South Australian winery owner Joseph Evans powers his winery by his electric car
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A winery owner becomes the first in Australia to power his business with solar energy stored in his electric car
- Joseph Evans powers his South Australian winery with solar power from his car
- Evans’ Ballycroft Vineyard was part of a trial to test vehicle-to-grid technology
- He makes $3,000 a year reconnecting power to the grid, the vineyard runs entirely on solar power.
- Trial that seeks to make this technology widely available, help reduce household bills
Vineyard owner Joseph Evans no longer complains about his electric bill.
The founder of Ballycroft Vineyard in South Australia’s Barossa Valley has become the first person in the country to power his business with stored solar energy from his electric car.
And the power reaped by your Nissan Leaf during testing so far is paying off big.
The companies behind the innovative pilot will invite more electric vehicle owners to use the technology in a matter of weeks, in a move that industry experts say could lead to lower energy bills and support Australia’s electricity grid.
The Ballycroft Vineyard in the Barossa Valley of SA is powered by solar power from a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle
Mr. Evans, a passionate Nissan Leaf electric car owner, has signed up for a South Australian Power Network trial.
He said the bodega’s electricity bills used to be $6,000 a year and were still $2,000 a year, even after installing solar panels.
But Evans said that by using an electric vehicle to store solar energy and power his business overnight, he was now making money instead of spending it on electricity.
“It’s the holy grail of EV ownership,” he said.
‘We make almost $3,000 a year by putting some power back into the grid.
“Our solar power completely runs our entire property: it runs the pumps for the vineyard, it runs the rainwater pumps for the house, so we are completely self-sufficient.”
Evans said he used his Nissan Leaf to make wine deliveries during the day, returned to charge its battery with solar panels at noon and used it to power the winery overnight.
Mr Evans (pictured) is a passionate electric car owner and has signed up for a South Australian Power Network trial.
Mr. Evans and his wife (pictured) have owned Ballycroft Vineyard for over 25 years.
A wall-mounted charger from Victorian firm JET Charge managed the electricity going into and out of the vehicle, and the company will open orders for the Wallbox Quasar hardware to consumers in South Australia at the end of January.
JET Charge founder Tim Washington said the winery project was a fun way to show how vehicle-to-grid technology worked, but when it became widely available it could help many homes reduce energy bills.
“It’s great that it’s a warehouse, but it’s really a demonstration of how two-way charging will fit into our everyday lives and we won’t have to think of it as a project,” he said.
‘You’ll plug your EV into power and that’s pretty much it. And the low barrier to entry once we get past all the technical issues means adoption will be faster than people think.”
The winery project shows how vehicle-to-grid technology works and could soon be widely available to help households reduce energy bills.
However, users will need a compatible vehicle to use the technology, and only the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid currently support it in Australia.
Nissan’s national electrification manager Ben Warren said more automakers should support the technology because vehicle batteries were designed to cope with “extreme” demands, and powering homes did not require the same “changes “.
“For the customer, the benefit is lowering their energy bill,” Warren said.
‘For the grill, it is also a great advantage.
“Suddenly, our cars have gone from just sitting in our driveway, doing nothing, to being more connected to our lives.”