BOULDER, CO--December 11, 2012: The concept of making the energy stored in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) batteries available to commercial buildings and residences with intelligent building energy management systems, known as vehicle-to-building (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. According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant's Energy Practice, investment in V2B infrastructure by battery makers, building owners, automakers, and energy technology providers will grow steadily through the remainder of the decade.
“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”
From 2012 through 2020, the study concludes, these investments will total $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.
The report, "Vehicle to Building Technologies", examines the market opportunity for V2B technologies targeted at demand charge avoidance, peak shaving, time-of-use pricing, and other utility energy pricing programs to reduce the cost of building operations and to provide emergency backup power. The study analyzes both the technology issues and government policy factors associated with the growth of V2B, as well as key barriers to adoption. Key market participants are profiled and forecasts are provided for V2B-enabled vehicles and service revenues through 2020. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Pike Research website.
