Design and Analysis of a Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station for Indian Cities

Due to depleting fossil fuel reserves coupled with a climate crisis, sustainability is gaining ground, and electric vehicles (EVs) are emerging to be the new face of this field. However, the idea of EVs will be genuinely sustainable only if they are charged using renewable energy. This paper presents results from the design of a solar-powered EV charging station for an Indian context. PVsyst 7.2 software has been used for the system design. The analysis, based on the number of cars charged annually, the monthly variation in energy generation, the investment cost, and the decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using different module technologies for six Indian cities, has been deliberated. The results indicate that an off-grid 8.1 kWp system with two days of battery autonomy has the fewest unused energy losses, with a good performance ratio (PR). It can completely charge around 414 vehicles of 30 kWh battery capacity annually. This would help to reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 7950 kg. For cities near the equator, maximum energy is produced during March or January, and for cities near the Tropic of Cancer, energy production maximizes during May–June. The overall system has better energy generation and economy when monocrystalline modules are used