Bridging Solar Power and Electric Vehicle Mobility: Infrastructure Design, Global Deployments, and Policy Pathways

Electric vehicle (EV) technologies have become crucial in the current times as they are projected to be one of the major contributors to energy transition in global transportation and power system. They have been identified to offer social, technical, economic, and environmental benefits. Solar and hybrid EV chargers offer more significant advantages over grid‐tied chargers. Despite the many advantages that EVs bring, there are also drawbacks associated with this technology. This paper therefore provides an extensive review on EV charging technologies and methods, international standards, and protocols. The work reviews solar power for EV charging stations, where grid‐tied and off‐grid systems are intensely examined. The system architecture and configuration, and charging station layouts are presented. An in‐depth comparative review of charging technologies’ infrastructure Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operational Expenditure (OPEX) cost analysis is examined. Eight global solar EV charging projects are closely analyzed and compared. From these case studies, lessons learnt and best practices are derived and a summary is provided. The challenges and future trends are also reviewed and presented in this work. The review presented in this work is useful to a wide range of individuals and groups, including but not limited to governments, potential buyers, policymakers, and researchers.