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Nissan smart home powered by Leaf battery

A major theme at the Ceatec 2011 tech show outside Tokyo was power savings, exemplified by Nissan's Smart Home concept.

Tim Hornyak
Crave freelancer Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots." He has been writing about Japanese culture and technology for a decade. E-mail Tim.
Tim Hornyak
 
Nissan's Smart Home sits on stilts above a parking area. Tim Hornyak/CNET

MAKUHARI, Japan--Following the March 11 quake and tsunamis in Japan that caused widespread power shortages, the Ceatec 2011 electronics trade show outside Tokyo is taking up electricity savings as a major theme.

Nissan's NSH-2012 Smart House of the Future concept is part of a Smart Community Zero zone showcasing technologies that operate off the power grid.

The house stands on stilts to maximize space, with a parking area underneath it. Aside from solar and fuel cells that help make the home independent of the power grid, the polyhedral structure can draw electricity from the battery of an electric car such as the Nissan Leaf.

This Vehicle to Home, or V2H, system would provide power to the home in cloudy skies or the event of a natural disaster. Nissan said the Leaf's battery pack would be able to power the house for two days.

Other residence concepts on display at the trade show included plans for Panasonic's Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, a low-CO2 community that won the Ceatec Grand Prix in the "prosperous and ideal lifestyle and society" category.

Check out more pics from Ceatec 2011 in the gallery below.

Scenes from Ceatec 2011 (photos)

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