Smart scheduling of PHEVs in PV integrated charging facilities based on DC link voltage sensing

Coordination and scheduling the charging of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in parking lots integrated with photovoltaic (PV) system presents both unique opportunities and challenges. In most of the cases PHEVs are assumed to stay in the parking lot for several hours. To facilitate the maximum usage of PV power, the charging times of PHEVs have to be scheduled to coincide with the periods of high irradiation. In view of this, this paper presents a real-time smart scheduling algorithm (SSA) that uses a set of priority levels and the change in DC link voltage level to schedule the charging of PHEVs in a PV based charging facility. The priority levels are defined based on the arrival time, departure time, the initial state-of-charge and the battery capacity of the PHEVs. The developed SSA is aimed at reducing the overall cost of charging the PHEVs, mitigating their impact on the distribution network and also contributes to peak shaving. In order to validate the proposed SSA, simulations are carried out using the MATLAB/SIMULINK toolbox.