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

本应用着重于开发一种适当的控制结构来管理电动汽车（EV）充电问题的挑战。考虑到这些系统的高能源需求以及参与人口运输的电动汽车比例不断增加，如果没有适当的规划和有序的充电机制，我们可以预期我们的电力系统会失灵，并对生活和社会造成巨大的破坏。一辆典型的电动汽车从零充电到充满电，对能源的需求可能超过典型家庭一整天的典型能源需求。因此，电动汽车的能源需求可能会使现有的电力系统陷入巨大的困难，这并不奇怪。这可能与电动汽车的预期充电模式有关，例如，司机结束一天的旅行回到家，在晚饭前的某个时间插上电动汽车的电源。在同一个城市、省或地区，成千上万的电动汽车通勤者同时进行无组织的充电，可能会造成需求负荷的巨大峰值，从而进一步危及已经达到极限的电力系统。另一方面，电动汽车充电和能量容量带来了许多有趣的机会，在解决这个问题时也必须考虑这些机会。首先，通过简单地安排电动汽车充电，这样它就不会发生在住宅能源使用高峰期间，这一问题的很大一部分可以得到解决。然而，调用适当调度系统的机制仍然是一个开放的研究问题，也是本应用程序的主要焦点。第二个值得考虑的有趣因素是，电力系统的智能计量正在成为常态。智能电表和智能电网意味着电力系统对需求和供应的变化既被动又主动。有了适当的通讯和控制结构，有关需求和能力的信息就可以传递给潜在的来源，从而获得新的效率。第三，电动汽车电池是一种重要的可配置能量汇，随着绿色能源成为现代电力系统供应星座的一部分，它可能会得到协同应用。绿色能源通常具有不可控的发电周期，例如，与风吹或太阳照耀有关。在此期间，除非能找到一个现成的吸收所产生的能量的地方，否则其他系统必须关闭或至少以次优速率运行。最后，令人兴奋的概念是，当电力系统运行低于要求水平时，电动汽车电池的能量来源可用于补充电力系统，这是一个有趣的未来应用。当然，会有效率和损失的问题，这将使这种方法只在非常具体的情况下可行。

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.