Mitsubishi Motors and Nichicon launch solar farm charging station

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Nichicon Corporation officially launched agricultural charging stations in Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture on February 4, 2014. The charging station can store solar power in a lithium-ion battery and use the stored energy to charge pure electric vehicles (EV).

This system is part of the "Development of Cutting-edge Technologies for Regeneration of Food Production Areas" implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and the Reconstruction Agency. Mitsubishi Motors and Nichicon previously applied for and were selected in the field of "Empirical Research on Unused Energy Utilization in Rural Areas". The agricultural charging station can store electricity generated by solar energy in a lithium-ion battery provided in the charging station, and use CHAdeMO fast chargers to use this electricity for charging pure electric vehicles. Pure electric vehicles will be rented to households near charging stations, and relevant data will be collected on the actual use of pure electric vehicles by farmers and the use of pure electric vehicles' stored electricity in cultivated land. This is said to be the first attempt in Japan to use photovoltaic power for agriculture in a pure electric vehicle.

Through this business, the two companies will explore the use of renewable energy to achieve energy consumption and local consumption without using fossil fuels; by applying it to non-chemical areas, the realization of agriculture that does not rely on system power and uses renewable energy; By using pure electric vehicles, we can contribute to reducing gasoline costs and reducing agricultural production costs; and the possibility of realizing agricultural electrification by using renewable energy charging stations and pure electric vehicles.

In the future, it is planned to set up multiple charging stations that use photovoltaic power generation, wind power, and small hydropower to network them, and conduct relevant verification experiments to build a "smart agricultural network" that can effectively use energy in the community and carry out agricultural production.