Investigation of Solar Powered EV Charging StationPotential

Abstract: The worldwide fast growth of the transportation sector contributes to a large andgrowing share of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Swedish TransportAdministration report indicates that emissions from domestic transport increasedin 2018. Having an idea that the workplace parking lots have the potential toincrease the share of renewable energy production in Sweden, an investigation forthe solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station is conducted. This studyaims to clarify the knowledge on what the potentials are, financial assessment, andassessment of the photovoltaic (PV) self-consumption of EV charging in theworkplace charging station. Without knowledge about the highlighted parameters,investors may hesitate to invest in a PV project such as a solar-powered EV chargingstation system. To achieve the objective of this thesis, appropriate tools and/orsoftware are used. PV'SOL software tool is used for simulation and analysis ofenergy system efficiency with EV charging station integrated for different PVsystems deployed in the same location of Sweden. This software tool allows thedesign and calculations of the PV system and EV charging station integrated.Currently registered cars in Sweden indicate that EVs are dominating and will keepthe pulse in the future. This domination will enforce more need for electricity, callfor renewable energy use, and promising significant GHG emissions reduction –sustainable environment. The study has proven that there is no immense insolationin Sweden, thus, the power converter can be undersized up to 30 % with respect tothe PV array to reduced energy loss. A feasible solar-powered EV charging stationrequires several factors such as initial investment (EV charging station, PV module,inverter, transport and installation, operation, and maintenance, etc.), andelectricity trading rate. The study of five PV system cases showed that the increasein size significantly increases the self-sufficiency ratio while self-consumption ratiodecreases. By increasing the PV array, both levelized cost of electricity and paybackperiod were considerably decreased as was intended. However, the more PV arrayincreased in size the more initial investment is required. Study on GHG emissionsof the solar-powered EV charging station as well as the deployment of local energystorage and EV smart charging are recommended as future works.