Driving solar: Integrating photovoltaic systems, electric vehicles, and consumer behaviour in models of smart energy systems

Abstract

Large-scale adoption of clean energy technologies, such as photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs), is key for ensuring a sustainable future. However, integrating clean energy technologies in the existing electricity grid is challenging for grid management. Aligning EV charging demand with PV power production via smart charging or using EVs as electricity storage in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems can reduce the impact of both technologies on the grid. Realizing the potential of such systems requires consumers to adopt these technologies, shift EV charging demand, and allow for discharging of EVs; a radical change from current energy behaviours. The extent to which consumers will do so is a major source of uncertainty in assessing the future of sustainable energy systems. This thesis analyses and qualifies this uncertainty by developing simulation models that incorporate technical as well as social aspects of smart charging and V2G. This multi-disciplinary approach allows to study how consumer behaviour could shape sustainable energy systems. Furthermore, the thesis analyses large datasets on actual diffusion and use of PV solar panels and EVs in the Netherlands. The results show that there can be great benefits for grid management in combining intermittent renewable energy sources with EVs via smart and/or V2G. However, this can only be a partial solution for load balancing in scenarios with high renewable energy uptake. Furthermore, consumer adoption and charging behaviour varies greatly, which influences the extent to which the envisioned benefits of smart charging and V2G can be realized in certain regions and neighbourhoods.