Energy Storage System Prototyping

Nuvation Energy prototyped and built an energy storage system using second life Nissan Leaf batteries. The batteries were no longer sufficient for powering electric vehicles. However, at 70% state of health, they were perfect for use in stationary energy storage.

Using the second life batteries, our team built a behind-the-meter energy storage system at Nuvation Energy’s headquarters in Silicon Valley. There are several electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot, where employees plug in their vehicles when they get to work. Unfortunately, this tends to be during peak demand time, when it costs more to use electricity.

Our second life energy storage system allows employees to charge their vehicle during peak demand times, without Nuvation Energy incurring peak usage charges. At night, we hook the system up to the grid to charge the batteries when energy is less expensive. In the morning when energy costs are higher, we use the system to charge employee electric vehicles off-grid.

Check out these videos to learn more about our energy storage system or continue reading to see how this prototype has been commercialized.

Project Details:

• 24 kWh stack, 360 V DC, 48 Nissan Leaf second life modules
• Designed site controller with load-shifting to manage demand charges
• Standard 19” rack
• Residential and commercial behind-the-meter or grid-attached
• Battery trays easy to install and service
• Installed a pair of Nuvation Energy BMS 12-channel Cell Interfaces on each tray