HONOLULU, Feb. 25, 2016
/PRNewswire/ -- Greenlots and Hawaiian Electric Company are working
to show how an electric vehicle (EV) fast charger combined with
energy storage can support EV initiatives on the road to a clean
energy future for Hawaii.
Greenlots has implemented its pioneering SKY platform — a
scalable, vehicle-grid integration (VGI) technology — in an EV fast
charger owned and operated by Hawaiian Electric Company as part of
a joint research, development and demonstration project with the
Electric Power Research Institute.
The innovative fast charger is located at Kapolei Commons, a
popular shopping mall in West
Oahu. By giving residents and visitors in the area a
convenient place to quickly charge their EVs with minimal impact on
the Oahu grid, the goal is to
encourage EV adoption.
The fast charger's integrated energy storage allows it to remain
in full power using electricity stored at times when generation is
abundant, such as mid-day when many rooftop solar panels are
sending power to the grid. Stored energy is then available
later in the day during peak use times when electricity is in high
demand.
The fast charger allows electric vehicle owners to get up to an
80 percent charge in as little as 30 minutes. Drivers can easily
locate the fast-charge stations and charge using the Greenlots
mobile app and pay for a charge through the app or by using a
credit card, much as at a self-service gasoline pump.
"With our state's 100-percent renewable portfolio goals, we are
working to support the build out of electric vehicle charging
infrastructure to provide EV drivers with range confidence," said
Jim Alberts, Hawaiian Electric
senior vice president for customer service.
"We're pleased to be working with Greenlots on this
battery-backed fast charging initiative, because in conjunction
with VLI-EV Partners, Greenlots helped provide a demand-side
management system to meet our evolving power grid needs. An
advantage of the Greenlots open standards system is that it can be
used with a variety of fast chargers built by different
companies."
A similar fast charger system will also be used when Hawaiian
Electric opens its fifth utility-owned fast charger at its Ward
Avenue facility next month. By harmonizing electric vehicles with
the grid, Greenlots has created a flexible grid management platform
to meet the specific electricity demand needs of Hawaiian Electric
and electric vehicle drivers alike.
In leveraging the industry's leading open standards for demand
response and price communications, OpenADR and the Open Charge
Point Protocol (OCPP), the Greenlots SKY Smart Charging™ platform
can respond to demand response load modification requests and allow
HECO to remotely control grid loads through demand response
actions.
"Increasingly, utilities are looking toward open standards-based
charging to be utilized in energy management strategies," said
Brett Hauser, CEO of Greenlots. "We
are particularly excited about this storage-backed fast charge
initiative with Hawaiian Electric, because we see vast
opportunities to support electric vehicle mobility while also
managing energy loads more reliably as the industry expands."
About Greenlots
Greenlots is a global provider of open standards-based
distributed energy resource solutions. Its award-winning SKY Smart
Charging™ charge management platform bridges electric mobility,
demand side management, and behind-the-meter energy storage markets
for the built environment. Greenlots operates the largest open fast
charging network in North America,
and provides utilities the ability to remotely control grid loads
through smart charging, demand response, and energy storage
initiatives. Visit www.greenlots.com for more information or
follow us on Twitter @greenlots.
About Hawaiian Electric Companies
Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric and Hawaii
Electric Light, serve the islands of Oahu, Maui,
Lanai, Molokai and Hawaii Island, home to 95 percent
of the people of Hawaii. Hawaiian
Electric's parent company is Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:
HE). In a changing world, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are
taking the lead in adding renewable energy and developing energy
solutions for its customers to achieve a lower cost, clean energy
future for Hawai'i. For more information, visit
www.hawaiianelectric.com.
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SOURCE Greenlots