Optimal Demand Side Response to Real Time Price Signal Using Electric Vehicles

Abstract

The number of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to keep increasing for the coming decades due to their well-recognized potential to decarbonize the global energy system. This paper explores the economic feasibility of residential EVs acting as flexible demands by responding to the price signals within a smart grid framework where EVs discharge at price peaks and recharge when the price is low. The demand side response (DSR) is designed to obtain the objective of energy cost minimization by reacting to price signals in a suitable manner. EV availability is explicitly taken into account in terms of the location of the vehicle and the battery state of charge (SoC), and the cost of battery degradation is also considered in the optimal scheduling of EV charging and discharging. Network constraints in terms of the voltage level of the customer connection points are applied to insure that operation of the grid remains within the statutory limits. This proposed EV scheduling optimization approach is implemented using a case study of a typical domestic distribution network in the UK, in which the real time price (RTP) signal is applied and the UK Time Use Survey (TUS) data is used to provide the vehicle driving patterns and the associated battery SoC information.