The key issues of electric vehicle charging via hybrid power sources: Techno-economic viability, analysis, and recommendations

Recently, electric vehicles (EVs) have been intensively utilized in various parts of the world. Because the use of EVs allows the prompted minimization of fossil fuel consumption, this modern mode of transport is regarded as environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, despite the benefits they afford, EVs cannot be extensively adopted worldwide because of the insufficiency of charging station infrastructures. Accordingly, there have been several attempts to establish EV charging stations supplied by a fossil fuel-powered main grid with electricity. However, these types of charging infrastructures can negatively impact the distribution system and environment; it can therefore result in peak load increment. A potential and efficient solution is the utilization of self-sustainable sources (such as photovoltaic (PV) energy), which can mitigate the adverse effects of fossil fuels. With this solution, the planning of the distribution system should be appropriate to satisfy the load demand because a large number of EVs will be connected to the grid. Because of the increasing importance of this subject, in this manuscript, PV-EV stand-alone connection and PV-EV-Grid in hybrid connection of charging system topologies and their associated control architectures are critically enumerated, presented, and discussed; several perspectives and problems that confront the EV charging technology are also highlighted. Furthermore, the impact of numerous EVs connected to the electricity grid is reviewed, and the analysis of various EV charging scheduling techniques and control topologies proposed in available literature is presented. Finally, research suggestions on the economic value assessment of grid operation and EV load, recommendations, and future research directions are underscored.