Authors: Allagadapa Bharath, Deshaboina Sumanth
Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive strategy for the efficient management of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) integrated with a grid-side Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) interface. The MMC topology is selected for its ability to directly connect to medium voltage grids without transformers, offering benefits such as reduced space and material usage. A key challenge addressed is the unbalanced load distribution caused by varying charging demands and random EV arrival-departure patterns, which can lead to significant disparities among MMC arms and internal modules. To ensure balanced and sinusoidal grid currents as well as stable module voltages, the proposed method integrates a Load Management (LM) algorithm with a Power Flow Management (PFM) algorithm. The LM algorithm schedules and allocates EV charging sessions to reduce phase and arm-level load variations, while the PFM regulates circulating currents to mitigate any remaining unbalances. Simulation results on a realistic scenario—such as a shopping mall EVCS—demonstrate that the proposed LM-PFM approach significantly enhances energy delivery and system stability, outperforming conventional rule-based methods. Real-time simulations further validate the feasibility of the proposed solution for practical deployment.
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