Next Generation Smart-Grid Enabled Electric Vehicle Chargers

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On the electrical distribution system (i.e. within city limits), solar photovoltaic is now the dominant renewable energy source, however it's supply characteristic is highly intermittent due to varied irradiant sun and shading conditions. In addition, electric vehicles, plugged into the distribution system when charging, also present highly variable loads. Ultimately, the role of the electrical utilities is to provide regulated voltage at regulated AC frequency for all load demand conditions from users. The intermittency of renewable power, and variability of electric vehicle charging demands can present problems for the electric utilities in meeting their requirements to users. Smart-grid technologies, including load management and reactive power management are potential techniques that utilities can deploy to ensure reliable power delivery in terms of voltage regulation. In particular, reactive power compensation to the electrical distribution system using electric vehicle chargers is a novel and potentially extremely low cost and effective method to regulate the distribution grid voltage. In order to achieve this goal, novel electric vehicle charging technologies, including charger power architectures and control strategies need to be developed. The objectives of the proposed research program are to demonstrate novel AC-DC electric vehicle battery charging technologies featuring reactive power injection for smart-grid electrical distributions systems. The work will be at power levels at and exceeding 3.3 kilowatts. The program will target projects in three key areas: i) Novel digital control strategies will be developed to minimize distortion, as in traditional power factor correction, but also enable variable phase shift input to allow reactive power to be injected to the electrical grid. ii) A novel compact and high efficiency bi-directional battery charging architecture will be developed for an in vehicle charger. iii) A novel compact and high efficiency bi-directional battery charging architecture will be developed for an off board fast charger. The long term objective of this research program is to develop novel technologies that enable electric vehicle battery chargers to increase capacity on the electrical distribution system for both renewable energy generation and the number of electric vehicles without requiring costly system upgrades.