Electric and Plug-In Cars: effects on the grid
With the rising numbers of “electric vehicles” and “plug-in hybrid vehicles” that are being introduced into the market, there is a need to assess the impact of integrating a large pool of electric and plug-in cars and vehicles into the system. Majority of these cars can be adapted into “vehicle to grid (V2G) applications in future “smart grid networks” that requires for “bidirectional” energy flows from the vehicles and the power grid. The “plug-in” cars can offer a number of grid services such as monitoring and “spinning” storage, or create revenue streams by trading in power at varying times by way of “variable price curves.”
The framework evaluated here is comprised of eight interlinked inverters linked to the power distribution system grid by way of a “step up transformer.” The dual “Smart Parks” are linked to each other by a transmission facility 15 kilometers long; in a typical urban setting, these parking/charging facilities will be interspersed with a number of facilities in the area.
The cost of power that was used in establishing the revenue potential of the project was derived from the “California Independent System Operators (CAISO) system. The revenue can be adduced by setting side by side the purchases as well as the discharges of the system; utilities can help in determining the best times for both activities to generate increasing revenue flows for the operators. Nevertheless, flaws of fluctuations in the power grid can be extremely damaging to the V2G vehicle’s systems; here, state of the art protection and regulation systems must be used in order to safeguard the car as well as the integrity of the system, ensuring viability and efficacy of the system in the future (Venayagamoorthy, Mitra, Corzine, Huston, 2009., pp. 3937-3941).
References
Venayagamoorthy, G.K., Mitra, P., Corzine, K., Huston, C. (2009). Real time modeling of distributed plug-in vehicles for V2G transactions Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition
