Stochastic analysis of the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the distribution grid

Alternative vehicles, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), become more popular. The batteries of these PHEVs are designed to be charged at home, from a standard outlet in the garage, or on a corporate car park. These extra electrical loads have an impact on the distribution grid. The uncoordinated power consumption on a local scale can lead to grid problems. Therefore coordinated charging is proposed. The exact forecasting of household loads is not possible, so stochastic programming is introduced. The stochastic approach represents an error in the forecasting of the daily load profiles. Two main program techniques are analyzed: quadratic and dynamic programming. The coordination of the PHEVs reduces the power losses and improves the power quality. The estimation of the costs of grid reinforcement must be compared with the cost of the implementation of a smart metering system for the coordination of the charging.