TVA And EPRI Jointly Unveil SMART Charging Station For Electric Vehicles

The Tennessee Valley Authority, in conjunction with the Electric Power Research Institute, has unveiled the Smart Modal Area Recharge Terminal also called the SMART station, an electric vehicle charging station capable of generating electricity from sunlight, storing the generated electricity and delivering electricity back to the power grid as and when required. This public electric vehicle charging station, the first of its kind, is stationed at EPRI's Knoxville Research Laboratory.

The new charging station provides about 2 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic panels per charging space in addition to offering 5 kilowatt-hours of stationary battery storage per charging space. Simultaneous charging of multiple cars in a single location is also made possible. The station also incorporates advanced measurement and controls for collecting vehicle data. It also provides six parking spaces, each supplying enough power to charge maximum number of electric vehicles in three to eight hours.

In a release, Anda Ray, TVA senior vice president of environment and technology, said that “electricity as a transportation fuel can benefit the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and it can save consumers money by lowering their driving costs. These all-in-one charging stations are important to the development of electric vehicles and also to TVA's goal to provide cleaner, low-cost energy.”

The project, also partnered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and local power companies, would be of use in understanding the various aspects of electric vehicle charging such as infrastructure design and development, consumer behavior, the impact on the electricity system and testing different stationary batteries. The electric vehicles' potential to reduce the ill effects of greenhouse gases and other pollutants would also be closely assessed by TVA and EPRI.

In a release, Mark McGranaghan, EPRI vice president of power delivery and utilization, said that “this and similar charging stations represent a key step in providing charging facilities for electric vehicles when away from the home. The data collected from these stations will help us to understand station performance, customer charging preferences and grid impact.”