Design of charging unit for electric vehicles using solar power

This paper presents a charging process undergone for electric vehicles in parking lot areas. It allows us to evaluate a wide range of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) charging scenarios and the corresponding control strategies. In addition, this allows us to explore a variety of communication technologies for a PHEV/PEV charging facility. The charging scheme used here is monitored by Arduino board. Some vehicles are parked during the day at workplace parking garages and can be charged from the solar energy using Photo-Voltaic (PV) cell based charging facilities. The charging with solar energy helps to reduce the emissions from the power grid but increases the cost of charging. Moreover, it offers more flexibility to prepare for the emergence of new technologies (e.g., Vehicle-to-Grid, Vehicle-to-Building, and Smart Charging), which will become a reality in the near future. The simulation results provide a general overview of the impact of the proposed charging scenarios in terms of voltage profiles, peak demand, and charging cost.