Optimal placing and sizing of parking lots including different levels of charging stations in electric distribution networks

Background: Low emission, high efficiency, and convenience of using plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are considered as significant benefits of PEVs. However, installation of parking lots (PLs) in order to supply PEVs causes some financial and technical challenges for electric distribution networks. The changes in system reliability, power loss, voltage drop, and costs associated with the installation of PLs are considered as some of the aforementioned challenges. Therefore, optimal placing and sizing of PEV PLs including different levels of charging stations ((CS); slow, medium, and fast) are presented in this paper. Since PLs have the potential to exchange electricity by electric network, they can be taken into account as distributed generations (DGs) and their installation can be considered from the perspective of installation of DGs. An objective function including system reliability, power loss, voltage drop, and PL cost/revenue is proposed for the optimal planning. Results: Genetic algorithm is employed to solve the optimisation problem. Simulation is carried out on a 33-bus radial distribution network. For the planning purposes of PLs, three different levels of CSs (slow, medium, and fast) in PLs are considered. The effect of increasing the penetration of PEVs in PLs is also examined on planning the PLs. The effect of different dispatch times on the selection of different CS levels (slow, medium, and fast) is investigated as well. Furthermore, the effect of applying tariffs and incentives for the customers is analysed for the selection of CS levels. Finally, the effect and importance of combinations of the CSs with different levels are investigated.