Nissan Stores Solar Power Using LEAF Batteries

When a combustion engine reaches the end of its lifecycle, it’s bound for the scrap heap, but Nissan has found a way to give the electric storage system in end-of-life LEAF batteries into something useful and very cool. Excess power from renewable sources such as solar and wind generation to be stored and then released at peak times, reducing the need for conventional power stations to be kept on standby.

According to the carmaker, the battery can hold enough power for a three-bedroom home for around three days (8kW/day), so it’s actually perfect for the power generation industry. The system will be installed at Nissan’s Global HQ, where solar panels will feed it when the sun is shining, with the stored energy to be used when its not.

“The Nissan LEAF has only just been launched, but we have to think now about how we will dispose of the car when it

comes to the end of its life,” said Vice President, Vehicle Design & Development, Nissan Technical Centre Europe. “Although the LEAF is designed to last as long as any conventional car, some batteries will become available from accident-damaged cars sooner and we must manage the use of the parts now.”

A joint venture established by Nissan and Sumitomo Corporation, called 4R Energy, has started tests using solar panels and second-life lithium ion batteries previously used in Nissan LEAFs. With seven charging stations (three quick charge, four normal charge) connected to the solar grid at Nissan’s HQ, the total electricity that can be circulated is equal to to fully charging approximately 1,800 Nissan LEAFs.

“Nissan LEAF is already zero emission from a vehicle point of view,” says Hideaki Watanabe, Corporate Vice President for Global Zero Emission at Nissan. “Now, in order to maximize that potential, if we utilize the renewable energy on the electricity side, it would really be zero emisison.”