Solar Powered Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles

A Sustainable Development

Larry E. Erickson, Jessica Robinson, Gary Brase, Jackson Cutsor, Larry E. Erickson, Jessica Robinson, Gary Brase, Jackson Cutsor

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781315352978
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Conservation & Protection
• Index: Biological Sciences

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change adopted on December 12, 2015 is a voluntary effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reach the goals of this agreement, there is a need to generate electricity without greenhouse gas emissions and to electrify transportation. An infrastructure of SPCSs can help accomplish both of these transitions. Globally, expenditures associated with the generation, transmission, and use of electricity are more than one trillion dollars per year. Annual transportation expenditures are also more than one trillion dollars per year. Almost everyone will be impacted by these changes in transportation, solar power generation, and smart grid developments. The benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions will differ with location, but all will be impacted.

This book is about the benefits associated with adding solar panels to parking lots to generate electricity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide shade and shelter from rain and snow. The electricity can flow into the power grid or be used to charge electric vehicles (EVs). Solar powered charging stations (SPCSs) are already in many parking lots in many countries of the world. The prices of solar panels have decreased recently, and about 30% of the new U.S. electrical generating capacity in 2015 was from solar energy. More than one million EVs are in service in 2016, and there are significant benefits associated with a convenient charging infrastructure of SPCSs to support transportation with electric vehicles.

Solar Powered Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles: A Sustainable Development aims to share information on pathways from our present situation to a world with a more sustainable transportation system with EVs, SPCSs, a modernized smart power grid with energy storage, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and better urban air quality. Covering 200 million parking spaces with solar panels can generate about 1/4 of the electricity that was generated in 2014 in the United States. Millions of EVs with 20 to 50 kWh of battery storage can help with the transition to wind and solar power generation through owners responding to time-of-use prices.

Written for all audiences, high school and college teachers and students, those in industry and government, and those involved in community issues will benefit by learning more about the topics addressed in the book. Those working with electrical power and transportation, who will be in the middle of the transition, will want to learn about all of the challenges and developments that are addressed here.

1

Introduction

Larry E. Erickson, Gary Brase, Jackson Cutsor, and Jessica Robinson

CONTENTS

1.1 Solar Power and Electric Vehicles

1.2 Solar Powered Charging Stations (SPCSs)

1.3 Air Quality

1.4 Battery Storage and Infrastructure

1.5 Employment

1.6 Trillion Dollar Research Challenge

1.7 Real Time Prices for Electricity

1.8 Shaded Parking

1.9 Business Models for SPCS and EV Charging

1.10 Economic Externalities

1.11 Challenges and Opportunities

1.12 Sustainable Development

1.13 Objectives of the Book

References

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

Albert Einstein

There is an incredibly large and complex infrastructure built around transportation and fossil fuel power. This infrastructure includes thousands of oil fields, pipelines, huge refineries, and trucks to distribute gasoline to over 150,000 gasoline and service stations. There are over 250 million registered passenger vehicles in the United States and many more parking spaces. Personal vehicles in the United States consume more than 378 million gallons of gasoline every day, which is over 45% of the U.S. oil consumption according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

All that petroleum used for transportation is a major source of greenhouse gases, and on top of that are coal fired power plants that are a massive contributor of carbon dioxide emissions. In December 2014, at the United Nations COP 20 meeting in Lima, Peru, many delegates from nearly 200 nations signed an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On December 12, 2015, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2015). This agreement has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere stop increasing. The goal is to accomplish this balance of sinks and sources before 2100, but to begin as quickly as possible (UNFCCC, 2015). Similarly, the Clean Power Plan (U.S. EPA, 2015) calls for more electricity to come from renewable resources. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is one of the main goals of this plan. Doing that, though, means using less coal and petroleum. One of the great sustainability challenges is to increase the fraction of energy that comes from renewable resources. The finite supplies of fossil fuels and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their combustion are important reasons to develop new technologies that allow progress in sustainable development. The goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 is considered to be appropriate, but how can we get there? To help accomplish this, it is important to electrify transportation and generate a significant fraction of electricity using renewable resources and nuclear energy (Williams et al., 2012). The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and the construction of solar powered charging stations (SPCSs) to provide an infrastructure for EVs do go a long way toward accomplishing this. It can help generate more of our power needs from renewable resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum use.

Climate change is a “super wicked problem” because it is global, it affects everyone, and it involves entire ecosystems (Walsh, 2015). Climate change must be addressed because it has many impacts on our lives. Because action is needed in all countries, it is very difficult to find good solutions and implement them. The policy challenges associated with passing legislation and agreeing on regulations are “super wicked problems” because of potential impacts and global reach. The world needs research and development of new technologies that enable us to transition to a good life with an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and ample supplies of raw materials for future generations. Air quality will be improved as well.

1.1Solar Power and Electric Vehicles

This book is about the sizeable challenges and the even greater opportunities offered by the marriage of solar power and electric vehicles (EVs) to provide an infrastructure for EVs. Strong and compelling cases can be made for adoption of EVs and a transition to sustainable energy.

An EV is much more efficient than a similar vehicle powered by gasoline. The EV is simple to construct because no engine cooling system is needed, no lubrication system is needed, there is no transmission, no exhaust system, and no catalytic converter is required. Maintenance costs are low. The space needed for the engine is small.

Strong and compelling cases can be made for sustainable energy, especially wind and solar energy. Solar power is growing rapidly. Lester Brown and colleagues (2015) have written about the great transition that has started from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy for electric power. The prices of wind and solar energy have decreased, and there is rapid growth in both technologies. Solar power production has been quietly getting more and more efficient, to the point where it is now as economically viable as other forms of producing electricity in many locations (Brown et al., 2015). We are already seeing rapid growth in distributed solar power generation in Europe and many other parts of the world.

Putting solar power and EVs together, we get an interaction effect that is beneficial to both; that is, the two technologies magnify the effects of each other because the batteries in EVs can store the clean energy produced by the solar panels. Because the batteries in EVs can store energy and EV owners can decide to charge when power costs are low, EVs can be beneficial to a power grid with wind and solar energy production and time-of-use prices for electricity.

1.2Solar Powered Charging Stations (SPCSs)

One infrastructure alternative is to construct solar powered charging stations (SPCSs) in parking lots to produce electric power that flows into the electrical power grid. Covering 200 million parking spaces with solar panel canopies has the potential to generate 1/4 to 1/3 of the total electricity that was produced in 2014 in the United States. Even parking under the solar panel canopy has benefits, including shade and shelter from rain and snow. Meanwhile, the electrical grid can be used to charge the batteries of EVs.

Consider a world with a smart grid, millions of EVs, primarily powered by solar and wind energy, with millions of SPCSs and reduced emissions from combustion of coal and petroleum. What would it look like? Many countries can have energy independence with wind and solar power and EVs (a political goal for the United States since at least the Nixon administration). People would spend less on fuel (energy) and vehicle maintenance. The cleaner air would have social value and improve health.

The transformation to electric powered vehicles supported by an infrastructure of SPCSs and a smart grid will take some time because of the useful life of automobiles and electrical power generating plants. But recent progress in the development of solar panels and batteries has made this transformation possible. As the prices of solar panels and batteries for EVs decrease because of research and development, the rate of this transformation will increase. Many more individuals will purchase an EV as they realize that the cost of transportation is lower and more convenient with an EV than with a gasoline powered vehicle.

The number of new installations of solar panels to generate electricity has been growing rapidly. Between 2015 and 2050, progress in sustainable development may include the addition of many millions of EVs and SPCSs as well as installation of a smart grid with real time prices for electricity. The majority of vehicles sold in 2050 may be plug-in models; Toyota announced on October 14, 2015 that it aims to reduce the mass of carbon dioxide emitted from its new automobiles by 90% by 2050 (Japan for Sustainability, 2015). These anticipated developments have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially and create many jobs.

1.3Air Quality

Air quality in urban areas will improve because EVs have no emissions when powered by electricity that is generated by solar energy. The improvement of urban air quality has social, environmental, economic, and health benefits. The quality of urban life would be much better in many cities of the world if all transportation was with EVs and these vehicles were powered with wind and solar energy.

The cost of gasoline will be lower because of the reduced demand as the number of EVs increases. Gasoline prices decreased in late 2014 because of increased supplies and the reduced demand. Part of that was the fact that more than 300,000 EVs were purchased and placed in service in 2014 worldwide, and this relationship can get stronger with more EV purchases.

1.4Battery Storage and Infrastructure

The batteries in EVs are currently expensive, but they are important because they store the energy that is needed for travel in an EV. A large network of charge stations that allows EVs to be charged wherever they are parked would have significant value for EV owners. The size of the battery pack in an EV and the charging infrastructure are related because an EV owner can use that vehicle for many more purposes if a comprehensive supporting infrastructure is available and convenient. For example, an EV with a range of 85 miles (137 km) can be used for travel to and from work when the commuting distance is 50 miles each way if there is an infrastructure to charge the E...