The Clean Team has conducted a series of experiments to analyze the effects of Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) on the power grid serviced by Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC). The team produced a Colored Petri Net (CPN) Tools model to demonstrate the effects of PEVs’ charging at different rates on the power grid. A NetLogo model was created to demonstrate the effects of PEVs on the power grid in addition to providing power back into the grid. NOVEC provided all the customer usage data used in the analysis, while the Clean Team interpolated and concluded their results.
The CPN Tools model was designed to look at the architectural layout of the power circuit infrastructure and what it would look like if PEHVs were added into the day to day consumption of electricity by residential customers. The model was run giving a worst-case scenario whereby each household had one PHEV that required charging on a daily basis. The model was run to show the impact of charging at any time over a 24 hour period. The model was set up so that the number and duration of charging could be modified to visualize different scenarios. The model was also constructed to allow for the setting of a threshold to help render brown-out or black-out situations. Though deterministic in nature, the model serves as a good visualization tool for readily capturing the impacts of different levels of PHEV usage on a given power circuit.
The NetLogo model was designed to assist the analysis of future PEVs on the NOVEC service community. The model assumed a PHEV-40 Economy battery would be the standard battery for PEV’s. The model also assumed that the house’s charge profile would be constant, that the grid could take electricity back from the PEV’s if needed, and that the PEV’s would be parked and connected to the grid 80% of the time.
As with any analysis, the results are based on the data provided at the time of the analysis along with access to public records and legislative rulings on the matter. It is the Clean Teams’ recommendation that NOVEC implement some guidelines of their own to their customers on when and how they may charge their PEVs. Since there is no global standard on the rate of charge for PEVs, a suggestion to NOVEC is to allow rate incentives to PEV owner to charge at a slow level 1 rate during off-peak hours.