ELECTRICAL VEHICLE CHARGING FEATURE


NEW SOLAR EV CHARGING UNIT LAUNCHED


Rolec launched a new solar powered electric vehicle charging unit, the WallPod:EV SolarCharge W


allPod:EV SolarCharge is a cost- efficient EV charging solution


specially designed to benefit homeowners who have installed, or have future plans to install, a home solar panel array. Frankie Mellon, Rolec’s national EV


sales manager, says: “EV SolarCharge has been designed to offer the homeowner a feature-rich charging solution that not only displays the charging activity, but also highlights whether the charging is coming from the national grid, exclusively from the home’s solar panels, or a combination of both.” The features of EV SolarCharge include


two unique charging modes and a summary data screen. The first of the two charging modes is the solar + grid


charge, which monitors the solar power being generated, highlights it on the data screen, and tops up any shortfall with power from the grid. The second of the two charging modes is


the solar only mode, which monitors and tracks the power being generated by the home’s solar array and limits the charge provided to the EV, matching the amount of power produced by the panels exactly. “In effect, the EV is now running on the


sun,” says Mellon. “In addition to the two charging modes, EV SolarCharge also provides a summary data screen which demonstrates historical charging activity.This includes total charging kWs, solar supplied charging kWs vs grid supplied charging kWs, the actual


percentage of charging provided by the sun, and the amount of CO2 saved. While EV SolarCharge has primarily


been designed for homes with solar arrays, it can also be installed on homes without solar panels - utilising the grid supply until a solar array is fitted. EV SolarCharge provides Mode 3 fast


charging in both 3.6kW (16A) and 7.2kW (32A) formats, and is compatible with all current PHEVs and EVs. Kieron Alsop, Rolec’s MD, comments:


“We are delighted to launch EV SolarCharge, which is the first of a number of exciting new smart enabled EV charging products.”


Rolec rolecserv.com


Great leap forward in fuel cell technology


A major breakthrough has been made in developing high performance fuel cells as eco-friendly power in electric vehicles


P


rofessor Chen Tsan-Yao, of the department of engineering and


system science at the National Tsinghua University, Taiwan, has recently made great progress by using ultrasonic waves to make tiny grooves in the surface of various materials, which, in conjunction with an atomic scale platinum catalyst, can be used to double the alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) efficiency. This atomic scale catalyst increases the


oxygen reduction (cathode reaction) current intensity tenfold, with no degradation for eight months of continuous operation, while reducing the production cost by 90 per cent. Such cells have a lifespan of two to three years. Professor Chen said that he is currently developing a quantum size correlation as a catalyst for making cells even cheaper and more efficient. A fuel cell is a power generation device to convert chemical energy into electrical


energy. AFCs are safer and more efficient than acid batteries, and thus are widely used in spacecraft and satellites. The catalyst is the key component in fuel cell performance. Professor Chen said that there are many factors affecting the efficiency of the catalyst, especially size. At the same volume, the smaller the catalyst particles, the larger the surface area and the higher the performance. However, if the particles are too small, they become unstable and rapidly lose their efficiency. Thus, the challenge was to find a way to reduce size and increase stability. Professor Chen said that coffee soda


inspires him in the strategies. In 2016, while chatting with a coffee shop owner, he discovered that, depending on the order in which the coffee and soda are poured into the glass, the sweetness, taste and amount of bubbles are very different. As a result, he had his research assistants reverse the order


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Professor Chen is developing a quantum size correlation as a catalyst for making cells even cheaper and more efficient


in crystal growth. Unlike the traditional method, they add new materials every ten seconds and stop the reaction in only seconds, which results in the platinum trimer catalysts. Not surprisingly, his students initially


had some doubts about his unorthodox approach. With hundreds of failures, they finally made the platinum trimer catalysts which remained stable while maintaining high activity in AFCs. Professor Chen said that the amount


of platinum used in his atomic catalyst is only one per cent, compared to 35 per cent for the average commercial catalyst; the mass current density is increased by 30 times.


National Tsing Hua University nthu-en.web.nthu.edu.tw


ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING | JUNE 2019 21


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