Standalone Photovoltaic–Battery DC Fast-Charging Station for Off-Grid Electric Vehicles: Design, Simulation and Consistency Verification

Fast chargers for electric vehicles are hard to supply in rural areas with a weak or absent grid. This paper presents the design and simulation of a standalone photovoltaic (PV) DC fast-charging station with battery storage. The station combines a 60.2 kWp array (5 modules in series, 29 strings), a boost converter with a tuned perturb-and-observe (P&O) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller, a 220.8 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery energy storage system (BESS) and a two-port 50 kW charger, sized for four vehicles and 200 kWh per day. The model was corrected for scaling errors, its voltage levels were aligned with the selected components, and the converter parameters were justified at the rated array power. With a duty-cycle step of 0.2% every 5 ms the P&O controller settles in 0.28 s and extracts 99.99% of the available power at standard test conditions and at least 99.97% during steps and ramps of irradiance and temperature. All simulated voltages, currents and powers stay within the datasheet ratings, the power balance closes to within 10−6, and the charging time is 1.5 to 1.6 times the minimum that the 25 kW ports allow. Daily simulations with variable irradiance, cell temperature and a four-vehicle charging profile give an overall PV-to-vehicle efficiency of 83 to 86%. The array meets the daily demand on a partly cloudy day with 4.5 peak sun hours but serves only 74% of it on an overcast day with 3.2 peak sun hours. The results are compared with published off-grid charging studies.

Standalone photovoltaic system, electric vehicle fast charging, battery energy storage, MPPT, boost converter, MATLAB/Simulink

1. Atawi, I. E., Hendawi, E., & Zaid, S. A. (2021). Analysis and design of a standalone electric vehicle charging station supplied by photovoltaic energy. Processes, 9(7), 1246. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9071246 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ayompe, L. M., Duffy, A., McCormack, S. J., & Conlon, M. (2011). Measured performance of a 1.72 kW rooftop grid connected photovoltaic system in Ireland. Energy Conversion and Management, 52(2), 816–825. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Ayop, R., & Tan, C. W. (2018). Design of boost converter based on maximum power point resistance for photovoltaic applications. Solar Energy, 160, 322–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.12.016 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Batzelis, E. (2019). Non-iterative methods for the extraction of the single-diode model parameters of photovoltaic modules: A review and comparative assessment. Energies, 12(3), 358. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Borhanazad, H., Mekhilef, S., Saidur, R., & Boroumandjazi, G. (2013). Potential application of renewable energy for rural electrification in Malaysia. Renewable Energy, 59, 210–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2013.03.039 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Chakraborty, S., Vu, H.-N., Hasan, M. M., Tran, D.-D., El Baghdadi, M., & Hegazy, O. (2019). DC-DC converter topologies for electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fast charging stations: State of the art and future trends. Energies, 12(8), 1569. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12081569 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Chandra Mouli, G. R., Schijffelen, J. H., Bauer, P., & Zeman, M. (2017). Design and comparison of a 10-kW interleaved boost converter for PV application using Si and SiC devices. IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, 5(2), 610–623. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Dai, Q., Liu, J., & Wei, Q. (2019). Optimal photovoltaic/battery energy storage/electric vehicle charging station design based on multi-agent particle swarm optimization algorithm. Sustainability, 11(7), 1973. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Elma, O. (2020). A dynamic charging strategy with hybrid fast charging station for electric vehicles. Energy, 202, 117680. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Esram, T., & Chapman, P. L. (2007). Comparison of photovoltaic array maximum power point tracking techniques. IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 22(2), 439–449. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEC.2006.874230 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Femia, N., Petrone, G., Spagnuolo, G., & Vitelli, M. (2005). Optimization of perturb and observe maximum power point tracking method. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 20(4), 963–973. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2005.850975 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Gao, Y., Zhang, X., Cheng, Q., Guo, B., & Yang, J. (2019). Classification and review of the charging strategies for commercial lithium-ion batteries. IEEE Access, 7, 43511–43524. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2906117 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. García-Triviño, P., Torreglosa, J. P., Fernández-Ramírez, L. M., & Jurado, F. (2016). Control and operation of power sources in a medium-voltage direct-current microgrid for an electric vehicle fast charging station with a photovoltaic and a battery energy storage system. Energy, 115, 38–48. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Ghotge, R., van Wijk, A., & Lukszo, Z. (2021). Off-grid solar charging of electric vehicles at long-term parking locations. Energy, 227, 120356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.120356 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Grande, L. S. A., Yahyaoui, I., & Gómez, S. A. (2018). Energetic, economic and environmental viability of off-grid PV-BESS for charging electric vehicles: Case study of Spain. Sustainable Cities and Society, 37, 519–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.12.009 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Hashim, N., Salam, Z., Johari, D., & Ismail, N. F. N. (2018). DC-DC boost converter design for fast and accurate MPPT algorithms in stand-alone photovoltaic system. International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems, 9(3), 1038–1050. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. He, F., & Fathabadi, H. (2020). Novel standalone plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging station fed by solar energy in presence of a fuel cell system used as supporting power source. Renewable Energy, 156, 964–974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.04.141 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Hussain, A., Bui, V.-H., & Kim, H.-M. (2020). Optimal sizing of battery energy storage system in a fast EV charging station considering power outages. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 6(2), 453–463. https://doi.org/10.1109/TTE.2020.2980744 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Ishaque, K., Salam, Z., & Lauss, G. (2014). The performance of perturb and observe and incremental conductance maximum power point tracking method under dynamic weather conditions. Applied Energy, 119, 228–236. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Kazem, H. A., Khatib, T., & Sopian, K. (2013). Sizing of a standalone photovoltaic/battery system at minimum cost for remote housing electrification in Sohar, Oman. Energy and Buildings, 61, 108–115. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Kymakis, E., Kalykakis, S., & Papazoglou, T. M. (2009). Performance analysis of a grid connected photovoltaic park on the island of Crete. Energy Conversion and Management, 50(3), 433–438. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Leone, C., Peretti, C., Paris, A., & Longo, M. (2022). Photovoltaic and battery systems sizing optimization for ultra-fast charging station integration. Journal of Energy Storage, 52, 104995. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Li, Y., Li, K., Xie, Y., … Fu, C., & Liu, B. (2020). Optimized charging of lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles: Adaptive multistage constant current–constant voltage charging strategy. Renewable Energy, 146, 2688–2699. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Martinez Lopez, V. A., Žindžiūtė, U., Ziar, H., Zeman, M., & Isabella, O. (2022). Study on the effect of irradiance variability on the efficiency of the perturb-and-observe maximum power point tracking algorithm. Energies, 15(20), 7562. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Mehrjerdi, H. (2019). Off-grid solar powered charging station for electric and hydrogen vehicles including fuel cell and hydrogen storage. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(23), 11574–11583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.03.158 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Pradhan, A., & Panda, B. (2018). A simplified design and modeling of boost converter for photovoltaic system. International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 8(1), 141–149. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Prem, P., Sivaraman, P., Sakthi Suriya Raj, J. S., Jagabar Sathik, M., & Almakhles, D. (2020). Fast charging converter and control algorithm for solar PV battery and electrical grid integrated electric vehicle charging station. Automatika, 61(4), 614–625. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Santos, J. L., Antunes, F., Chehab, A., & Cruz, C. (2006). A maximum power point tracker for PV systems using a high performance boost converter. Solar Energy, 80(7), 772–778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2005.06.014 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Shen, W. X. (2009). Optimally sizing of solar array and battery in a standalone photovoltaic system in Malaysia. Renewable Energy, 34(1), 348–352. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Shiva Kumar, B., & Sudhakar, K. (2015). Performance evaluation of 10 MW grid connected solar photovoltaic power plant in India. Energy Reports, 1, 184–192. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Toledo, F. J., Blanes, J. M., & Galiano, V. (2018). Two-step linear least-squares method for photovoltaic single-diode model parameters extraction. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 65(8), 6301–6308. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Villalva, M. G., Gazoli, J. R., & Filho, E. R. (2009). Comprehensive approach to modeling and simulation of photovoltaic arrays. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 24(5), 1198–1208. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2009.2013862 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Yan, Q., Zhang, B., & Kezunovic, M. (2019). Optimized operational cost reduction for an EV charging station integrated with battery energy storage and PV generation. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 10(2), 2096–2106. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSG.2017.2788440 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Yap, K. Y., Chin, H. H., & Klemeš, J. J. (2022). Solar energy-powered battery electric vehicle charging stations: Current development and future prospect review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 169, 112862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112862 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• The Impact Of UI/UX Design on User Trust and Task Completion in Civic Tech Platforms
• Solar Cell Photovoltaic Model Shell Sp 75
• Development of an Intelligent Traffic Management System to Address Visibility Obstruction at Urban Intersections: A Case Study of Ibadan Metropolis
• Optimum Placement of Facts Devices on an Interconnected Power Systems Using Particle Swarm Optimisation Technique
• Assessing Construction Transformation and Implication on Future Production Flow System