Nissan Brazil Signs MOU with University to Study Applications for Used Batteries

Nissan Brazil has signed an MOU with the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Brazil to test solutions and future applications for used Lithium-ion batteries.

The agreement was formally signed at the UFSC Photovoltaic Laboratory (Center for Research and Training in Solar Energy) in the city of Florianópolis. The signing ceremony was attended by eminent dignitaries like the president of Nissan Brazil, Marco Silva; the provost for research at the institution, professor Sebastião Roberto Soares; and professor Ricardo Rüther, coordinator of the UFSC Photovoltaic Laboratory.

It is expected that there will be future agreements that will make it possible for both organizations to collaborate on purposes for which spent Lithoum-ion batteries from EVs could be used. Initially, Nissan will supply the UFSC with six Nissan LEAF batteries which were previously used in taxis in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as part of a special company project from 2012 to 2016. The joint research will cover the potential for these batteries to be used as energy storage systems as even after using, the batteries retain a high charging and supply capacity
The partnership will study the scope for the potential of EV batteries in energy storage systems, which Nissan calls Xstorage Buildings worldwide in order to generate and collect power independently from the conventional grid. In view of the fact that the average residential electricity consumption in Brazil is 170kWh/month, stored energy in a single battery can be used to meet the needs of a household for three days.

Another area the University and Nissan Brazil will explore is storage of solar power. One of the first applications being planned by researchers will be installed onto the building of the UFSC Photovoltaic Laboratory itself. The electricity obtained through the use of solar panels on the rooftop throughout the day will be stored in a set of Nissan LEAF batteries. This stored energy can then be used during the night, when tariffs are higher.

“This partnership with Nissan is very important for our laboratory because it will allow us to unite the two pillars of our research, which are electric mobility and energy storage,” said Rüther. “We are excited about the wide array of possibilities to repurpose these batteries.”
Nissan had conducted similar research in other parts of the world. In June 2018, Nissan inaugurated Europe’s biggest energy storage system in Holland’s Johan Cruyff Arena, which is powered by 148 Nissan LEAF batteries and does not draw electricity from the grid. In Japan, Nissan and its 4R Energy Corporation affiliate joined with the city of Namie, in the northeast of the country, to install light posts powered by a combination of solar panels with batteries that were used in LEAF vehicles.