Optimal Location of PV Powered Smart Charging Facilities With Energy Storage for Electric Vehicles

Increasing charging facilities to service electric vehicles (EVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) leads to increased stress on the existing electric grid. PV integrated charging stations (PVCS) supplemented with energy storage have provided promising results in reducing dependency on the electric grid for charging PHEVs. Despite advances in power electronics used to interface PVCS with the grid, random charging patterns, structural contingencies and intermittency of solar energy creates the inevitable issue of random power penetration and adoption to/from the grid. To maximize the benefits of PVCS they should be integrated into the distribution network at optimum locations. A well planned and operated PVCS would provide several benefits to the distribution network such as reduction in power losses, voltage regulation and reactive power support.

This paper proposes a new method for optimally siting PV powered PHEV charging facilities with energy storage in a distribution network under stress due to heavy penetration of PHEVs. The performance of the proposed heuristic method is demonstrated through a case study using an IEEE 30-bus system.