An official website of the United States government
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is underway globally and EVs are expected to become more widely adopted in the coming years. One of the main characteristics of EVs is that they are not only seen as mean for transportation but also potentially as a flexible energy storage resource in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications. This paper proposes a resilience analysis on the feasibility of using EVs for power restoration and supply of residential networked microgrids (MGs) experiencing a power outage due to extreme weather. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of utilizing EVs as a backup power supply during an outage, various case studies are presented considering different scenarios and resilience metrics. Test results demonstrate that EVs can satisfy the energy requirements of a residential household for more than 6 hours but, also provide power to the distribution grid through MG aggregation.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on March 1, 2026
Fuel cell technology review: Types, economy, applications, and vehicle-to-grid scheme
This study conducts a thorough review of fuel cell technology, including types, economy, applications, and V2G scheme. Fuel cells have been considered for diverse applications, namely, electric vehicles, specialty vehicles such as warehouse forklifts, public transportation including buses, trains, and ferries. Other applications include grid-related, stationary, and portable applications. Among available five types of fuel cells, PEMFC is presently the optimal choice for electric vehicle usage due to its low operating temperature and durability. Meanwhile, high temperature fuel cells such as MCFC and SOFC currently remain the best choice for utility and grid related applications. The economy of fuel cells has been continuously improving and has been illustrated to only grow into a potential main source of sustainable energy soon. With the transportation sector, as fuel cell electric vehicles evolve, V2G technology is beneficial towards energy efficiency and fuel cell economy. There is evidence for V2G using FCEV being more advantageous in comparison to conventional BEVs. The costs of the five types of fuel cell vary from US$1784 to US$4500 per kW capacity. The findings are beneficial for researchers and industry professionals who wish to gain comprehensive understanding of fuel cells for adoption and development of the emerging low-emission energy solutions.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2318611
- PAR ID:
- 10610985
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
- Volume:
- 75
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 2213-1388
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 104229
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
The integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into the electric power distribution system poses numerous challenges and opportunities for optimizing energy management and system operations. Electric vehicle grid interfaces (EVGIs), essentially bidirectional power converters, allow for charging/grid-to-vehicle (G2V) and discharging/vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power transfers. A power dispatch estimation (PDE) model for V2G, based on availability of EVs in a distribution system and capabilities of the distribution system, is needed to assist in grid operations. This paper presents the development of a PDE model based on nodal power flows to capture the complex spatiotemporal dependencies inherent in G2V and V2G patterns. The hierarchical structure of a distribution system, feeder to EVGI node, is taken into consideration for PDE. Typical PDE estimation results are presented for the IEEE 34 test node feeder distribution system allocated with EVGIs.more » « less
-
The development of new technologies is increasing transportation electrification and electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to become even more popular in coming years. High EV adoption rates can increase the potential to use EVs as an energy resource and operate in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H). This paper focuses on the resilience analysis of using EVs and roof-top solar photovoltaic systems (PVs) to provide power support in network microgrids (MGs) experiencing an outage due to extreme weather conditions. To determine the effectiveness of using EVs and PVs as backup energy resources, a set of resilience metrics are evaluated for different cases and duration. Simulation results show that the management of EVs and PVs in residential networked MGs could provide power support for several hours during the restoration of a distribution system experiencing an outage.more » « less
-
Abstract Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles due to benefits in improved fuel economy, lower operating cost, and reduced emission. BEVs use electric motors rather than fossil fuels for propulsion and typically store electric energy in lithium-ion cells. With rising concerns over fossil fuel depletion and the impact of ICE vehicles on the climate, electric mobility is widely considered as the future of sustainable transportation. BEVs promise to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the transportation sector. However, mass adoption of BEVs faces major barriers due to consumer worries over several important battery-related issues, such as limited range, long charging time, lack of charging stations, and high initial cost. Existing solutions to overcome these barriers, such as building more charging stations, increasing battery capacity, and stationary vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) charging, often suffer from prohibitive investment costs, incompatibility to existing BEVs, or long travel delays. In this paper, we propose P eer-to- P eer C ar C harging (P2C2), a scalable approach for charging BEVs that alleviates the need for elaborate charging infrastructure. The central idea is to enable BEVs to share charge among each other while in motion through coordination with a cloud-based control system. To re-vitalize a BEV fleet, which is continuously in motion, we introduce Mobile Charging Stations (MoCS), which are high-battery-capacity vehicles used to replenish the overall charge in a vehicle network. Unlike existing V2V charging solutions, the charge sharing in P2C2 takes place while the BEVs are in-motion, which aims at minimizing travel time loss. To reduce BEV-to-BEV contact time without increasing manufacturing costs, we propose to use multiple batteries of varying sizes and charge transfer rates. The faster but smaller batteries are used for charge transfer between vehicles, while the slower but larger ones are used for prolonged charge storage. We have designed the overall P2C2 framework and formalized the decision-making process of the cloud-based control system. We have evaluated the effectiveness of P2C2 using a well-characterized simulation platform and observed dramatic improvement in BEV mobility. Additionally, through statistical analysis, we show that a significant reduction in carbon emission is also possible if MoCS can be powered by renewable energy sources.more » « less
-
Lithium-ion batteries, which power portable electronics, electric vehicles, and stationary storage, have been recognized with the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The development of nanomaterials and their related processing into electrodes and devices can improve the performance and/or development of the existing energy storage systems. We provide a perspective on recent progress in the application of nanomaterials in energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and batteries. The versatility of nanomaterials can lead to power sources for portable, flexible, foldable, and distributable electronics; electric transportation; and grid-scale storage, as well as integration in living environments and biomedical systems. To overcome limitations of nanomaterials related to high reactivity and chemical instability caused by their high surface area, nanoparticles with different functionalities should be combined in smart architectures on nano- and microscales. The integration of nanomaterials into functional architectures and devices requires the development of advanced manufacturing approaches. We discuss successful strategies and outline a roadmap for the exploitation of nanomaterials for enabling future energy storage applications, such as powering distributed sensor networks and flexible and wearable electronics.more » « less
