IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i23p7956-d690315.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electric Two-Wheeler Vehicle Integration into Rural Off-Grid Photovoltaic System in Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Aminu Bugaje

    (Institute of New Energy Systems, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany)

  • Mathias Ehrenwirth

    (Institute of New Energy Systems, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany)

  • Christoph Trinkl

    (Institute of New Energy Systems, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany)

  • Wilfried Zörner

    (Institute of New Energy Systems, Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, 85049 Ingolstadt, Germany)

Abstract

In both rural and urban areas, two-wheeler vehicles are the most common means of transportation, contributing to local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Transitioning to electric two-wheeler vehicles can help reduce GHG emissions while also increasing the socioeconomic status of people in rural Kenya. Renewable energy systems can play a significant role in charging electric two-wheeled vehicles, resulting in lower carbon emissions and increased renewable energy penetration in rural Kenya. As a result, using the Conventional and Renewable Energy Optimization (CARNOT) Toolbox in the MATLAB/Simulink environment, this paper focuses on integrating and modeling electric two-wheeled vehicles (e-bikes) into an off-grid photovoltaic Water-Energy Hub located in the Lake Victoria Region of Western Kenya. Electricity demand data obtained from the Water-Energy Hub was investigated and analyzed. Potential solar energy surplus was identified and the surplus was used to incorporate the electric two-wheeler vehicles. The energy consumption of the electric two-wheeler vehicles was also measured in the field based on the rider’s driving behavior. The modeling results revealed an annual power consumption of 27,267 kWh, a photovoltaic (PV) electricity production of 37,785 kWh, and an electricity deficit of 370 kWh. The annual results show that PV generation exceeds power consumption, implying that there should be no electricity deficit. The results, however, do not represent the results in hourly resolution, ignoring the impact of weather fluctuation on PV production. As a result, in order to comprehend the electricity deficit, hourly resolution results are shown. A load optimization method was designed to efficiently integrate the electric 2-wheeler vehicle into the Water-Energy Hub in order to alleviate the electricity deficit. The yearly electricity deficit was decreased to 1 kWh and the annual electricity consumption was raised by 11% (i.e., 30,767 kWh), which is enough to charge four more electric two-wheeler batteries daily using the load optimization technique.

Suggested Citation

  • Aminu Bugaje & Mathias Ehrenwirth & Christoph Trinkl & Wilfried Zörner, 2021. "Electric Two-Wheeler Vehicle Integration into Rural Off-Grid Photovoltaic System in Kenya," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-27, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:23:p:7956-:d:690315
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/23/7956/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/23/7956/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Willett Kempton, 2016. "Electric vehicles: Driving range," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 1-2, September.
    2. Park, Eunil & Kwon, Sang Jib, 2016. "Renewable electricity generation systems for electric-powered taxis: The case of Daejeon metropolitan city," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1466-1474.
    3. Hafez, Omar & Bhattacharya, Kankar, 2017. "Optimal design of electric vehicle charging stations considering various energy resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 576-589.
    4. Chandra Mouli, G.R. & Bauer, P. & Zeman, M., 2016. "System design for a solar powered electric vehicle charging station for workplaces," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 434-443.
    5. Hardman, Scott & Shiu, Eric & Steinberger-Wilckens, Robert, 2016. "Comparing high-end and low-end early adopters of battery electric vehicles," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 40-57.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yesid Bello & Juan Sebastian Roncancio & Toufik Azib & Diego Patino & Cherif Larouci & Moussa Boukhnifer & Nassim Rizoug & Fredy Ruiz, 2023. "Practical Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Improving Two-Wheel Vehicle Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-26, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo, 2019. "Who will buy electric vehicles after early adopters? Using machine learning to identify the electric vehicle mainstream market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 243-254.
    2. George-Williams, H. & Wade, N. & Carpenter, R.N., 2022. "A probabilistic framework for the techno-economic assessment of smart energy hubs for electric vehicle charging," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Qiongjie Dai & Jicheng Liu & Qiushuang Wei, 2019. "Optimal Photovoltaic/Battery Energy Storage/Electric Vehicle Charging Station Design Based on Multi-Agent Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-21, April.
    4. Gheorghe Badea & Raluca-Andreea Felseghi & Mihai Varlam & Constantin Filote & Mihai Culcer & Mariana Iliescu & Maria Simona Răboacă, 2018. "Design and Simulation of Romanian Solar Energy Charging Station for Electric Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. González, L.G. & Siavichay, E. & Espinoza, J.L., 2019. "Impact of EV fast charging stations on the power distribution network of a Latin American intermediate city," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 309-318.
    6. Mohd Bilal & Ibrahim Alsaidan & Muhannad Alaraj & Fahad M. Almasoudi & Mohammad Rizwan, 2022. "Techno-Economic and Environmental Analysis of Grid-Connected Electric Vehicle Charging Station Using AI-Based Algorithm," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-40, March.
    7. Aqib Shafiq & Sheeraz Iqbal & Salman Habib & Atiq ur Rehman & Anis ur Rehman & Ali Selim & Emad M. Ahmed & Salah Kamel, 2022. "Solar PV-Based Electric Vehicle Charging Station for Security Bikes: A Techno-Economic and Environmental Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Eltoumi, Fouad M. & Becherif, Mohamed & Djerdir, Abdesslem & Ramadan, Haitham.S., 2021. "The key issues of electric vehicle charging via hybrid power sources: Techno-economic viability, analysis, and recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Schröder, M. & Abdin, Z. & Mérida, W., 2020. "Optimization of distributed energy resources for electric vehicle charging and fuel cell vehicle refueling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    10. Ahmed Abdalrahman & Weihua Zhuang, 2017. "A Survey on PEV Charging Infrastructure: Impact Assessment and Planning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-25, October.
    11. Figueiredo, Raquel & Nunes, Pedro & Brito, Miguel C., 2017. "The feasibility of solar parking lots for electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 1182-1197.
    12. Aritra Ghosh, 2020. "Possibilities and Challenges for the Inclusion of the Electric Vehicle (EV) to Reduce the Carbon Footprint in the Transport Sector: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    13. Rubino, Luigi & Capasso, Clemente & Veneri, Ottorino, 2017. "Review on plug-in electric vehicle charging architectures integrated with distributed energy sources for sustainable mobility," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 438-464.
    14. Ghotge, Rishabh & van Wijk, Ad & Lukszo, Zofia, 2021. "Off-grid solar charging of electric vehicles at long-term parking locations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    15. Duan, Ditao & Poursoleiman, Roza, 2021. "Modified teaching-learning-based optimization by orthogonal learning for optimal design of an electric vehicle charging station," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Neaimeh, Myriam & Salisbury, Shawn D. & Hill, Graeme A. & Blythe, Philip T. & Scoffield, Don R. & Francfort, James E., 2017. "Analysing the usage and evidencing the importance of fast chargers for the adoption of battery electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 474-486.
    17. Dowds, Jonathan & Howerter, Sarah & Hines, Paul & Aultman-Hall, Lisa, 2024. "Integrated Modeling of Electric Vehicle Energy Demand and Regional Electricity Generation," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt9nv8z4kc, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    18. Yin, Rumeng & He, Jiang, 2023. "Design of a photovoltaic electric bike battery-sharing system in public transit stations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    19. Julia Vopava & Christian Koczwara & Anna Traupmann & Thomas Kienberger, 2019. "Investigating the Impact of E-Mobility on the Electrical Power Grid Using a Simplified Grid Modelling Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.
    20. Jia, Wenjian & Jiang, Zhiqiu & Wang, Qian & Xu, Bin & Xiao, Mei, 2023. "Preferences for zero-emission vehicle attributes: Comparing early adopters with mainstream consumers in California," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 21-32.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:23:p:7956-:d:690315. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.