Grid Impact Analysis Using Controller-Hardware-in-the-Loop for High-Power Vehicle Charging Stations

A controller-hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) architecture for the evaluation of grid impacts arising from high-power vehicle charging stations is presented in this paper. Unlike simulation-based studies, the proposed method can be used to capture the interactions of the grid and the charging load along with charger controllers in real time. The proposed method can be used to evaluate the impact of charging load on the grid in terms of voltage variations and line congestion. The proposed CHIL platform allows for de-risking the vehicle charging station deployment by simulating the complex interactions among all the components of a vehicle charging station – i.e., the grid, vehicle, and charger controller – in a realistic manner before using the charging station in a grid. Further, the proposed CHIL approach can be used to evaluate the voltage regulation causalities of the vehicle charging station. Experimental results are presented in the paper to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method in a laboratory environment.