Designing a Sustainable University Recharge Area for Electric Vehicles: Technical and Economic Analysis

This article addresses the technical and economic challenges regarding the design of a “green” recharge area for electric vehicles at the University of Palermo in order to reduce costs and pollution connected to the charging process. Based on the behaviour of the student population, the electrical load is identified and two possible solutions are evaluated to manage the peak load: an orientation of the panels increasing the power at defined time and the use of a storage system. The main strength and weakness points of two systems are investigated by taking into account the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), which reaches 75.3 €/MWh for the orientation of panel and 103 €/MWh for the storage system. Furthermore, the cost of the topologies of power plant and the cost of energy are discussed in depth.