Research Projects

This project emphasizes on designing and developing charging station for electric vehicle (EV) exclusively powered by photovoltaic (PV) array in a remote rural place where grid access is not available [1]. The intermittency of the PV array is regulated by an auxiliary battery bank which is charged and discharged through a bi-directional full bridge DC to DC converter [2]. EV technologies are fast emerging and the areas where utility grid access is minimal will be a great barrier for the EV charging stations deployment. Also, there will always be a reluctant factor to use EV in remote areas and rural villages [3]. Therefore charging station powered with PV power source exclusively will be a pragmatic solution for rural charging stations [4]. Also if the consumer has clear details about the charging points throughout their travel to rural places it increases the confidence of EV being used without any hesitations. This project also possess an IOT based information system which guides the consumer about the nearby charging station optimizing the current SOC of the vehicle and the distance to the charging stations which are on the way in the journey [5]. It also elaborates on the number of charging points which are under use and how long it will take for the slot to get free. . Scientific Rationale: It is imperative that electric (EV) sector is fast emerging as the fossil fuels are depleting. The menace of pollution due to internal combustion engine emission and high oil prices pushes an inherent paradigm shift towards EVs [6]. It is worth to note that India’s transport eco system is the top emitter of CO¬2¬ emission. On the other hand, EVs need to be powered by utility grid. The design of the charging system is planned such a way that two wheelers and three wheelers can be charged using a 2 kW PV array and charging circuit. This proposed scheme discards a two stage DC to AC conversion which results in poor efficiency. The charging system consisting of a full bridge phase shifted DC to DC converter.