Advanced energy storage system for electric vehicle charging stations for rural communities in the pacific northwest

Abstract

A rural electric vehicle charging system is envisioned with an energy source, e.g., solar panels on a car port, energy storage, e.g., a flywheel energy storage system, and an energy sink, e.g., electric vehicle charging. The focus of this project was on the hardware development of the sensors and actuator subsystems of the energy storage system. The energy storage device is a reluctance machine operated as either a motor or generator, depending on the direction of energy transfer. The rotor of the reluctance machine functions as a flywheel, storing energy in the rotating mass. The position of the rotating mass (rotor) is critical to the function and performance of the energy storage control system. Commutating electrical currents is necessary to energy transfer by the reluctance machine. Three types of sensors and actuators subsystems are used to control the reluctance machine: 1) position or displacement sensors, 2) electrical current sensors, and 3) electrical current actuators. The hardware interface of each sensor and actuator subsystem was developed, including functional testing of the sensors and actuator subsystems hardware with Simulink Real-Time hardware-in-the-loop. These subsystems can be integrated into the flywheel energy storage system.