Development of an Algorithm to Control and Optimize the Charging Process of Group of Electric Vehicles

Dissertação de Mestrado em Energia para a Sustentabilidade apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de CoimbraThe increasing penetration of electric vehicles (EV) usage will require a control system to manage their recharging process. This work proposes the development of a locally decentralized EVs’ charging algorithm, which controls and optimizes the charging process of a group of EVs, based on a binary sequence. In this work the proposed method and the development of the charging algorithm are respectively explained. Then, by simulating various scenarios the performance of the algorithm is assessed. The algorithm controls the charging process in a coordinated way and it was designed to be implemented in a local distribution grid, allowing to accommodate all the EVs without needing to reinforce the grid infrastructure capacity. It considers users’ preferences, such as their desire state of charge, while takes their electricity tariffs into account. The optimization objective was set for the consumers, to minimize the deviation of the actual charging cost from the minimum charging cost. The integration of different EVs’ charging patterns and various types of electricity tariffs, leads to a realistic approach. It was concluded that, through the proposed method, charging a greater number of EVs is feasible without needing to invest in increasing the capacity of the grid infrastructure, while the charging cost for each and every user is kept close to the minimum on