Characterisation of harmonic interactions between electric vehicle battery chargers and PV inverters

This paper presents and discusses some initial results of the measurement and assessment of the harmonic characteristics of electric vehicle (EV) chargers and photovoltaic (PV) inverters, which are tested individually and when connected in different combinations to the same phase of a programmable three-phase LV supply in the laboratory. The range of possible harmonic interactions is assessed for three source impedance values and three characteristic supply voltage waveforms. The presented results can help in understanding how the exchange of energy between the grid, power electronic loads (EV chargers) and inverter-interfaced distributed generation (PV inverters) could be assessed in terms of the anticipated “smart grid” transformation of electricity networks.