Delta Energy Systems has received a grant from the Victorian Government for a research project on electric vehicle (EV) charging it is conducting with Nissan Australia and the CSIRO.
Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio awarded $210,000 in funds from the New Energy Jobs Fund (NEJF) for the 18-month research project.
The NEJF supports Victorian-based projects that create long-term sustainable jobs, increase the uptake of renewable energy generation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive innovation in new energy technologies.
During a recent visit to the CSIRO Monash facility, Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said Delta’s renewable solutions have a positive impact on the community.
“The project will address a key need in the EV market by increasing the accessibility to charging stations for domestic, commercial and mobile customers,” she said.
“Such a benefit certainly will contribute to a more stable electrical grid, shorter payback time and more control for the user on charge rates.”
The joint research project aims to develop a smart controller and a platform that combines Delta’s residential RPI Series Photovoltaic (PV) E5 inverter, BX 6.0 battery and AC Mini Plus EV charger.
Besides providing hardware for the project, Delta also developed in-house software and controller to manage its integrated system.
Researchers will leverage Delta’s integrated system to study off-grid EV charging, using solar power and battery backup, and the optimisation of EV charging profiles to reduce grid impact and maximise the use of renewable energy.
The system will undergo tests to confirm its performance in various environmental conditions in the temperature control chamber at the CSIRO Monash facility.
After initial tests are successful, researchers will deploy the system at Nissan Australia’s Melbourne facility.
Here the system will undergo extensive field trials with a fleet of the new Nissan Leaf, which awaits release in Australia.
Delta Australia E-Mobility and Energy Storage Division project coordinator Matti Dinkelmeyer demonstrated the system to the state’s energy minister and highlighted the key role Delta’s energy-efficient products play in the solution.
“Once we developed the concept it was fairly easy to integrate the solution with the different Delta components,” Mr Dinkelmeyer said.
