting. I'll definitely tune in.

I'm just not sure how I feel about this. I've only had the car for a year and I've got to think about what to do with the batteries at EOL? Sort of a buzzkill. I don't want to think of that quite yet. Give me a few more years! LOL

I just think its great they are starting to think about some standards for making them useful.. my volt's battery is not going anywhere for at least a decade.. but maybe some used leaf batteries will be on market sooner .

[JamesMcQuaid]

Thanks Pete!

[flmark]

DonC: 'I've got to think about what to do with the batteries at EOL?'

I've already figured out their role- battery backup for the house (on currently grid tied solar). I look at that portable gas generator sitting in the garage and think about its days being numbered (well in high numbers, anyway). I recall the days after Hurricane Charley (in 2004) and think of the long gas lines inevitable after one of these obnoxious storms. I refuse to deal with the limited life of Lead Acid batteries and await a Lithium Battery conversion. These catastrophic events are too few to jump the gun, although all those 'Doomsday Prepper' shows keep it in the back of my mind that being self-sustaining is a goal to eventually shoot for.

[solar_dave]

DonC: 'I've got to think about what to do with the batteries at EOL?'

I've already figured out their role- battery backup for the house (on currently grid tied solar). I look at that portable gas generator sitting in the garage and think about its days being numbered (well in high numbers, anyway). I recall the days after Hurricane Charley (in 2004) and think of the long gas lines inevitable after one of these obnoxious storms. I refuse to deal with the limited life of Lead Acid batteries and await a Lithium Battery conversion. These catastrophic events are too few to jump the gun, although all those 'Doomsday Prepper' shows keep it in the back of my mind that being self-sustaining is a goal to eventually shoot for.

Yeah 3 volt batteries would do nicely for about 9 months out of the year here. I would need to run a generator those 3 months to charge them. We would have to cut back our AC consumption but it would be pretty doable. Now I would just need to figure out the TMS to keep them going.

[DonC]

I've already figured out their role- battery backup for the house (on currently grid tied solar). I look at that portable gas generator sitting in the garage and think about its days being numbered (well in high numbers, anyway). I recall the days after Hurricane Charley (in 2004) and think of the long gas lines inevitable after one of these obnoxious storms.

I'm sort of hoping we get a kit for the Volt like Nissan sells for the Leaf where you can hook into the battery directly. That would give you battery backup AND a great generator!

Late last year our local utility tried to get a tariff that charged solar owners a fee for every kWh they put back into the grid. Sort of destroys the beauty of grid-tie. The effort was squashed but it did get me thinking that batteries would be a good way to get off the grid.

[flmark]

Re: back up battery

I would not get rid of my grid tie unless they pulled stuff like the fee on kwh inserted by solar owners. What a crock- we are giving them power during the time of day when it is valuable. My battery plan for the house is to only occasionally run the house off batteries just to keep them fresh. The Volt is making us realize the significance of Lithium managed in a decent way. The charge not only lasts a long time in a static state, but if you don't abuse them, they will have a LONG life (compared to currently expecting to replace them every few years). Our grid in FL is MUCH more reliable than in NY. All the big old trees in NY fall on the lines and you can expect multiple outages a year. In FL, we hardly ever see a substantial outage- except when the big hurricanes hit. While 2004, with 4 hurricanes was horrendous, statistically speaking, I should have many years to wait before I need that back up again. So, I am giving the battery industry a chance to mature and see the niche they can fill- and it will be several years before the first wave of retired EV batteries is ready for the secondary market. And who knows, if prices fall as predicated, I might not wait that long.

[solar_dave]

Really if I think about it then battery charged solar is not going to do it for me. I need that grid tie excess from Jan. to May to make up for my excess consumption in June to Sept. While my solar set is pretty huge by most standards, it is,not large enough to cover my daytime usage in the hot months. It produces about 70-75 kWh a day but mid year we can consume 120 kWh per day. There has been some grumbling in AZ about how grid tie works, but it is more fair than Califronia and the dollar offsets they provide.