REC Solar, an auxiliary of Mainstream Energy Corporation and a supplier of solar electric systems to government, commercial and home installations, has declared its partnership with GE Energy Industrial Solutions, a provider of energy delivery and power generation technologies for distribution of the GE WattStation electric vehicle (EV) charger.
Electric Vehicle Charging for Cities and Businesses. Credit: GE Energy Industrial Solutions
The partnership signifies the inevitable partnership between the two clean energy technologies, electric vehicles and solar technology leading to a more secure and cleaner world.
The WattStation supplied by GE is a user-friendly, level 2, electric vehicle (EV) charging facility, designed to improve the usage of plug-in type of electric vehicles by cutting down the time required for charging by providing total charging in four or eight hours when compared to other charging facilities that require overnight charging of around 12 to 14 hours. The charging facility with its smart-grid capable know-how also assists the utility companies to deal with the problem of EV loads on the regional and local supply grids. The WattStation with its easy and simple installation ideally compliments the growing number of solar carports. REC Solar as a distributor for the GE WattStation facility will be in a position to incorporate EV charging capabilities in its solar installations to assist its residential, business and government customers.
The charging facilities use solar power, hence improving the economic benefits provided by the owning of electric vehicles and also increases the energy conserving and ecological benefits. With an insight into future transportation facilities, REC Solar and GE are considering initiatives to develop an end-to-end solar EV charging arrangement that will allow the cars to run exclusively using solar power. They anticipate that the joining of EV and solar industries will ultimately result in freedom from fossil fuel usage, drop in greenhouse gas emissions while offering cost effective transportation advantages to the users of EV. A recent research report supplied by GTM Research indicates that the cost of driving an EV charged by solar power will be around 66% cheaper than a vehicle powered by gas.