Advanced Modular Photovoltaic System for Plug-in

Small Electric Vehicles (PsEV)

Bogdan-Alexandru ONOSE1, Mihai Aurelian HANEK1, Gabriel VĂTĂ‫܇‬ELU1, Lucian Nicolae DEMETER2
1
Icpe: Energy Department, Bucure‫܈‬ti, România
2
Icpe: Electrotechnical Materials and Environmental Technologies Department, Bucure‫܈‬ti, România

Abstract— The paper presents an advanced modular photovoltaic 50% 45%

system designed for Pug-in Small Electric Vehicles (PsEV) 45% 40%
electricity supply in remote applications. The concept is based on 2013 2014 2015
40%
the modularity of the photovoltaic (PV) power supply system
35%
(PVbox) that can be multiplied in order to fully cover the
30%
electricity demand of each application. Based on that the
21% 20%
interconnection between multiple PVboxes is done via an 25%

Intelligent Connection System (ICS) specially designed for this 20%

application. During the design phase the adaptability of the 15%

9% 10% 8%
system was the primary focus that determined the PVbox to work 10% 6%
6% 4% 6%
3% 3% 4% 2% 4%
as an off-grid system with the battery storage capacity included 5% 1%
2% 2% 1%

and an on-grid back-up (in available). The idea was to make the 0%
PVbox compact and lightweight, with the maximization of the
photovoltaic (PV) power output of the system. Another key factor
was the development of an innovative energy management system
to cover the possibility of supplying a wide range of plug-in small
electric vehicles (PsEV). An in-depth analysis was made to refine Figure 1. Market share of PsEV sold in EU from 2013 to 2015
the PV system solution in order to maximize the system potential (Source: www.statista.com)
with the results presented below. The results of the paper show During the next 10 years, PsEV in the region are expected to
that the advanced modular photovoltaic system for plug-in small
evolve from a specialty commuting or recreation device to a
electric vehicles (PsEV) can be a good alternative for off the grid
and remote applications.
standard bicycle form that is accessible to nearly all bike
consumers [2, 3]. Overall, the global e-bike market is projected
to grow over the forecast period (2016-2025) with details
I. INTRODUCTION presented in figure [2].
Electric small vehicles continue to be the highest selling on
the planet. Improving lithium ion (Li-ion) battery technology is
resulting in plug-in small electric vehicles (PsEV) that are
lighter, lower in cost, and remarkably similar to traditional ones.
Additionally, increasing urbanization and a desire to move away
from cars for motorized transportation are opening up more
opportunities for alternative mobility devices [1-3].
Annual sales of total PsEV in the world’s largest market,
China, are expected to grow considerably over the forecast
period due to strong development in Li-ion battery technology
and decreasing costs.
Western Europe continues to achieve steady and significant
growth in plug-in small electric vehicles (PsEV) sales, with
Germany being the top buyer with 40% in 2015 of market share
followed by The Netherlands with 20% in 2015 as presented in Figure 2. Annual PsEV Sales, China and the Rest of the World: 2016-2025
figure [1]. (Source: Navigant Research)

978-1-5386-2382-4/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

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 EV2017 www.evshow.ro

Excluding China, the global e-bike market is forecast to

achieve strong growth—rising from 3.3 million annual unit
sales in 2016 to nearly 6.8 million units by 2025.
The growth expected is based also on the implementation for
electric motors in all types of small urban transportation
devices.
The biggest success is gained from: e-wheel, e-scooter, e-bike
with have also a lower price and are very compact in size witch
make them ideal for urban transport detailed in figure [3].

Figure 3. Market sector for different type of plug-in small electric vehicles
(PsEV)
Figure 5. Local demand profile and EV charging in the European Union on a
typical day (Source: IEA (2017b))
II. IMPACT
The impact of plug-in small electric vehicles (PsEV) on the III. TECHNOLOGY
power system requires to keep a balance between demands and
distributed consumption points. The technology behind the advanced modular photovoltaic
The bulk of electric small vehicles charging is expected to system is based on converting the energy from the sun to power
occur at homes and businesses or in public charging facilities. plug-in small electric vehicles (PsEV) in urban environment [4,
Rising PsEV penetration is thus likely to have an impact on 5, 6].
low-voltage distribution grids in residential or commercial areas The system will integrate a PV production system, a dc-dc
first. charger controller and dc-ac inverter in order to create a 3 phase
In addition, PsEVs, in contrast with other loads on electric network to power the PsEVs.
distribution networks, are not stationary. A greater The concept started from the modularity aspect and is
understanding of PsEV charging patterns and technologies will intended to be integrated in a box / container and interconnected
thus be necessary to ensure their appropriate integration into with other similar systems in order to increase the capacity of
distribution grids [4]. the electricity converted from the sun presented in figure [6].
When new loads are incorporated into the grid, this translates
into guaranteeing both sufficient energy and capacity are
available on demand.
Based on the analysis done so far the additional energy
demand from PsEV loads is sizeable but largely manageable as
shown in figure [4].

Figure 6. Concept of advanced modular photovoltaic system for plug-in small

electric vehicles (PsEV)

The concept will incorporate monitoring and control

Figure 4. Impact of PsEV deployment on global electricity demand
(Source: IEA (2017b))
To place these concepts in context, in figure [5] is shown the
additional residential load that can occur from PsEV charging
during a typical day, in the European Union in 2030.
According to this assessment, unmanaged charging would
result in an increase in peak power draw of roughly one-third.
innovative elements for load distribution and extending power
availability to the end user. Based on that an intelligent
connection system (ICS) will be developed witch allow the off-
grid (stand-alone) structure adaptable to a PV on-grid system
for additional power availability during the day [7, 8, 9].
This will make possible to connect several modular PV
systems in order to boost the power availability presented in
figure [7].

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 EV2017 www.evshow.ro

The battery pack will have 16 batteries at 12V with 4000 Ah

Figure 7. System modularity based on the Intelligent Connection System
(ICS) developed for the PV system
The idea was to go beyond actual monitoring systems that
rely on each equipment / system individual communication
protocol and create a unified system in order to have a singular
monitoring and control web interface accessible at local or
remote level.
The integration of “internet of things” concept to this system
is quite a challenge done by developing a custom web integrated
server platform specific for this application [10, 11].
In order to fully blend easily in the urban environment the
modular system need to be as compact as possible witch add
several technological challenges for optimal equipment
displacement for improving the heat displacement inside the
module.
An innovative component was developed for the intelligent
control algorithm to maximize the power output and prioritize
charging based on their importance. Also the battery pack state
of charge is taken into account and all this information is
monitored and processed in the intelligent control algorithm.
IV. DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS
The concept of the advanced modular system (PVbox) for
PsEV is based on a PV energy conversion system that will be
mounted on the box / container with the conversion equipment
and necessary protection mounted inside. This setup will enable
the PVbox to be more flexible and easy to move / setup were
the energy is required.
The solar generator consists of 24 panels with a total power
of 6.0 kWp. The dc solar panels are connected to the charge
controller for dc charge in the battery pack and to the inverter
for dc-ac energy conversion in order cover the necessary loads
detailed in figure [8].
total storage capacity that can cover only a part of the energy
demand in a specific location. The battery pack configuration
will be at 48V with a total of 1000 Ah storage capacity.
Based on the intelligent control algorithm the load
distribution will be done automatically to improve the charge
time of each an individual device. This will ensure the
maximization of the resources and provide users with the best
possible experience when charging a PsEV.
V. PERFORMANCE AND DIAGNOSTICS
Starting from the design of the PVbox, due to the technical
limitations of the solar systems, one of the most important
aspect was to ensure maximum of performance from the system
which translates into number of PsEV charged by one PVbox
per day [12,13].
Based on this hypothesis and using special PV simulation
software (PVSol) a series of simulation wore done to optimize
hardware configuration of the PVbox.
As an input for simulation the photovoltaic system
components were added and detailed a simulated load in order
to determine the limits of the system. Based on the utility of this
system the winter period was not simulated, only from March –
October.
The results presented in figure [9] show that the system can
cover 4,43 MWh/year from the PV system and battery pack.
The performance ratio in order to cover the simulated load of
4,75 MWh/year is very good of 93,3%.
Figure 9. PVbox performance ratio based on load / year
In order to truly evaluate the performance of the PVbox
system a realistic operation scenario was determined in order to
calculate the theoretical number of possible charges per day for
every type of PsEV.
For this purpose a range of PsEV were evaluated and the
most representative from each category has chosen with the
technical specifications presented in table [1].

TABLE I. GENERIC PSEV TECHNICAL DATA

PsEV Technical Data

type e-Wheel e-Scooter e-Bike e-ATV e-Cart

Motor 100W 350W 350W 2000W 4000W

Voltage 12V-24V 24V-36V 36V 48V 48V

Battery Li-Ion Li-Ion Li-Ion Li-Ion Li-Ion

Max.
15km 20-30km 30-50km 60-80km 60-80km
range
Max.
10km 15-20km 40-60km 70-90km 70-90km
Figure 8. Photovoltaic system schematic diagram speed

The battery pack designed in the PVbox was designed to The calculation shows that the PVbox is capable of charging
have the possibility to charge PsEV also in the periods without up to 300 e-wheels/day only from the battery pack and 750 e-
sun or cloudy days when the PV production is limited. wheels/day from the PV system and battery pack combined. For

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 EV2017
an e-scooter or e-bike the results are similar with 75 pcs/day
from the battery pack and 180 pcs/day from the PV system and
battery pack combined presented in figure [10].
Figure 10. Daily rated performance for different type of plug-in small electric
vehicles (PsEV)
VI. CONCLUSION
The results presented in this article provide a solid base for
further development of the PVbox system in order to provide an
ecofriendly and reliable solution for PsEV charging in remote
locations.
The performance of the PVbox, more than justify the
development of this type of RES supply system with the added
value given by the extended autonomy provided by the battery
pack installed.
The PVbox system can be easily used in parks or public
places, at different events, in parking lots and even in local
public institutions or schools, due to its compact design and
intelligent load management system.
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Due to the increase in public awareness and market of PsEV
this system can become a viable way of charging a PsEV on the
go without having to worry about the autonomy of a small
electric vehicle.
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