Esben Larsen

A Decentralized Storage Strategy for Residential Feeders With Photovoltaics

This paper proposes a decentralized storage strategy to support voltage control in low-voltage (LV) residential feeders with high photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed. The proposed strategy is capable of preventing overvoltage situations during high PV generation periods, by the use of locally controlled battery energy storage systems (ESS) at the PV system grid interface. The traditional way of operating a domestic ESS is based on charging the battery as soon as the PV generation exceeds the consumption, without taking into account overvoltage events during high PV generation hours; the proposed storage concept improves the traditional approach, thanks to the provision of voltage support. A novel method, based on voltage sensitivity analysis, identifies a common power threshold that triggers the ESSs activation in the feeder. A Belgian residential LV feeder is used as a case study. Time-series simulations based on 1-year load and generation profiles verify the method findings and quantify the ESS size in terms of storage power and energy level.

Electric Vehicles for Improved Operation of Power Systems with High Wind Power Penetration

In a power system with a high share of wind energy the wind fluctuation causes a variation in the power generation, which must be compensated from other sources. The situation in Denmark with a penetration of more than 20% wind in yearly average is presented. The introduction of electric drive vehicles (EDV) as flexible loads can improve the system operation. Bidirectional power exchange through batteries (vehicle to grid) can be seen as a storage system in the grid. An analysis of possible economical incentives for the vehicle owners will be shown. By control of EDV charging through a price signal from the day ahead market the economical incentives for an EDV-owner will be small. If the EDVs can participate in the regulation of the grid through ancillary services the incentives will be increased to an attractive level.

Demand profile study of battery electric vehicle under different charging options

An increased research on electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) deals with their flexible use in electric power grids. Several research projects on smart grids and electric mobility are now looking into realistic models representing the behavior of an EV during charging, including nonlinearities. In this work, modeling, simulation and testing of the demand profile of a battery-EV are conducted. Realistic work conditions for a lithium-ion EV battery and battery charger are considered as the base for the modeling. Simulation results show that EV charging generates different demand profiles into the grid, depending on the applied charging option. Moreover, a linear region for the control of EV chargers is identified in the range of 20-90% state-of-charge (SOC). Experiments validate the proposed model.

EV Charging Facilities and Their Application in LV Feeders With Photovoltaics

Low-voltage (LV) grid feeders with high penetration of photovoltaics (PVs) are often affected by voltage magnitude problems. To solve such issues, previous research has shown that reactive power methods, active power curtailment and grid reinforcement can be used for voltage support, yet showing several limits. We introduce the use of electric vehicle (EV) public charging stations with energy storage system (ESS) as a solution for voltage regulation in LV feeders with PV. A novel method is proposed to determine the ESS charging load required for voltage regulation and compare the results for the different locations in the feeder. With time-series simulations, we quantify the energy size required for a station ESS. A Belgian LV residential grid, modeled using real PV generation and load profiles, is used as case study. The method and simulation results show the effectiveness of using public EV charging facilities with the additional function of voltage regulation in feeders with PV.

Improvement of Local Voltage in Feeders With Photovoltaic Using Electric Vehicles

In low-voltage (LV) feeders with high penetration of photovoltaic (PV), a major issue to be solved is voltage rise due to the active power injection. If no measures are taken, this may lead to generations interruptions and to the malfunctioning of domestic appliances due to non-standard voltage profiles. This paper proposes a storage strategy to alleviate voltage rise in feeders with PV, using coordinated electric vehicle (EV) load as the storage solution. The voltage support strategy is easy to implement practically and it is demonstrated on a test feeder emulating a household with roof-mounted PV and an EV. The results show the effectiveness of using coordinated EV load in feeders with PV to mitigate voltage rise problems.

Average behavior of battery-electric vehicles for distributed energy studies

The increased focus on electric vehicles (EVs) as distributed energy resources calls for new concepts of aggregated models of batteries. Despite the developed battery models for EV applications, when looking at the scenarios of energy storage, both geographical-temporal aspects and EVs use conditions cannot be neglected for an estimation of the available fleet energy. In this paper we obtained an average behavior of battery-EVs, in relation to a number of variables such as current rates for charging and discharging, temperature, depth-of-discharge and number of cycles. An average approach was applied to calculate the influence of each variable on the battery energy and lifetime. The obtained results show that battery-EVs are nonlinear time-variant systems which however can be modeled with good approximation if time, geographical location and battery use conditions are known.

Implementation of an Electric Vehicle test bed controlled by a Virtual Power Plant for contributing to regulating power reserves

With the increased focus on Electric Vehicles (EV) research and the potential benefits they bring for smart grid applications, there is a growing need for an evaluation platform connected to the electricity grid. This paper addresses the design of an EV test bed, which using real EV components and communication interfaces, is able to respond in real-time to smart grid control signals. The EV test bed is equipped with a Lithium-ion battery pack, a Battery Management System (BMS), a charger and a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) unit for feeding power back to the grid. The designed solution serves as a multifunctional grid-interactive EV, which a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) or a generic EV coordinator could use for testing different control strategies, such as EV contribution to regulating power reserves. The EV coordination is realized using the IEC 61850 modeling standard in the communication. Regulating power requests from the Danish TSO are used as a proof-of-concept, to demonstrate the EV test bed power response. Test results have proven the capability to respond to frequent power control requests and they reveal the potential EV ability for contributing to regulating power reserves.

Protein and cell patterning in closed polymer channels by photoimmobilizing proteins on photografted poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate

Definable surface chemistry is essential for many applications of microfluidic polymer systems. However, small cross-section channels with a high surface to volume ratio enhance passive adsorption of molecules that depletes active molecules in solution and contaminates the channel surface. Here, we present a one-step photochemical process to coat the inner surfaces of closed microfluidic channels with a nanometer thick layer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), well known to strongly reduce non-specific adsorption, using only commercially available reagents in an aqueous environment. The coating consists of PEG diacrylate (PEGDA) covalently grafted to polymer surfaces via UV light activation of the water soluble photoinitiator benzoyl benzylamine, a benzophenone derivative. The PEGDA coating was shown to efficiently limit the adsorption of antibodies and other proteins to <5% of the adsorbed amount on uncoated polymer surfaces. The coating could also efficiently suppress the adhesion of mammalian cells as demonstrated using the HT-29 cancer cell line. In a subsequent equivalent process step, protein in aqueous solution could be anchored onto the PEGDA coating in spatially defined patterns with a resolution of <15 μm using an inverted microscope as a projection lithography system. Surface patterns of the cell binding protein fibronectin were photochemically defined inside a closed microfluidic device that was initially homogeneously coated by PEGDA. The resulting fibronectin patterns were shown to greatly improve cell adhesion compared to unexposed areas. This method opens for easy surface modification of closed microfluidic systems through combining a low protein binding PEG-based coating with spatially defined protein patterns of interest.

Electric vehicle requirements for operation in smart grids

Several European projects on smart grids are considering Electric Vehicles (EVs) as active element in future power systems. Both battery-powered vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles are expected to interact with the grid, sharing their energy storage capacity. Different coordination concepts for EVs are being investigated, in which vehicles can be intelligently charged or discharged feeding power back to the grid in vehicle-to-grid mode (V2G). To respond to such needs, EVs are required to share their battery internal data as well as respond to external control signals. In this paper, the requirements for the interaction of EVs with the electrical grid are presented. The defined requirements have been implemented on an EV test bed, realized by using real EV components. Charging/V2G tests on the EV test bed have shown that the presented requirements are sufficient to ensure an intelligent coordination of EVs into the electricity grid.

Facile photoimmobilization of proteins onto low-binding PEG-coated polymer surfaces.

Immobilization of proteins onto polymer surfaces usually requires specific reactive functional groups. Here, we show an easy one-step method to conjugate protein covalently onto almost any polymer surface, including low protein-binding poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), without the requirement for the presence of specific functional groups. Several types of proteins, including alkaline phosphatase, bovine serum albumin, and polyclonal antibodies, were photoimmobilized onto a PEG-coated polymer surface using a water-soluble benzophenone as photosensitizer. Protein functionality after immobilization was verified for both enzymes and antibodies, and their presence on the surface was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and confocal fluorescence microscopy. Conjugation of capture antibody onto the PEG coating was employed for a simplified ELISA protocol without the need for blocking uncoated surface areas, showing ng/mL sensitivity to a cytokine antigen target. Moreover, spatially patterned attachment of fluorescently labeled protein onto the low-binding PEG-coated surface was achieved with a projection lithography system that enabled the creation of micrometer-sized protein features.