Cost Optimization Techniques for EV Charging Stations Based on Renewable Energy Sources and Grid Power

Adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) reduces air pollution by reducing harmful gas emissions. Such adoption, however, needs a reliable and convenient charging infrastructure, including smart EV charging. Renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic cells, battery and wind energy systems can address these infrastructural gaps which work in conjunction with main grid power supply thereby providing low-cost electricity. This paper introduces an energy management algorithm for integrated renewable and grid power sources available at charging stations across India that considers techno-economic and environmental factors.

The current work proposes a supervisory controller model that manages the load power demand of the charging station. The controller effectively deploys low cost energy sources based on the status of all available power supplies and reduces the overall charging costs in real time. The energy management algorithm ensures adequate stand-alone energy generation and storage at charging station for charging electric cars, even when renewable energy generation is low for variable charging load.