Bidirectional EV Charging Allows Deep Decarbonisation of the UK Residential Sector

Bidirectional EV Charging Allows Deep Decarbonisation of the UK Residential Sector | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Bidirectional EV Charging Allows Deep Decarbonisation of the UK Residential Sector Anaïs Berkes, David Reiner, Srinivasan Keshav This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5919809/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Charging an electric vehicle (EV) from a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system, aided by the EV being parked at home for some or all of the time, substantially reduces a household's monthly electricity bill, its cost for an energy storage system, and its CO 2 emissions. These benefits improve dramatically with bidirectional charging, where the EV is allowed to discharge electrical energy. We find that, at the household-level, each individual element significantly reduces both costs and emissions and their simultaneous adoption has substantial additional benefits. For example, a household with a PV system and an electric vehicle used only for occasional commutes emits up to 66% less CO 2 than a household that has neither. At the national level, 90% adoption of bidirectional residential EV charging could reduce the UK's CO 2 emissions by nearly 55%. Therefore, we urge policymakers and regulators to encourage the rapid adoption of bidirectional EV charging from residential solar PV. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy modelling Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Renewable energy/Solar energy Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy storage Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy infrastructure Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5919809","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":411117286,"identity":"cb0c0174-88d9-4308-a7ca-4f162cfa8876","order_by":0,"name":"Anaïs Berkes","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAsklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNoYPFXBOAnFaGGecIVULM2cbKVr4px1+9phxnp28bgPzww+MbWmEtUjcTjM3LtyWbLjtAJuxBGNbDhHOup3DJj1z2wHGbQcYzBgY2yoI65AHaeGdc8B+2wH2b8RpMQBraTiQuO0AD8gWIhxmCPSL4YxjycnbDvMUSyScI8L7creTnz34UGNnu+14+8YPH8qSCWtBAGYGYiNyFIyCUTAKRgFBAABmPzeWPY2EjgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2899-8976","institution":"University of Cambridge","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anaïs","middleName":"","lastName":"Berkes","suffix":""},{"id":411117287,"identity":"9b0340d0-da5e-49f7-9db8-2cb9c37132f1","order_by":1,"name":"David Reiner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Cambridge","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"","lastName":"Reiner","suffix":""},{"id":411117288,"identity":"38c99b1a-7cec-4ce7-8e34-de8ffe4acd60","order_by":2,"name":"Srinivasan Keshav","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6549-0464","institution":"University of Cambridge","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Srinivasan","middleName":"","lastName":"Keshav","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-28 16:26:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5919809/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5919809/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":75468782,"identity":"a773ed7f-e9c7-44f4-b610-eedd974657e7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-05 02:23:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1127180,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"PaperwithSI.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5919809/v1_covered_d800cf2c-9e1b-470f-bbb0-8606b6f9682d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Bidirectional EV Charging Allows Deep Decarbonisation of the UK Residential Sector","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5919809/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5919809/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCharging an electric vehicle (EV) from a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system, aided by the EV being parked at home for some or all of the time, substantially reduces a household's monthly electricity bill, its cost for an energy storage system, and its\u003cem\u003e CO\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e emissions. 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