UL says Fermata Energy‘s bidirectional electric vehicle (EV) charging system is the first in the world to be certified to a new North American safety standard, UL 9741, the Standard for Bidirectional EV Charging System Equipment.
Bidirectional chargers are built on the idea that EV batteries can hold electricity used to run the vehicle itself, but also provide energy back to the electrical grid, enabling EVs to earn money while they are parked by helping to stabilize the electric power grid.
The UL 9741 standard covers bidirectional EV charging equipment that charges EVs from an electric power system (EPS) and also includes functionality to export power from the EV to an EPS.
“By unlocking the full potential of EVs, Fermata Energy is helping to accelerate the shift to more EV usage,” says David Slutzky, founder and CEO of Fermata.
“We believe bidirectional energy solutions such as Fermata Energy’s V2G system will play an important role in reducing energy costs, improving grid resilience and combating climate change. We’re excited to be the first company to receive UL 9741 certification and look forward to partnering with other organizations to advance V2G applications,” he adds.
According to Francisco Martinez, business development director of UL’s Energy Systems and eMobility division, bidirectional charging gives vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology the potential to balance electricity demand and smooth consumption spikes with the help of electric car battery storage.
Fermata’s V2G technology uses bidirectional charging to turn EVs into sources of energy for use by the electric grid, making EVs an off-the-shelf solution to renewable energy’s storage needs, while lowering the total cost of ownership of EVs.
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Photo: A Nissan Leaf utilizing Fermata’s proprietary charging system