The Dynamics of Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Integration with

Electric Vehicle Charging

Energy & Sustainability Solutions- ASLRachel Meyer

Project Leads-Robert Cormia and Joel Kubby

Relevance NASA’s climate change investigations and

mitigation of repercussions Improving PV systems and integration with

EVs in order to decrease carbon intensity Green energy and solar improvements in

Silicon Valley (i.e. Cisco’s 20 year PPA supplying about 9% of its power from solar PV during peak demand)

Microgrids and “managed” grids

Objectives

Research questions to address: Is the addition of 14 electric vehicle (EV)

charging ports a viable option for Foothill? What are the benefits and disadvantages

of such an addition? How would this addition affect Foothill’s profile economically and in terms of emissions? Would more PV cells be needed?

In the bigger picture, how will distributed solar affect the grid? What are possible solutions to the subsequent problems?

Background Foothill has 1,540kW (nameplate) solar photovoltaic

installed Data collected:

energy generated by solar panels energy demand of the school unused energy pushed back into the grid

Foothill’s Demand Curve

Foothill’s Single-Day Demand Curve

Cool, sunny day = more efficient solar cells 6 hours of overproduction

Overproduction from PV

Factors to Consider with Solar & EV Charging Impacts on the system and grid

Large quantities of unused energy can overload the grid, cause voltage regulation problems

Economic Impacts Earnings from selling to grid vs. profits from EV

charging Environmental Impacts

Electricity from grid is less carbon-intense during night so storage for use at night is not crucial. Instead, using left-over electricity for charging EVs could be more environmentally constructive.

Storage and solar size options

Projected Outcomes

What this data can show in the bigger picture: Optimum times and conditions for EV charging Effects of solar and EV charging on grid and

environment Costs and profits associated with solar and EV

charging How current systems can be modified to

increase efficiency and effectiveness

Resources Sources of data and graphics include:

Foothill’s Gridium RCx profile Opterra UtilityVision profile PG&E interval data

Special Thanks

Peter Minogue- NASA ASL & UC Santa Cruz

Mike Oye- UC Santa CruzJoel Kubby- UC Santa Cruz

Robert Cormia- Foothill College