Flexible Control using a Multi-Agent Systems for Sustainable Electric Vehicle Charging

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This application focuses on the challenge of developing an appropriate control structure to manage the issues around Electric Vehicle (EV) charging. Given the high energy demands of these systems and the ever increasing percentage of EVs participating in the transportation of our population, if appropriate planning and orderly charging mechanisms are not put into place, we can expect our power systems to fail and to create a huge disruption to life and society. The demand for energy of a typical EV being charged from zero to fully charged rivals and possibly exceeds the typical demand for energy of the typical household over an entire day. Thus it is not surprising that EV energy demands could put the existing power systems into significant difficulty. This may be compounded by the expected charging patterns for EVs, such as for example, drivers returning home from a day of travel and plugging in their EVs sometime just before the supper hour [de Hoog]. This unorganized but simultaneous charging by thousands of EV commuters in the same city, province or region could further jeopardise the power system, already taxed to its limit, by creating huge peaks in the demand load. On the other hand, there are a number of interesting opportunities that EV charging and energy capacity bring to the discussion that must also be considered whileaddressing this issue. First, by simply scheduling EV charging, so that it does not occur during periods of peak residential energy usage, a significant part of the problem can be addressed. However, the mechanism to invoke the appropriate scheduling system remains an open research issue and is the primary focus of this application. A second interesting factor to consider is that the smart metering of power systems is becoming the norm. Smart metering and the smart grid means that the power system is both reactive and proactive to changes in demand and supply. With the appropriate communication and control structures in place, information about demand and capacity can be relayed to potential sources and new efficiencies can be obtained. Third, EV batteries represent an important configurable sink for energy which may find synergetic application as green energy sources become part of the constellation of supply in the modern power system. Green energy sources typically have uncontrollable cycles for power generation which are connected to when, for example, the wind blows or the sun shines. During these periods, unless a ready sink for the generated energy can be found, other systems have to be shut off or at least operated at suboptimal rates. Finally, the exciting concept that the energy source of the EV battery be made available to supplement the power system at times when the power system is functioning below required levels, is an interesting future application. There will of course be issues of efficiency and losses which will make this approach viable only in very specific circumstances.