Feasibility and economic analysis of electric vehicle battery secondary utilization to reduce wind and photovoltaic abandonment

Abstract

Abstract The Chinese government has been very supportive of electric vehicles (EVs); however, the disposal of retired batteries from EVs must be carefully considered. Renewable energy, such as photovoltaic (PV) and wind power, whose output cannot be controlled, often use batteries to smooth production. For this reason, using retired EV batteries in renewable energy applications such as PVs and wind power, rather than new batteries, is considered an up-and-coming solution because retired EV batteries have a lower cost. In this paper, we will analyze both its feasibility and economics. The Chinese government’s support for EVs and the requirement for renewable energy consumption rates make it feasible to apply retired EV batteries to renewable energy. For the cost of retired EV batteries, we give the cost variations with different module capacities, different sizes, and different failure rates; if the battery energy storage is used in low electricity price situations such as in the home, it is difficult to make a profit, but if it is used in high electricity price situations such as factories, it is perfect when the economic benefits are taken into account. If the price of electricity in factories is RMB 1/kWh, the retired battery can start to make a profit after about 400 cycles, which is only about 25% of its life cycle.