Honda unveils demonstration test house featuring Honda smart home system; gas, solar power and electromobility

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. unveiled a house Honda built in the city of Saitama, Japan, for the demonstration testing of the Honda Smart Home System (HSHS). (Earlier post.) HSHS controls in-house energy supply and demand, and helps manage both the generation and consumption of energy for the home such as heat and electricity, while utilizing mobility products. HSHS is also designed to enable users to secure their own supply of energy and mobility in a time of disaster. The HSHS installed in this demonstration test house consists of CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, selenium) thin-film solar cell panels; a home battery unit (rechargeable battery); household gas-engine cogeneration unit and hot-water supply system; and the Smart e Mix Manager. The Smart e Mix Manager, the core of the HSHS, is an energy management device which applies optimal control to electricity supplied from the commercial grid and generated by each energy device that composes the system. The Smart e Mix Manager reduces CO 2 emissions from the home and, at the same time, provides a backup supply of electricity so that the house can be self-sufficient in the event of a power outage or disaster. Honda will conduct demonstration testing of the HSHS that is linked with electromotive mobility products such as electric vehicles and the Internavi system. Through this demonstration testing, Honda will aim to reduce CO 2 by 50% (in comparison to year 2000). In addition, Honda will verify the backup function for household energy supply, which will provide a sense of security and comfort to the customers. The gas-engine cogeneration system features a multi-link type high expansion ratio engine, the EXlink (Extended Expansion Linkage Engine). The gas-engine cogeneration system offers combined efficiency—the combination of power generation efficiency and heat recovery efficiency—of 92% and enables the efficient use of electricity and heat using city gas or liquid petroleum gas. In the demonstration testing, Honda will study the automatic activation of the cogeneration unit using a battery and verify its effectiveness in the time of an emergency. Envisioning the reuse of electric motorcycle/automobile batteries, Honda will facilitate the development of a home battery unit and verify the functionality of the unit. The Smart e Mix Manager obtains the operation information of each energy device and coordinates each of the devices that compose the HSHS, while it analyzes total household energy usage. Honda will verify the optimal use of household energy, provided by the Smart e Mix Manager, to charge EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Source: Green Car Congress