Ricoh Demonstrates “Solar + Reused Storage Battery” for Data Center
Demonstration equipment using reused storage batteries
(Source: Ricoh)
Ricoh's cyclical business flow
(Source: Ricoh)
On November 25, Ricoh built a demonstration facility using used storage batteries that reused used electric vehicle batteries for an "edge data center" to be installed near users. It announced that it was connected and started operation.
With the progress of digital technology, distributed edge data centers (edge DCs) that process information near users are attracting attention, and there is a possibility that power consumption at edge DCs will increase in the future. This time, for the further use of renewable energy, we have built a power storage system for edge DC with the aim of absorbing the output fluctuations of renewable energy and stably supplying power.
We have developed a system that can mix and use reusable storage batteries with different specifications and characteristics for each vehicle model. The demonstration system constructed this time uses two types of lithium-ion storage batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid vehicles (HEV). In addition, by taking advantage of the high output characteristics of HEV batteries and the large capacity characteristics of EV batteries, conversion efficiency has been improved by unifying the system to direct current.
The battery is charged with electricity from existing solar power generation equipment. The output of the solar panel is about 19 kW, and the storage battery uses a reused product, so the exact capacity is not announced. In the demonstration experiment, the generated power is supplied to a device (electronic load device) that simulates edge DC power consumption.
It was adopted by the Ministry of the Environment's 2021 "Regional Co-Creation/Cross-Sector Carbon Neutral Technology Development and Demonstration Project (Technology Development and Demonstration Project to Strengthen CO2 Emissions Reduction Measures)" and has been conducting demonstration evaluations. This time, we will start demonstration experiments of the power storage system and aim to build a new business model by identifying issues and customer needs for commercialization.
