Electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology. How utilities can play a role

Abstract

Adverse effects of fossil fuel burning internal combustion engine vehicles has alarmed nations worldwide. With recent technological advancements in electric vehicle industry, governments throughout the world are promoting wider adoption of electric vehicles to mitigate environmental issues. However, increasing popularity of electric vehicles will pose a great threat to existing electric grids due to added load of electric vehicles in power systems distribution network. This study provides solution to stabilize electric grid health in the form of two objectives. First, to develop a fast charging station to reduce consumer anxiety problems related to slow charging stations. The charging setup designed in this study caters two issues; one, to charge EV batteries in minimum time and two, provide utilities with active and reactive power support using EV batteries and charging station, respectively. The second objective of this study is to develop smart charging strategy for the benefit of electric utilities and EV owners. The approach adopted in this study to develop smart charging schedule is based on optimization technique to minimize cost of charging for both, electric utilities and EV owners. This will essentially level utility load throughout the day by providing power to charge EV batteries during off-peak hours, and, on the other hand, utilities will take power from EV batteries for peak power shaving during peak power demand hours of the day. The optimization method adopted in this study is particularly quadratic programming to minimize cost of charging.