Optimization of Home Energy Usage by Intelligently Charging/Discharging EV/PHEV

In this paper, the problem of energy cost minimization for residential home equipped with electric drive vehicles is considered. In future residential homes, electric drive vehicles, including Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and all-electric vehicles (EVs), are expected to be common due to the growing energy cost and the need for improving efficiency and energy sustainability. In this context, a constrained optimization problem is formulated for home owners to take advantage of controlling when and how the EVs/PHEVs are charged or discharged in order to minimize their energy cost while keeping the vehicle ready for their daily commute. By taking into account the nonlinear characteristics of the battery charging and discharging, and realistic energy pricing from government agencies such as ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), a nonlinear programming solution is derived using the sub-gradient search algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.