Californian tractors discharge power back to the grid
Image: Accesswire
Gridtractor, Monarch Tractor and Borg Warner have successfully demonstrated vehicle to grid (V2G) capabilities from a Monarch MK-V tractor.
The consortium team, which consists of Gridtractor, a platform to optimise rural and farm vehicle charging, MK-V supplier Monarch and bi-directional tech developer Borg Warner, got $3 million in funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop Vehicle to Building technology.
The announcement, states the partners in a release, marks the first deployment of vehicle to grid capabilities from a 100% electric Monarch MK-V tractor.
The demonstration was conducted at PG&E’s Applied Technology Services (ATS) centre in San Ramon, California.
Additionally, the demonstration signals the completion of technology development for high-power export from the Monarch MK-V tractor and Gridtractor’s open-standards charge management system, integrated with Borg Warner’s 60kW DC Fast Charger.
The MK-V utility vehicle was designed as a versatile 3-in-1 electrification tool and a powerful electric generator, enabling high-capacity energy exports.
Have you read:
SDG&E and Toyota to collaborate on vehicle to grid technology
Sweden’s Polestar launches vehicle to grid and virtual power plant projects
Once available, the integrated system will enable owners to minimise charging costs, earn revenue by participating in dynamic rate and demand response programmes, and save on fuel from EV operations.
This will be facilitated using Gridtractor’s energy market integrations and load scheduling applications.
The system will also facilitate automated load management, coordinating charging and discharging with other site loads to maximise the use of existing electrical services without exceeding their capacity. This will extend to irrigation pump sites, wineries and any facility convenient for charging.
The partners also cite flexible, scalable IoT and market integrations, as well as native OCPP-based architecture, allowing the platform to connect with energy markets or programmes with a Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) application.
