Optimal Charging Scheduling of Solar Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles Considering On-the-Road Solar Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Due to the emergence of the new type of electric vehicles called solar plugin hybrid electric vehicles (SPHEV), the effect of the solar panel installed on top of this vehicle on its charging behavior, becomes significant. This paper proposes an optimization model with a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation that utilizes the effect of solar panels and two separated batteries provided in SPHEVs for optimal charging scheduling. The objective function is to minimize the total daily charge cost of the vehicle by taking into account the constraints of electric vehicles and parking lot. Also, the solar irradiation curve and shading effects are considered to analyze the charging of the SPHEV in the parking lot and during on-the-road trips. The model analyzed a sample parking lot and the results show that the charging cost of SPHEV is significantly reduced when compared with other types of electric vehicles.