Taipei, Dec. 18, 2012 (CENS)--Thanks to a new energy-transfer concept that may be achieved by the development of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market, investment in vehicle-to-building (V2B) infrastructure by battery makers, building owners, automakers, and energy technology providers will grow steadily through the remainder of the decade, according to Pike Research.
The concept of making the energy stored in PEV batteries available to commercial buildings and residences with intelligent building energy management systems, known as V2B technology, has been studied since the 1990s. Today, these approaches have the potential to provide storage capacity to benefit the vehicle owner and the building owner, by offsetting some of the higher cost of PEVs, by lowering the energy costs of the building, and by providing reliable emergency backup services.
From 2012 through 2020, Pike Research`s recent study concludes, these investments will total US$279 million.
"With V2B technology installed in the vehicle and at the building, vehicles can compete with traditional local generation, as well as stationary storage, for offsetting demand charges or providing peak shaving services," says research director John Gartner. "While its counterpart, vehicle-to-grid (V2G), requires many vehicles to be aggregated to provide a useful amount of power to support the grid, and is also limited by the extent that grid operators are incentivized to develop the market structures and technologies, even a single PEV can be of value to a commercial or residential building."
Unlike V2G, interest in V2B is independent of smart grid investment; in fact, demand is greater in areas with less-reliable power grids. Automakers and truck manufacturers in these areas will be encouraged to put this technology in their vehicles to avoid losing power at their facility, and PEV owners may choose to retrofit their vehicles to participate, according to the report. Countries like China, India, and Japan are likely to have more PEVs participating in V2B activities, Pike Research said.
(by Quincy Liang)
