Integration of Renewable Energy into Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Abstract

Electric vehicles have great potential to help reduce the United States’ oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions if used on a large scale. However, consumers have shown concern with the dependability of electric vehicles due to their limited charging infrastructure and long charging times. Furthermore, the electrification of transportation allows for the ability to be powered by renewable energy. Renewable energy would reduce gas emissions even further, but the sources of energy are known to be intermittent. This paper proposes a distributed battery storage system to close the gap between renewable energy production and consumers’ demand. In this system, electric vehicle charging stations, instead of charging vehicles directly from the grid and energy sources, would store energy in batteries. The proposed system seamlessly integrates renewable energy as it compensates for its intermittent nature by allowing energy to be charged in proportion to the rate electricity is produced. The objective of the proposed system is to integrate renewable energy without compromising energy reliability at electric vehicle charging stations.