Smart Charging Strategies for Electric Vehicle Charging Station /

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) and smart buildings (SBs) are popular concepts of modern societies which aim at promoting public welfare and a green environment. In this work, we present smart charging strategies for EVs parked in an SB to minimize the daily energy cost of the SB. The SB is modeled with a hybrid energy system (HES) which utilizes electricity and gas energy to fulfill the requirements of electrical and thermal loads. The components of the SB such as EVs, renewable energy resources, and fuel cells are mathematically modeled, and their physical constraints are defined. An optimization model for minimization of the energy cost of the SB is developed which implements smart EV charging strategies. Four EV charging strategies, ranging from simple uncontrolled and unscheduled charging to schedulable adaptive smart charging, are presented for the sake of discussion and comparison. The results reveal that scheduling of EV charging is beneficial in general; and optimal results for the consumer and the utility are realized when flexible charging, in terms of charging current and charging time, is deployed. This research work also highlights some future research avenues in this interesting area.