Integrating electric vehicles as virtual power plants: A comprehensive review on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concepts, interface topologies, marketing and future prospects

Abstract

Global factors such as energy consumption and environmental issues encourage the utilization of electric vehicles (EVs) as alternative energy sources besides transportation. Recently, the development of virtual power plants integrated with clean energy sources has also enhanced the role of EVs in the transportation industry. Vehicle-grid integration (VGI) provides a practical and economical solution to improve energy sustainability and feed consumers on the user side. Although technical developments in the field show that the energy sector supports the effective use of EVs in stationary applications, the research studies confirm that scientific and industrial developments continue to improve the performance of using EVs as virtual power plants. However, a comprehensive study is needed to demonstrate the concepts, interfacing, and marketing of virtual power plants integrated with EVs for researchers and scientists working in this field. To this end, the current study aims to provide an extensive overview on the system configurations, interface topologies, marketing, and future perspectives in integrating EVs as virtual power plants. In this context, the integration concepts of VGI are investigated under the headings of stand-alone, grid-connected, transitional, and grid-supported operations. Then, VGI topologies are examined in terms of energy generation/storage units used in EVs, single-stage/two-stage/hybrid-multi-stage based systems, and grid-connection types & parameters. In the following section, the research projects and marketing values based on a large number of target data are introduced to show the current status of the VGI field. Lastly, future aspects, including charging strategies, intelligent technologies, and technical issues, are addressed and clarified.