Future workplace EV charging architectures: DC and AC charging choices

Abstract

The evaluation of differences between the electric vehicle (EV) charging architectures is a crucial point in choosing between AC and DC charging solutions, given the diverse requirements of various use cases (e.g. workplace charging). This research paper presents a model and simulation of EV charging architectures, including the grid, photovoltaic (PV), and battery energy storage system (BESS), for varied charging scenarios to investigate the power conversion efficiency of AC and DC charging at 11 kW and 22 kW power levels. The EV chargers are used in different architectures to simulate charging scenarios using grid, PV, and BESS. The simulation parameters incorporate a typical office consumption profile and multiple charging points for both power levels. The simulation results demonstrate that DC charging is superior in both PV and BESS scenarios, with PV charging being more efficient. The daily losses for different charging architectures were extrapolated to weekly and annual losses to elucidate the long-term benefits of PV DC charging.