PV-Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Preliminary Requirements and Feasibility Conditions

Abstract

Environmental benefits lie in halting direct air pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast to thermal vehicles, electric vehicles (EV) have zero tailpipe emissions, but their contribution in reducing global air pollution is highly dependent on the energy source they have been charged with. Thus, the energy system depicted in this paper is a photovoltaic (PV)-powered EV charging station based on a DC microgrid and includes stationary storage and public grid connection as power source backups. The goal is to identify the preliminary requirements and feasibility conditions for PV-powered EV charging stations leading to PV benefits growth. Simulation results of different scenarios prove that slow charging with long park time could increase PV benefits for EVs and may reduce the charging price, therefore, EV users should be more willing to stay at charging stations. Whereas, for fast charging, EV users should accept the high charging price since it depends on the public energy grid. Energy system distribution and EV’s energy distribution are well presented.