Powerstar, designers and manufacturers of the Virtue energy storage system, have launched its latest innovation – Virtue EV – one of the world’s first integrated rapid/fast electric vehicle and energy storage systems.
Officially unveiled on 6th December in the presence of the Lord Mayor of Sheffield and hundreds of invited guests at the company’s 15th anniversary celebrations, the Virtue EV system, which is a new application of the award-winning Virtue energy storage system, will be used in a variety of sectors and industries including public sector, retail, railways, airports and education and healthcare facilities.
Virtue EV: System overview
Virtue EV offers a combined DC rapid/fast charger and energy storage solution with integrated 6kW solar (PV) canopies. It provides up to 80kWh of storage with 50kWh bi-directional grid-tied inverters. The system enables both off-grid rapid charging (50kWh CHAdeMO) and a fast charging (11kW) AC charger, allowing a site with limited grid capacity to charge vehicles without upgrading infrastructure. The rapid/fast electric vehicle charger greatly reduces demand spikes and supplies the highest possible charging rate by utilising stored energy to manage any sudden ramp up in power.
Not only does this assist the grid infrastructure, but it also reduces costs on the local network.
The innovative solution can also be manufactured with a variety of value enhancing features including, Wi-Fi, a customised HMI, credit card payment facility and an online booking system.
Virtue EV: Benefits
· Avoid Costly upgrades: Virtue EV can provide rapid/fast EV charging without increasing the cabling and load infrastructure and has the ability to support up to 20 cars
· Reduce costs: The system will draw and store energy throughout the night hours during the cheaper off-peak tariff and use it during the day, avoiding the higher peak tariff costs
· CO2 reduction: At specific times of the day, the system will be able to discharge the stored energy to load, thus reducing the amount of kWh the load takes from the grid
· Renewable Connectivity: Renewable sources of energy are connected at the time of installation. In the case of solar (PV) no inverters are needed as the PV energy van be stored directly in the DC
· Smart grid integration: Virtue EV is a Virtual Power Station and is always grid tied, and therefore it can participate in helping the grid balance frequency through either Dynamic FFR or enhanced Frequency Response (EFR)
· UPS Functionality: The system provides full UPS capabilities to the load at all times, providing charge to the EV chargers when cars are connected
By providing an off-grid locally connected storage solution and rapid/fast charging, Virtue EV will assist in meeting the increased demand for electric vehicle chargers, whilst removing the need for costly cabling and infrastructure redevelopments.
From launch day Virtue EV, has received significant interest, with businesses from a variety of sectors realising there is a demand from customers to provide a cost effective electric vehicle charging solution.
For more information on Virtue EV:
Visit www.powerstar.com/virtue-ev
Call the Virtue team on 01142 576 200 or email virtue@powerstar.com
