A Grid-Interfaced DC Microgrid-Enabled Charging Infrastructure for Empowering Smart Sustainable Cities and Its Impacts on the Electrical Network: An Inclusive Review

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Smart Cities

Abstract

Highlights: What are the main findings? The challenges associated with transportation electrification, grid-integrated DC microgrids, and universal standards to be followed for EV integration with the grid are explored comprehensively. The positive and negative impacts of EV charging infrastructure on the utility grid are discussed in detail. A case study is performed to analyse the negative impacts of EV load on the voltage profile and power loss of the IEEE 33 bus distribution system. What are the implications of the main findings? The grid-integrated DC microgrid-enabled charging infrastructure offers decentralised energy governance. The universal standards for EV integration with the grid create a need for global collaboration among automakers and utilities. The need for voltage regulation devices, smart charging, power quality monitoring, and sustainable energy sources is emphasised in grid-integrated DC microgrid-based charging infrastructure. Global warming and the energy crisis are two significant challenges in the world. The prime sources of greenhouse gas emissions are the transportation and power generation sectors because they rely on fossil fuels. To overcome these problems, the world needs to adopt electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources (RESs) as sustainable solutions. The rapid evolution of electric mobility is largely driven by the development of EV charging infrastructures (EVCIs), which provide the essential support for large-scale EV adoption. As the number of CIs grows, the utility grid faces more challenges, such as power quality issues, power demand, voltage instability, etc. These issues affect the grid performance, along with the battery lifecycle of the EVs and the charging system. A charging infrastructure integrated with the RES-based microgrid (MG) is an effective way to moderate the problem. Also, these methods are about reframing how smart sustainable cities generate, distribute, and consume energy. MG-based CI operates on-grid and off-grid based on the charging demand and trades electricity with the utility grid when required. This paper presents state-of-the-art transportation electrification, MG classification, and various energy sources in the DC MG. The grid-integrated DC MG, international standards for EV integration with the grid, impacts of CI on the electrical network, and potential methods to curtail the negative impact of EVs on the utility grid are explored comprehensively. The negative impact of EV load on the voltage profile and power loss of the IEEE 33 bus system is analysed in three diverse cases. This paper also provides directions for further research on grid-integrated DC MG-based charging infrastructure.

DOI

10.3390/smartcities8050176

Publication Date

10-1-2025

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