Optimal renewable energy transfer via electrical vehicles

Using electrical vehicles (EV) in transportation systems is more cost effective and environmental friendly than using conventional vehicles. In addition, the energy storage capability and mobility of EVs provide a convenient way to transfer energy from renewable energy sources to locations that have no direct access to renewable energy. As an example, an EV can be charged by a renewable energy source and discharge energy at a charge station; other EVs passing by the charge station can get charged, and hence indirectly use the energy from the renewable energy source. In this paper, we investigate the optimal renewable energy transfer problem in a bus system. Specifically, the goal is to determine how much energy a bus should deposit or withdraw at a charge station so that the total amount of renewable energy used by the bus system is maximized. We formulate and solve the above optimization problem using linear programming. Simulation results using the Manhattan city bus system demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms a baseline scheme and provides an effective way for distributing renewable energy in bus systems.