A self-proclaimed "electricity nerd" is turning his family’s Queenstown home into a money-maker, and reckons it’s a South Island-first.
Dave Charlton is trialling how people can use their electric vehicles (EV) to power houses and sell the excess back to the national grid.
He uses a "bi-directional" EV charging system, which allows him, his wife and two kids to charge their EV, during off-peak times when it’s cheaper, and discharge at peak times, when it’s more expensive, to power the house.
The Wallbox Quasar system was installed at their pad in December — it’s thought to be the first house in New Zealand to have one fitted — and can also export any extra power to the national grid, which gives them a credit on their power bill.
Charlton, who’s head of new energy solutions at Octopus Energy NZ, says it’s not yet a readily-accessible device, but he’s hoping his home trial will help retailers learn more about how it can work and eventually get it into the retail market.
He says the trial’s it’s about proving the worth of the technology and learning how it can slot into families’ everyday lives.
‘‘We make a habit out of plugging the car in when we get home.
‘‘And we’re pretty good at knowing how much charge we need left in the car for emergency supermarket shops or trips to the doctor.’’
By timing it according to off-peak supply rates, the Charltons can sometimes halve the amount they spend on electricity during peak times.
Charlton also hopes exporting power will reduce the strain on the wider grid, which can get stretched to capacity during winter and cause outages.
And while it may be a while till more of the bi-directional systems become available and are accessible to the wider public, Charlton and Octopus have high hopes they’ll make a positive impact, in time.
‘‘We hope that during winter you may either get paid, or it’ll help support the grid for everyone’’.
