https://my.avnet.com/silica/ BIDIRECTIONAL CHARGING 23 www.power-mag.com Issue 3 2026 Power Electronics Europe Why Bidirectional Charging Is Becoming Central to ZeroEmission Buildings By Thomas Hauer, Field Application Engineer and Power Specialist, Avnet Silica As Europe’s building sector moves toward zero-emission design, energy storage is becoming an increasingly important part of how power is generated, managed, and used. Bidirectional charging (BDC) is helping drive that shift by enabling more flexible integration of onsite renewables, storage, and smart charging. For designers, that creates new opportunities, but also new decisions around topology, efficiency, safety, and scalability. Buildings and Energy Storage In Europe, buildings are the largest energy consumers, which places them at the centre of the EU’s transition toward climate neutrality1 . Since 2020, new EU buildings have been required to meet nearly zero energy building standards. By 2030, this will evolve toward zero-emission buildings, with no on-site fossil fuel emissions and higher overall energy performance. A key implication of this transition is the growing importance of energy storage. Zero-emission buildings will need to integrate electric and thermal energy storage systems to balance supply and demand more effectively. These systems store surplus renewable energy generated onsite for later use, helping to support decentralised generation, better demand response, smart charging, and greater grid flexibility. In this context, power conversion becomes a critical part of overall system design. How BDC Simplifies Power Conversion Traditionally, electric vehicles (EVs) use a unidirectional onboard charger (OBC), largely because of cost and the complexity of meeting grid standards for bidirectional operation within the vehicle. BDC has changed this model by enabling controlled two-way power flow between the grid, energy storage, and connected systems. In building, V2H, and V2G installations, bidirectional conversion is instead handled by the wallbox, charger, or stationary power conversion system, which manages grid synchronisation and energy transfer between the vehicle, storage, and the building. This form of DC bidirectional charging connects directly to the vehicle’s high-voltage DC bus, bypassing the OBC during charging and discharging. As a single point of conversion, this model supports lower system complexity, improved scalability, and more flexible integration of distributed energy resources. The increased flexibility offered by BDC has enabled a wider range of applications, including the integration of EVs with domestic and grid-level power systems, as Figure 1: Energy storage plays a key role in zero-emission building design. Source: onsemi Figure 2: V2G bidirectional charging diagram. Source: Clean Energy Reviews, ‘Bidirectional EV Charging: V2G, V2H, V2L
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=