Design and Simulation of Romanian Solar Energy Charging Station for Electric Vehicles

Since mid 2010, petrol consumption in the transport sector has increased at a higher rate than in other sectors. The transport sector generates 35% of the total CO2 emissions. In this context, strategies have been adopted to use clean energy, with electromobility being the main directive. This paper examines the possibility of charging electric vehicle batteries with clean energy using solar autochthonous renewable resources. An isolated system was designed, dimensioned, and simulated in operation for a charging station for electric vehicles with photovoltaic panels and batteries as their main components. The optimal configuration of the photovoltaic system was complete with improved Hybrid Optimization by Genetic Algorithms (iHOGA) software version 2.4 and we simulated its operation. The solar energy system has to be designed to ensure that the charging station always has enough electricity to supply several electric vehicles throughout all 24 h of the day. The main results were related to the energy, environmental, and economic performance achieved by the system during one year of operation.