Social welfare-based charging of electric vehicles in the microgrids fed by renewables

Abstract

With an increasing number of electric vehicles, the active involvement of the electric vehicle owners in the electricity market, as well as indirect participation in the power system control, seems to be the only option for stable operation of the power system. However, the electric vehicle owners do not know or care about the operation of the power system and follow just their own interests. Our paper defines an algorithm that controls the charging of electric vehicles within a small grid-connected microgrid with renewable energy source. The power produced from the renewable energy source is utilized to charge electric vehicles, and so maximization of social welfare is secured. The control algorithm solves an optimal control problem with the model predictive control approach taking into account expectations of the development of the future preferences. To motivate electric vehicle owners to participate in such a system, the incentive mechanism is defined so that the truthtelling is an optimal strategy for each participant of the system. Results from the simulation confirmed the stated assumption that the algorithm maximizes utilities experienced by the electric vehicle owners and that truthtelling is the optimal strategy for each participant in the system. Nevertheless, the results showed that the demand for charging followed power produced by the photovoltaic power plant, when possible, so the charging station’s influence on the power system was neglected.