Video: How Smart Solar Charging makes the energy transition possible

The energy system of the future: what will it look like? By using car batteries to store sustainable energy, Utrecht’s Smart Solar Charging project presents a unique solution for the energy transition. Find out how together with the project partners (which include Utrecht University) in the video Smart Solar Charging – Sustainable Energy available whenever we need it. One of the key components of the project is the Living Lab at Utrecht Science Park, where university employees can use electric car sharing services.

Innovative technology available to everyone

Smart Solar Charging (SSC) is helping Utrecht become the first region in the world that can balance its energy needs using bi-directional charging technology. This widely applicable technology makes it possible to charge electric vehicles intelligently using solar energy, store peak solar energy generation in the car’s battery, and then use the energy when demand is highest. In so doing, electric vehicles become part of a smart energy network, which increases their economic and energy yield.

Since October 2019, the installation of 32 Smart Solar Charging Stations make Utrecht Science Park the first campus in the world to offer bi-directional charging using the new open standard ISO 15118 at a large scale. This standard will make the system of shared cars and charging points available to any party in the automotive industry.

From living labs to large-scale transition

Through learning by doing, SSC will soon be ready for the large-scale transition. The energy system using electric vehicles as ‘rolling batteries’ will be developed in five testing locations in the Utrecht region. One of these locations is Utrecht Science Park, a unique Living Lab that combines education, housing, working and care. Here, researchers and entrepreneurs work together to optimise the innovative system’s energy performance, user behaviour and value models.

In the video, Utrecht University Professor Wilfried van Sark and Project Manager Michiel Scherrenburg join with entrepreneur Robin Berg, researcher Tom Wolvers and developer Matthijs Kok in explaining how living labs are vital in bringing about the energy transition.