News that Tennessee is intent on building 125 solar charging stations for electric cars is just more proof that the EV wave is taking hold. The state plans to build 125 stations and have them backedup with battery packs, while selling extra power back to the grid. The inclusion of large battery packs reduces the draw off the grid in times where the solar is not sufficient while maximizing the amount of power sent back to the grid by the solar array.
Its just one more example of government leading the “charge” (chuckle now) in the new green economy. Now if they’d tell two friends, who tell two friends, eventually every state in the country will have a feed-in program, solar charging stations in partnership with long term parking facilities (shopping malls, stadiums, office complexes, etc…) and the move off fuel will be accelerated.
Sunlogics Inc. is in the game from another perspective…partnering with General Motors for their first electric car, the Volt, and the utilities. In both models, the key is to be able to sell excess power at a reasonable profit and to make solar charging of EV convenient enough for the users. As battery technologies and efficiency of power use improve, I can see the day when its a solar powered Exxon station delivering electricity vs the current model. The oil companies are not foolish enough to stay on the sidelines of this wave, the only question is when they’ll get in and how. I don’t expect there’s any big rush right now, yet if I was a forward-looking CEO sitting atop an oil company right now, I’d get in the game using just a few of the billions of dollars my company earned this quarter alone…
Sass