article · Frontiers in Energy Research
As electric vehicles such as electric bikes and auto-rickshaws expand, meeting their energy needs without overwhelming existing power infrastructure presents a major challenge. In countries like Pakistan, the absence of charging facilities raises user costs and limits adoption. To address this, a techno-economic assessment was conducted for a novel solar-powered, grid-tied charging station. The system model incorporates technical, economic, and environmental impacts alongside system losses to identify the best setup for daily charging demands. The evaluated strategy lowers energy costs from 0.200 dollars per kilowatt-hour to 0.016 dollars per kilowatt-hour. It also relieves the power grid by 254,030 kilowatt-hours per year. Operating at an average of 7.7 charging sessions each day, the station consumes only 13 percent of its generated solar electricity for vehicle charging, allowing the remaining 87 percent to be exported to the power grid to generate revenue.
Widespread adoption of lightweight electric vehicles offers affordable and low-emission urban transit, but charging them risks destabilising fragile electricity grids. Demonstrating that solar-powered charging stations can drastically reduce energy costs while exporting surplus electricity back to the network provides a viable roadmap for expanding clean transport infrastructure without overburdening national power distribution networks.
This work provides an applied techno-economic modelling framework for operators of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, urban transport planners, and power distribution utilities. The design suits lightweight commercial electric vehicles like auto-rickshaws and bikes, offering a dual revenue model through charging fees and grid export. Because the abstract details system modelling and techno-economic simulation rather than physical pilot deployment, the approach appears to be at an applied research stage preceding commercial implementation.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The rapid development of electric vehicles (EVs) such as Easy Bike, Auto-Rickshaw, and Electric Bike is a major contributor to global energy concerns. Although electric vehicles are bringing a new dimension to the transportation sector, with advantages such as being the cheapest method of transportation and emitting fewer greenhouse gases (GHGs), the massive amounts of energy required to charge the electric vehicles is a challenging issue. Pakistan is also moving toward the use of electric vehicles however the absence of charging facilities in Pakistan slows down the charging process and increases the prices for electric vehicle users. Finding the requisite charging without threatening the current power infrastructure is one of the most challenging tasks of the present era. Renewable energy-based charging is required to fulfill the charging demand of electric vehicles. To find the best configuration to meet the necessary daily charging demand, this proposed work undertakes a techno-economic assessment for a novel renewables-based grid-tied charging station. The technical, economic and environmental impacts of Solar based grid-tied charging stations are taken into account. Moreover, the results are justified by considering the losses and building the system model. The suggested strategy decreases energy costs from $.200/kWh to $.016/kWh while reducing grid load by 254,030 kWh/yr. Furthermore, the system completes 7.7 charging sessions every day, using 13% of the electricity generated. The remaining 87% of the electricity is sold back to the grid, which generates significant revenue.
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DOI: 10.3389/fenrg.2023.1086793
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