Innovative Car Charging Plan Begins on Experimental Basis in Tennessee

The U.S.-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute have launched a prototype car-charging station that allows electric vehicles to charge their batteries using solar power while also enabling that solar energy to be fed into the grid when not needed by cars at the charging station. The Smart Station Initiative, begun in Tennessee with stations for just six cars, will enable the vehicles to park under a roof covered in solar panels. If all six cars are charging at the same time at noon on a sunny day, the solar panels will be able to provide only 12 of the 20 kilowatts needed for the vehicles’ batteries, with the rest of the power coming from the grid. But if few or none of the cars are charging, any excess power from the solar panels can be fed back into the grid, officials said. Each of the spaces will make enough electricity to move an electric car about 7,000 miles a year. The TVA hopes to have about 125 parking stalls in place in Tennessee by the end of this year. With the Chevy Volt hybrid and the Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle just hitting the streets, the program is one of several nationwide experimenting with the unimpeded transfer of electricity to and from vehicles and the grid.