Nissan is partnering with a university in Brazil to study the potential for used electric vehicle (EV) batteries to power energy storage systems in the country.
The Japanese car maker’s business in Brazil has signed a memorandum of intent (pictured) with the Federal University of Santa Catarina for (UFSC) to “test solutions and future applications” for the lithium-ion systems.
Nissan will initially supply the UFSC with six Nissan Leaf batteries which were used in taxis in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as part of a company project.
One of the main lines of research for the partnership will be to study the potential of batteries to generate and collect power independently from the conventional grid, Nissan said. “Considering the average residential electricity consumption in Brazil (170 kilowatt-hours per month; 5.66kWh daily), stored energy in a single battery could keep a household running for approximately three days.”
Solar power storage is another research line that will be tested, the company said. “One of the first applications being planned by researchers will be installed onto the building of the UFSC Photovoltaic Laboratory. The electricity generated throughout the day via solar panels on the laboratory’s rooftops will be stored in a set of Nissan Leaf batteries. Then, the stored energy can be used during the night, when electrical fees are most expensive.”
Laboratory coordinator Professor Ricardo Rüther said the partnership with Nissan “will allow us to unite the two pillars of our research, which are electric mobility and energy storage”.
Earlier this year, Nissan launched a second-life EV battery storage venture, Nissan Energy Solar, targeting UK homes for a solar plus storage system jointly developed with Eaton.
Last month, a three-megawatt pilot energy storage system using Nissan’s second-life and new electric vehicle batteries was deployed at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena in the Netherlands.
