A Novel Framework for Monitoring Solar PV based Electric Vehicle Community Charging Station and Grid Frequency Regulation using Blockchain

Abstract

To reduce vehicle emissions and to save the depleting fuel resources, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are gaining more attention due to low operating cost and less carbon footprint. The Renewable Energy Sources (RES) such as Solar PV can be suitably used for fulfilling the high energy demands of EVs. In addition, EVs can be used to provide ancillary services such as energy storage, spinning reserve, frequency and voltage regulation for Grid-connected environment. The major challenge is to develop EV charging station integrated with RES, Grid Power and Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in order to provide these ancillary services. To address these issues, we propose a novel framework for monitoring solar PV based EV community charging station and load frequency regulation using Blockchain technology. In addition, we propose Smart Energy Management Controller (SEMC) which optimally decides the EV charge and discharge operation by considering the present capacity, frequency of the Grid and solar PV availability. We integrate Blockchain technology with the SEMC to record EV owner information, energy status and financial transactions while fulfilling different requirements viz; Owner privacy, data immutability, energy data transparency, tracking and availability with the improved trust among the users. The key features of the proposed framework are analysed.