Design of Solar Powered Charging Station for Electric Vehicle Applications with MPPT Optimization

It has been observed that the current rate of fossil fuels consumption is much higher than their rate of regeneration, and predictions indicate a steep decline in the world’s supply of oil in the coming years. A majority share of petroleum is used by the transport sector. Sustainable development demands a shift from internal combustion engine based vehicles to electric vehicles. Unhindered operation of these electric vehicles calls for developing of reliable charging infrastructure. This paper proposes a solar powered charging station for electric vehicles. To maximise the power output of photovoltaic arrays, Perturb and Observe algorithm based maximum power point tracking is incorporated using a DC boost converter. A battery energy storage system is added to the DC bus through a DC-DC bidirectional converter to increase system reliability. The system is designed to inject and draw power from the grid if necessary through a bidirectional AC-DC converter.