Techno-economic assessment of photovoltaic-based charging stations for electric vehicles in developing countries
Loiy Al‐Ghussain, Adnan Darwish Ahmad, Ahmad M. Abubaker, Mohammad Alrbai, Osama Ayadi, Sameer Al‐Dahidi, Nelson K. Akafuah
Abstract
Many countries are planning their transition to renewable-energy-powered transportation sectors. Among those are developing countries, like Jordan, which face financial burdens in the actual implementation due to their economic status. As the penetration of electric vehicles increases, more green-charging stations will be required. Therefore, to encourage investors to initiate the deployment phase, this work presents a better mapping and comparison method for Photovoltaic (PV) battery charging stations across Jordan. It provides a better visual of the stations’ techno-economic performance, so financiers can use it as a guide to building their future stations, given the economic returns presented, particularly since the designed algorithm considered profit-maximization of the highest priority. All the tested PV-battery configurations; namely, PV-Li-Ion, PV-Zn-Br, PV-Lead-acid, PV-Redox flow, and PV-Li-Ion second life, were feasible, with the southern parts of Jordan being more favorable for installation in terms of the techno-economic parameters. However, a PV-Zn-Br station was found to have the highest annual profit of $7,535 with 2.63 years return of investment and a renewable fraction of 96.7%. Finally, although the obtained results discussed the specifics of Jordan, this work can be extended to any other country planning its transition to a green transportation sector; to improve deployment by attracting investors.