A Techno-Economic Assessment of DC Fast-Charging Stations with Storage, Renewable Resources and Low-Power Grid Connection

Abstract

The growing demand for high-power DC fast-charging (DCFC) stations for electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to lead to increased peak power demand and a reduction in grid power quality. To maximize the economic benefits and station utilization under practical constraints set by regulatory authorities, utilities and DCFC station operators, this study explores and provides methods for connecting DCFC stations to the grid, employing low-power interconnection rules and distributed energy resources (DERs). The system uses automotive second-life batteries (SLBs) and photovoltaic (PV) systems as energy buffer and local energy resources to support EV charging and improve the station techno-economic feasibility through load shifting and charge sustaining. The optimal sizing of the DERs and the selection of the grid interconnection topology is achieved by means of a design space exploration (DSE) and exhaustive search approach to maximize the economic benefits of the charging station and to mitigate high-power demand to the grid. Without losing generality, this study considers a 150 kW DCFC station with a range of DER sizes, grid interconnection specifications and related electricity tariffs of American Electric Power (AEP) Ohio and the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Various realistic scenarios and strategies are defined to account for the interconnection requirements of the grid to the DCFC with DERs. The system’s techno-economic performance over a ten-year period for different scenarios is analyzed and compared using a multitude of metrics. The results of the analysis show that the the integration of DERs in DCFC stations has a positive impact on the economic value of the investment when compared to traditional installations.