Modeling and Evaluation of a Solar-powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station in a Public Transportation System

This work presents a model of a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station aimed at increasing energy efficiency and improving the operations of an electric tricycle (E-trike) fleet. The system was designed based on the actual charging characteristics of the fleet. Using the System Advisory Model (SAM) software, the system was modeled while considering the specifications of off-the-shelf components and assumptions based on the installation requirements relevant to the deployment site. The performance of the charging station was observed during the deployment period and validated using the SAM model. The deployed system was able to supply 96% to 99% of the charging station energy demand. Simulations using the model indicated that the maximum allowable degradation of the system is at 50% of this base performance, at which point the grid is expected to supply more. The simulated energy generation approximates the actual generation of the system with increasing accuracy from 20% up to 96.4%. Although the model predicted possible instances when the battery storage may reach critical levels, no such events occurred during the months of deployment.