Decentralized Charging of Plug-In Electric Vehicles Using Lagrange Relaxation Method at the Residential Transformer Level.

The expected rise of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) will lead to a significant additional demand on low voltage distribution systems, and PEVs can challenge power quality and reliability of power systems if their charging is not coordinated. The PEV aggregator, acting as an intermedium between customers and the grid operator, can solve the charging management problem effectively. In this study, a decentralized scheduling scheme of aggregators for PEV charging based on Lagrange Relaxation method is proposed. At the same time, a centralized model of aggregators is also formulated in the same situation in order to make comparisons with the proposed scheme. The two charging models are both aimed at maximizing the charging profit of PEV aggregators considering constraints including users' electricity demand, charging time, available capacity of distribution transformers, etc. A number of charging scenarios are simulated to evaluate the proposed method. The economic benefits, computational complexity and efficiency are compared and analyzed between the centralized charging and the decentralized charging. Simulation results verify that the decentralized charging strategy based on Lagrange Relaxation method gains charging profit close to the centralized charging yet is more efficient and realizable than the centralized charging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]