Location allocation and capacity optimization for a PV and battery integrated hybrid community electric vehicle charging station

The increasing adoption of electric vehicles necessitates suitable charging infrastructure facilities. As uncoordinated home charging facilities sometimes impose negative impacts on the power distribution grid, this paper proposes a residential community charging station. However, the development of this typical infrastructure involves multiple challenges, including suitable location selection and the capacity of the charging station for a targeted area/zone of the community. A two-stage solution method has been developed in this paper, and the first stage identifies the probable locations of the community electric vehicle charging station (CEVCS) based on the concentration of customers at distribution node points. The second stage reveals the optimized capacity of a photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage integrated hybrid CEVCS at the potential locations. The k-means clustering method has been exploited at the first stage to identify potential hybrid CEVCS locations, whereas the second stage utilizes a particle swarm optimization-based solution algorithm to assess the optimistic capacity of the PV and battery for a selected number of EV chargers at the hybrid CEVCS. Further, the capacity optimization models include the uncertainty of the charging behaviour of the residents, as well as the uncertainty in the grid power demand and PV power generation. The possible battery life is quantified and incorporated in the proposed capacity optimization model through an economic framework. Further, multiple typical constraints specific to the development of hybrid CEVCS, including limits of the PV and battery size, state of charge of the battery, limitation of back power flow to the grid, and power balance, are included in the optimization model. The proposed design approach has been tested on a Slovak low-voltage community distribution network, and the delicacy of the hybrid structure over the conventional CEVCS is established.