The influence of socio-technical variables on vehicle-to-grid technology

Abstract

Vehicle-to-grid technology (V2G) is a novel large scale energy storage option to improve the grid integration of renewable energy sources (RES). Using electric vehicle (EV) batteries to store and provide electricity to the grid, the intermittency of RES can be reduced. However, a successful implementation of this technology depends on various social and technological factors. This study analyses the influence of social and technical factors such as V2G acceptance (percentage of EV users that allow V2G energy transfer), EV battery availability for V2G service (percentage of the EV battery), EV adoption level (number of EVs in EV fleet) and the charger power for the energy transfer between the storage system and grid.Using Germany for the case study, a simulation model is developed and employed for the study. The base simulation results show that Germany needs 190 GW of PV and 170 GW of wind turbine installation to meet 80 % of electricity generation from RES in 2030. Further results show that an increased V2G acceptance and EV battery availability reduces the V2G contribution from individual EVs. A V2G acceptance of only 30 %, using half of the battery capacity dedicated to V2G, can help to reach an hourly reliability of 86.6 %. Having 50 % V2G acceptance, the hourly reliability increases by 5.3 %–91.9 %. The final analysis on charger power and EV adoption level highlights that a normal charger power of 7 kW or 11 kW can successfully accommodate V2G service. The study's overall results indicate that V2G technology will be an effective storage solution for Germany in the future.