Vehicle-to-grid uses vehicles with on-board electricity storage as an energy storage system for the electricity grid. Vehicles not only take power from the grid when charging, but can supply power back to the grid. This storage mechanism can then be used in various applications, for example, providing balancing services and helping the introduction of renewable energy sources. Research into vehicle-to-grid suggests that it is feasible in certain applications. Indeed, the component technology required for vehicle-to-grid has been successfully demonstrated. Gaps in the analysis of vehicle-to-grid feasibility remain. Notably, the behaviour of individuals in a vehicle-to-home context is not well understood. A vehicle-to-home simulation tool was developed to address these gaps. The tool incorporates a use case methodology and a Matlab Simulink model. Application of the use case methodology identifies the inputs and constraints determined by users in a vehicle-to-home system. Feeding these inputs into the model facilitates the sensitivity analysis of vehicle-to-home operation to these user dependent variables. The use of the simulation tool is demonstrated in two case studies: Using an electric vehicle as back-up power supply; and using an electric vehicle to support small-scale distributed generation. The operation of a vehicle-to-home system in these case studies is presented, along with the sensitivity of operation to input parameters including: battery storage capacity, vehicle usage and vehicle charging. Both case studies demonstrated that, given the correct conditions|notably cooperation of the vehicle user|vehicle-to-home can operate successfully in storage applications. It was shown that an electric vehicle could provide back-up storage to households for a useful amount of time|between 20 hours and several days. It was shown that an electric vehicle can be used to store energy from a small-scale wind turbine such that the generation is better utilised than if no storage is available. The developed simulation tool enables analysis of novel vehicle-to-home applications not possible with previous models of vehicle-to-grid. The use of the tool highlighted the importance of including individual variation in behaviour when studying vehicle-to-home systems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:589890 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Haines, Gareth |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/58743/ |
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