If V2G is not going to be a capability for the initial production vehicles, can there at least be a way of routing the power from the vehicle's solar panels to a home power storage system? This should be a no-brainer, easy thing to implement...
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Seems to me easy enough to implement yourself. BEVs can run appliances in power outages from an inverter connected to the 12V battery, with the car turned on to activate its DC-DC converter.
Aptera says they're testing a 1.5kW DC-DC converter that powers the 12V system from the HV drive battery. IF that allows you to pull 1.5kW from an inverter, that's enough to simultaneously run my fridge, TV, computer & monitor.
I'd have to shut most of them off for a couple minutes to run my 1.3kW microwave though, or longer to charge another 1.4kW EV. However, there are lower-power microwaves, & I also heard about an EVSE with a switch for lower power use.
Inverters generally convert DC to AC. Motor based AC appliances often have an inductive startup surge that will trip the system when they try to start if the device isn't oversized. Also many aren't happy with the more common square wave output, and may need a sin wave which is more expensive and less likely. You need to know more than just the wattage of your devices to know if the power conversion will work. If you have DC appliances, this isn't the issue, but switches that will safely switch high current dc can be a problem, because the contacts can weld. Unless you are familiar with 400 volt DC systems, you should not assume you know what you are doing. I am not a degree'd engineer myself, but I am familiar enough with these systems that I was appointed to the ABYC high voltage dc safety committee for a time, and still help people design systems.
@n.bruce.nelson Hey ambassador Bruce, If you are looking for a pure sine-wave power conditioning UPS that does DC to AC or any combo of your liking, I also happen to work for novapower.com so just let me know what you would need and we can figure something out. For some reason I wanna call you _Admiral Nelson_, from that show: Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea. lol
@fanfare Thank you! Perhaps you should email info@aptera.us and let them know what you have to offer. I am sure they are already exploring various possibilities, but I know they welcome input like this. Do you remember the Mad Magazine spoof "Voyage to See What's On the Bottom"? I do live on a boat, but I think wives get the Admiral title.
Hi kiteboarder:
That's a lot of "ifs". I want a statement from Aptera on a REAL capability which I can plan on.
Okay, & I did go off-track to direct V2H, so without any "ifs":
You asked for "a way of routing the power from the vehicle's solar panels to a home power storage system". For sure, you can do either of these two options for that:
- Tap 12V off the battery terminals, & with the key on, that runs off the car's solar-charged HV drive battery.
- Tap 120V off the 12V terminals with a pure-sine inverter, available at Amazon for $200 (1.5kW continuous, 3kW peak for fridge-startup, 300+ 4.5-star reviews).
A bit of motor-starting peak power that's more than the car's DC-DC converter will just drain the 12V battery a bit & be replenished later.
https://www.aptera.us/forum/main/comment/602d8ee7c0b097001746420d