Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and 4R Energy Corporation announced today that the two companies have developed and installed a new EV charging solution that combines renewable solar energy and high capacity lithium-ion batteries. The system was recently installed for testing at Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.

The system uses the solar cells to collect the energy and a large lithium-ion battery, said to be the equivelent of four Nissan Leafs, stores the energy for later use. This way the energy is harvested through renewable means but is available for on-demand distribution when needed. The charging system includes seven stations — three quick charging stations and four normal stations.

4R, a joint venture between Nissan and Sumitomo Corportation, is also testing a compact version that uses a second-life lithium ion battery pack previously used in Nissan Leafs. In the end 4R plans to enter the market with mid-sized electricity storage systems aimed at the commercial and public sector.

Demonstration test outline

Solar cell: Maximum power output: 40kW (Solar Frontier)
Power conditioner: Rated power output: 40kW (10kW×4)
(Sanyo Denki Co., Ltd.)
Storage battery capacity: 96kWh (Automotive Energy Supply Corporation)
Grid management unit: Rated power output: 200kW
(Sanyo Denki Co., Ltd.)
EV charging equipment: Quick charger: 3 (50kW×3)
Regular charger:4 (3.3kW×14)