UL Solutions announced its new certification program for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies, helping advance the use of electric vehicles as a resource for the electric power grid.
Utilities are looking for new ways to manage rising electricity demand, integrate renewable energy and improve grid resilience. V2G technologies can help by allowing parked electric vehicles to send electricity back to the grid when demand is high and recharge when demand is lower.
Charging an electric car with power supply cable. Credit: UL Solutions
A recent E3 study on vehicle-grid integration, commissioned by General Motors, estimates that V2G could potentially deliver five to 15 times more per-vehicle value than one-way managed charging in many markets. According to an Electric Power Research Institute study, about 90% of electric vehicles are parked at any given time under typical driving patterns, so participating vehicles can charge when demand is lower and return stored electricity when the grid needs additional support. As electricity demand grows from data centers, transportation, buildings and industry, this flexibility can help reduce peak demand, ease strain on local infrastructure and enable the grid to use available power more effectively.
“Electric vehicles spend much of their time parked, creating an opportunity for them to perform more than transportation alone,” said Wesley Kwok, VP and general manager of the Energy and Industrial Automation group at UL Solutions. “Vehicle-to-grid technologies can help turn that unused battery capacity into a valuable resource for utilities and communities. Our new certification program helps build confidence that these vehicle-to-grid systems can provide critical electric utility performance while operating safely and reliably.”
The program enables testing and certification of products in accordance with UL 1741 Supplement SC, a recently published supplement to UL 1741, the “Standard for Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use With Distributed Energy Resources.” The new certification program addresses bidirectional electric vehicle supply equipment that enables these interactions.
The equipment acts as a bridge between EVs and utilities, helping monitor and manage the flow of electricity while supporting compliance with utility interconnection requirements. Products certified to UL 1741 Supplement SC can work with electric vehicles that use onboard bidirectional inverters designed and tested in accordance with SAE J3072.
Products can also be certified for grid interconnection and support performance utilizing new UL 1741 multi-piece distributed energy resource requirements coupled with UL 9741, the “Standard for Electric Vehicle Power Export Equipment.”
These testing and certification services are available at UL Solutions laboratories in Fremont, California, and Northbrook, Illinois.
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