Diverse Effects of EV Charging Infrastructure on Electric Power Distribution Systems

The advanced technology of today has allowed for an avenue into cleaner forms of energy that will not only protect our environment but also continue to advance our society. Among the many forms of clean energy, electric vehicles (EV) have the potential to mitigate our consumption of fossil fuels in vehicle transportation industries. In the U.S. for 2021, EVs account for approximately 700,000 registrations. That number is projected to increase to 2 million by 2030. Although EVs do reduce the number of emissions when compared to an internal combustion engine, they do however shift the responsibility to utility companies to improve the methods used to generate electrical power. This could potentially negate the purpose of establishing EVs for clean energy. Currently there are two main categories of charging systems: conductive power transfer, which is a typical plug-in style charging station, and wireless power transfer (WPT), where electrical power is transferred from a transmitter coil to a receiver coil installed underneath the chassis of an EV. A sub-category of a WPT called Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT) will be presented in this MS Thesis defense. These systems operate similar to a WPT; however, the EV is capable of charging while in motion. This could potentially create several hazardous conditions because electrical power demands will fluctuate depending on traffic flow and how fast EVs are traversing the system. The work described in this thesis focuses on determining the effects that two different EV charging infrastructures may have on electrical power distribution systems. The proposed methodologies will analyze conductive power transfer systems at residential locations and DWPT roadway EV in-motion charging systems. This thesis will present a methodology to convert historical traffic flow data to be used within a DWPT roadway simulation to alleviate the complications associated with EV in-motion charging, and how utility companies can mitigate EV load demands without increasing consumptions of fossil fuels by implementing distributed energy resources (DER). Thus, the major contributions of this thesis are as follows. Chapter 3 contributes to the development of (i) complex simulations that utilize conductive power transfer EV charging infrastructures at residential locations, and (ii) demonstration of the effectiveness of photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) to mitigate load demands at residential distribution levels. Chapter 4 contributes to (i) the development of methods to convert historical traffic flow data into accurate EV traffic flows assuming predetermined EV density levels, (ii) construction of EV behavioral algorithms to determine the amount of energy being supplied and consumed within a DWPT roadways, (iii) determine the potential effects that a DWPT roadway could have on electrical power distribution systems to provide comprehensive understanding in voltage magnitude fluctuations, and (iv) provide a means for data collection for DWPT roadway EV in-motion charging. Chapter 5 contributes in understanding (i) load mitigation strategies using PV and BESS in a DWPT roadway EV in-motion charging infrastructure, and (ii) PV and BESS sizing methods that provide adequate accommodation to DWPT roadways power demand