Real time operation in Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Stations

considering demand side management and distributed energy resources

5 - System Dynamics, Modeling, & Control 

Note: Do not include author names or affiliation anywhere in the digest – the review process is double blind

ABSTRACT
The work presents an electric vehicle (EV) charging management system in charging stations (EVCS) that have distributed
energy resources (DER). The proposed management system aims to meet the recharge of vehicles that had their recharge
scheduled in advance, in order to ensure greater reliability for EV users. In the approach performed, scheduled and unscheduled
recharges are met considering the operation in real time, where uncertainties relating to the initial state of charge (SoC) and start
time of recharges of vehicles with scheduled recharge are performed. For system modeling, a real-time algorithm is used, which
includes the multi-period planning of the operation based on a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model. In addition to
meeting the recharges and managing the distributed energy resources of the EVCS, the proposed management system serves
demand response signaling issued by the distribution network operator. As a result, the behavior of the algorithm is evaluated as
satisfactory as it meets the deviations observed in real-time operation and in the management of recharges in smart charging
operation mode, contributing together with the photovoltaic (PV) generation and battery energy storage system (BESS) to meet
the signaling of demand response.

1. INTRODUCTION
Recently, renewable energy generation and electric vehicles (EV) have increasingly attracted society's attention.

The growth in the use of generation from distributed energy resources (RED) with an intermittent characteristic,

together with the growth in the number of EV, will require future electric distribution systems to operate with a

higher level of management aimed at integrating the flexibility existing in the various elements that constitute this

system [1,2]. Along with this growth, the number of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) in operation had an

increase of approximately 45% between the years 2018 and 2019 [3]. Although the expansion of both EVs and

EVCS presents itself as a way to benefit the environment, still, an uncoordinated operation of these resources can

cause problems to the performance of the electric power system.

Charging stations equipped with RED energy generation and storage allow energy resource management

techniques in the EVCS to play an important role capable of integrating the technical aspects of distribution grid,

small-scale distributed generation, battery energy storage, EV and energy consumption in a network with advanced

information and communication technologies [4,5]. The combination of renewable energy and storage systems in

EVCS provide a promising solution to alleviate energy demand, thus allowing the realization of demand response in

1
order to meet restrictive technical criteria from the operational point of view of the distribution system, as discussed

in [6,7].

In the literature, one can find numerous works dealing with the management of the charging infrastructure in the

EVCS, however, a large part of the existing bibliographies assume that the decision maker has full knowledge of the

operational status of the EVs in the period of planning the service of recharges, disregarding the deviations that

occur during the effective service of recharges [8-11].

Another important aspect in the management approach of EVCS with RED is the provision of demand response

actions, as can be seen in [12]. However, the vast majority of approaches neglect the operation of the EVCS

considering in their operation demand control signals provided by the operators of the distribution system [11-15].

In the present work, an EVCS management system with RED is developed to meet recharges that are scheduled

in advance to promote greater reliability for EV users, in addition to serving unscheduled vehicle recharges that

arrive at the EVCS throughout the day. To meet these recharges, a management system for real-time operation is

developed, capable of dealing with operating deviations observed in the execution of scheduled recharges, based on

the deviations observed in the initial SoC and start time of the recharge scheduled in the EVCS. In addition, the

management system contributes to the operation of the distribution network operator, responding to demand

response signals reported throughout the day, in real time. The model also presents flexibility regarding the

discretization of the system, being able to operate with discretization in the place of seconds by using a fast

execution approach through optimization based on a MILP model.

2. DEVELOPED METHODOLOGY
In the proposed EVCS management system, the existence of RED in the EVCS through photovoltaic (PV)

generation and battery storage (BESS) is considered. These RED elements are electrically connected to the EVCS

electrical system through a hybrid inverter, which connects PV and BESS to the electrical grid through a single

equipment. The EVCS charger includes the EV chargers and the EVCS auxiliary load, which are necessary to power

the EVCS basic infrastructure equipment, such as: computers, lighting, monitoring, air conditioning. The electrical

system considered in the modeling is represented in Figure 1, where the electrical connections assumed between the

different elements that make up the system are presented.

2
 Fig. 1 EVCS system layout

From the electrical system shown in Figure 1, the mathematical model used to represent the energy flow of the

management system considered in the proposed approach is developed, with the system having the 24-hour

discretized into N periods.

To implement the management system proposed for real-time operation from the mathematical developed

model to represent the EVCS, which is not fully demonstrated in this work, but which for its complete

implementation consists of a mixed integer linear programming model, we have a model that is dynamically solved,

its algorithm being executed at each discretized period of time. The dynamic execution of the algorithm is

performed based on the flowchart shown in Figure 2. From the execution of the algorithm in real time, the operating

deviations related to the arrival time and initial SoC of the EVs with scheduled recharge, as well as new unscheduled

recharges that the EVCS must meet, the EVCS operation dynamics are added so that they are integrated into the

EVCS management optimization routine.

3. CASE STUDY
It was considered for the preparation of the case study that the simulated EVCS has characteristics similar to the

first charging station with an ultra-fast charger in the state of Rio Grande Sul - Brazil, installed at the Federal

University of Santa Maria (UFSM) Campus from an R&D project (P022 /2019) financed by ANEEL and COPEL

and developed in partnership with UFSM, a system that should be used for practical application of the management

system is presented in this work. The EVCS installed at UFSM comprises an ABB 93kW charger, PV system and

storage system with lithium ion batteries.

3
 Fig. 2 EVCS algorithm flowchart

To simulate the deviations during real-time operation of the variables related to scheduled recharges, the Monte

Carlo process was used, considering the maximum deviation of 15 minutes from the EV arrival time at the EVCS

and 10% of the initial SoC provided for in the start of recharges. (All data considered in the simulations performed

will be made available in the Github repository to be informed in the final version of this article.)

In order to evaluate the behavior of the proposed management system, the behavior of the EVCS operation

during demand response (RD) signaling period is shown in Figure 3, which in the operation without RD had a peak

recharge demand of approximately 80kW, during this period reduced peak demand to 40 kW. For this, both smart

charging and BESS discharge were used, which supplied the EVCS demand during RD signaling at a power close to

10kW. In this case, it can be observed that the joint use of the management of recharges in smart charging, the PV

energy generated in the EVCS and the operation of the storage system were able to reduce the EVCS demand by

more than 50kW, while still meeting the EVCS scheduled and unscheduled recharges. Thus, it can be evaluated how

the use of the recharge management strategy and the BESS operation carried out by the proposed management

system can be beneficial for the operation of the electric network, while managing the distributed energy resources

and meeting this growing load that are the EV recharges.

4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK

In this work, an EVCS management system with RED was presented, which proved to be able to meet the

recharges of EV during real-time operation, where deviations from the initially foreseen conditions during the

operation planning stage were considered, based on the scheduled recharges . In addition to ensuring that EV

recharges are met, the proposed management system has shown its ability to manage the DER resources available in

the EVCS and to control EV recharges in smart charging mode to provide the electrical system with a flexible

4
operation based on demand response signaling imposed by the distribution operator on the EVCS. Thus, it is

concluded that the proposed management system meets the intended operation criteria.

Fig. 3 EV recharge profiles

Furthermore, it is known that the developed model can be improved to ensure an even more efficient and

reliable operation. For the next steps, the need to integrate the dynamic behavior of the battery management system

(BMS) of the EV with the recharge planning model into the management model is foreseen, in order to assume the

non-linear and dynamic behavior of this element in the optimization process. Another aspect expected for the next

steps is the practical implementation of this model to manage the EVCS installed at the Federal University of Santa

Maria, which should take place by mid 2022, when other improvements must occur in the model so that it meets the

recharge of electric vehicles in the operation carrying out the control of chargers and BESS.

REFERENCES

[1] M. K. Daryabari, R. Keypour, and H. Golmohamadi, “Stochastic energy management of responsive plug-in electric
vehicles characterizing parking lot aggregators,” Appl. Energy, vol. 279, no. June, p. 115751, 2020, doi:
10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115751.
[2] S. Singh, P. Chauhan and N. J. Singh, "Feasibility of Grid-connected Solar-wind Hybrid System with Electric Vehicle
Charging Station," in Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 295-306, March 2021, doi:
10.35833/MPCE.2019.000081.
[3] I. E. A. IEA, “Global EV Outlook 2020,” Paris, Tech. Rep., 2020, international Energy Agency. Available:
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2020.

5
 [4] A. Zahedmanesh, K. M. Muttaqi and D. Sutanto, "A Cooperative Energy Management in a Virtual Energy Hub of an
Electric Transportation System Powered by PV Generation and Energy Storage," in IEEE Transactions on Transportation
Electrification, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 1123-1133, Sept. 2021, doi: 10.1109/TTE.2021.3055218.
[5] X. Hou, J. Wang, T. Huang, T. Wang and P. Wang, "Smart Home Energy Management Optimization Method
Considering Energy Storage and Electric Vehicle," in IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 144010-144020, 2019, doi:
10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2944878.
[6] Y. Wu, J. Zhang, A. Ravey, D. Chrenko, and A. Miraoui, “Real-time energy management of photovoltaic-assisted
electric vehicle charging station by markov decision process,” J. Power Sources, vol. 476, no. June, 2020, doi:
10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228504.
[7] Mohammad, A., Zamora, R., & Lie, T. T. (2020). Integration of electric vehicles in the distribution network: A review of
PV based electric vehicle modelling. Energies, 13(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/en13174541.
[8] B. Zeng, H. Dong, R. Sioshansi, F. Xu and M. Zeng, "Bilevel Robust Optimization of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
With Distributed Energy Resources," in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 5836-5847, Sept.-Oct.
2020, doi: 10.1109/TIA.2020.2984741.
[9] N. Lasla, M. Al-Ammari, M. Abdallah e M. Younis, "Blockchain Based Trading Platform for Electric Vehicle Charging
in Smart Cities," in IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems , vol. 1, pp. 80-92, 2020, doi: 10.1109 /
OJITS.2020.3004870.
[10] B. Singh, A. Verma, A. Chandra and K. Al-Haddad, "Implementation of Solar PV-Battery and Diesel Generator Based
Electric Vehicle Charging Station," in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 4007-4016, July-Aug.
2020, doi: 10.1109/TIA.2020.2989680.
[11] H. E. Oliveira Farias et al., “Combined Framework with Heuristic Programming and Rule-Based Strategies for
Scheduling and Real Time Operation in Electric Vehicle Charging Stations,” Energies, vol. 14, no. 5, p. 1370, 2021, doi:
10.3390/en14051370.
[12] T. Zhao, Y. Li, X. Pan, P. Wang, and J. Zhang, “Real-Time Optimal Energy and Reserve Management of Electric
Vehicle Fast Charging Station: Hierarchical Game Approach,” IEEE Trans. Smart Grid, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 5357–5370, 2018, doi:
10.1109/TSG.2017.2687522.
[13] M. K. Daryabari, R. Keypour, and H. Golmohamadi, “Stochastic energy management of responsive plug-in electric
vehicles characterizing parking lot aggregators,” Appl. Energy, vol. 279, no. June, p. 115751, 2020 .
[14] M. S. Kuran, A. Carneiro Viana, L. Iannone, D. Kofman, G. Mermoud, and J. P. Vasseur, “A smart parking lot
management system for scheduling the recharging of electric vehicles,” IEEE Trans. Smart Grid, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 2942–2953,
2015, doi: 10.1109/TSG.2015.2403287.
[15] Zou, D., Meng, D., Dai, Y., Lu, S., & Xie, H. (2021). Optimal Charging Strategy of Electric Vehicles with
Consideration of Battery Storage. E3S Web of Conferences, 236, 0–4. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202123602015