Nissan Develops Solar Street Lights Powered by Used EV Batteries

Reborn Light Video Capture

A common criticism of Battery Electric Vehicles is that once a battery reaches the end of its useful life as a car battery, it becomes nothing more than toxic waste.  All batteries degrade over time and at some point after several years, the battery in something such as a Nissan Leaf will not be able to hold enough charge to make it viable any longer when it comes to powering the vehicle.

But just because a battery can’t hold enough charge to power an EV any longer doesn’t mean it still can’t be used in other applications.  Such is the logic and the rationale behind Nissan Reborn, an initiative between Nissan and its affiliate company 4R Energy Corporation which will create street style lighting that is powered by solar energy stored in a used battery cell originally found in a Nissan Leaf EV.

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A battery is typically considered no longer viable in a EV once degradation drops a battery’s ability to hold a charge below about 65% of it’s original capacity.  But 65% still is more than enough to store enough energy to power an L.E.D. street light for example.

It also would have the ability, when connected with other end-of-life EV batteries to store and hold energy as a back up power source throughout grid networks providing an emergency supply in cases of power outages.  General Motors developed a system several years ago where 5 end-of-life Chevy Volt batteries were stacked together in a large housing and used as a back up energy supply for use in remote locations or as an emergency supply.  It was estimated in the G.M. project that a battery would typically have a 10 year lifespan as a car battery but could probably last another 10 years if used in a reduced manner as a back up power source.

Reborn Light

The Nissan Reborn initiative will have a first lighting trial starting March 26, 2018 in Namie Fukushima, Japan.

Nissan notes that today 17% of the world’s population still live without access to electricity. Infrastructure is the major impediment in these cases but micro-grid or stand alone technology such as solar powered lighting has the potential capacity to drop that percentage significantly.

The path to a sustainable future must include a more responsible and long-term approach to the materials and products we create from virgin material.  The reusing and re-purposing of end-of-life EV batteries that can provide energy storage for things such as lighting in remote areas of the world is indeed an example of sustainability and ingenuity coming together.

Source: Nissan

Eric Novak

About Eric Novak

Eric Novak is a father of 4 who also thinks that environmental stewardship is a requisite of parenting. He's not a professional Dad nor is he an environmental scientist, but he's someone who gives a damn and is trying to make the right decisions as he lives his life as a father, environmentalist, part time professor and business owner. Eric has 4 children and resides in Ajax, Ontario.