1. The Dynamics of Solar Photovoltaic
Systems and Integration with Electric
Vehicle Charging
Energy & Sustainability Solutions- ASL
Rachel Meyer
Project Leads-Robert Cormia and Joel Kubby

2. Relevance
 NASA’s climate change investigations and mitigation
of repercussions
 Improving PV systems and integration with EVs in
order to decrease carbon intensity
 Green energy and solar improvements in Silicon
Valley (i.e. Cisco’s 20 year PPA supplying about 9%
of its power from solar PV during peak demand)
 Microgrids and “managed” grids

4. Objectives
Research questions to address:
 Is the addition of 14 electric vehicle (EV)
charging ports a viable option for Foothill?
 What are the benefits and disadvantages of
such an addition? How would this addition
affect Foothill’s profile economically and in
terms of emissions? Would more PV cells be
needed?
 In the bigger picture, how will distributed solar
affect the grid? What are possible solutions to
the subsequent problems?

5. Background
 Foothill has 1,540kW (nameplate) solar photovoltaic
installed
 Data collected:
 energy generated by solar panels
 energy demand of the school
 unused energy pushed back into the grid

6. Foothill’s Demand Curve

7. Foothill’s Single-Day Demand Curve
 Cool, sunny day = more efficient solar cells
 6 hours of overproduction

8. Overproduction from PV

9. Factors to Consider with Solar & EV
Charging
 Impacts on the system and grid
 Large quantities of unused energy can overload the grid,
cause voltage regulation problems
 Economic Impacts
 Earnings from selling to grid vs. profits from EV charging
 Environmental Impacts
 Electricity from grid is less carbon-intense during night so
storage for use at night is not crucial. Instead, using left-
over electricity for charging EVs could be more
environmentally constructive.
 Storage and solar size options

10. Projected Outcomes
 What this data can show in the bigger picture:
 Optimum times and conditions for EV charging
 Effects of solar and EV charging on grid and
environment
 Costs and profits associated with solar and EV
charging
 How current systems can be modified to increase
efficiency and effectiveness

11. Resources
 Sources of data and graphics include:
 Foothill’s Gridium RCx profile
 Opterra UtilityVision profile
 PG&E interval data

12. Special Thanks
Peter Minogue- NASA ASL & UC Santa
Cruz
Mike Oye- UC Santa Cruz
Joel Kubby- UC Santa Cruz
Robert Cormia- Foothill College