A Novel Idea for Self-Balancing Car Parks for Plug in Electric Vehicle Charging

Andrew D. Clarke, Elham B. Makram

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/jpee.2014.210005                

Abstract

Many existing studies seek to examine and mitigate possible impacts which plug in vehicle (PEV) charging will have on electric utilities. As PEVs increase in popularity, car parks will have to be built in order to allow for charging while away from home. Existing studies fail to consider the unbalance conditions in the distribution feeders to car parks during PEV charging. This paper presents an innovative idea to improve the unbalance conditions caused by a car park by reconfiguring PEV charger connections to a three-phase system. Although the developed algorithm is simple, results show its ability to balance the power among the phases. A car park is used as an example to show that balancing of the real power drawn by PEV chargers in a parking structure is a success.

Keywords

Unbalance, Electric Vehicles, Power System Control, Smart Grid

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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