Analysis of different modeling approaches for integration studies of plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract This paper presents four different optimal power flow formulations designed to find the maximum number of plug-in electric vehicles that can be simultaneously charging for a given power system operating condition. The modeling approach to represent the coincident charge of PEVs is based on the modeling philosophy of homotopy methods. The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the solutions that each model attains are analyzed and compared. For that, the developed models are simulated in the IEEE RTS-96 benchmark system. These analyses provide insights into the limitations and strengths of each model. The paper concludes with suggestions on the practical application of the models in tasks related to both planning and operation of power systems.