EDITORIAL: Japan's role in battling global warming Asahi Shimbun
On the morning of one sunny day during the Golden Week holidays, you and your family decide to visit an amusement park.
Just two days ago, you made a trip in your electric vehicle, but the vehicle's battery is already fully recharged using electricity generated by solar panels on the roof of your house, as instructed the previous day by the home energy management system (HEMS).
After your family leaves the house, the solar power generation system comes into full operation. When the entire family is away from home in the electric vehicle, which also serves as a storage battery, electricity consumption is close to zero.
Under such circumstances, most of the electricity generated by the solar panels is fed back into the power grid for sale to electric utilities.
Meanwhile, the regional electric power company starts receiving signals from smart meters installed at many households indicating that the electricity being produced is surpassing consumption. To avoid a power glut, the automatic supply control system starts lowering the output of the company's thermal power plants.
