Multi-Objective Optimal Charging Control of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Power Distribution Systems

With the increasing popularity of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the coordinated charging of PHEVs has become an important issue in power distribution systems. This paper employs a multi-objective optimization model for coordinated charging of PHEVs in the system, in which the problem of valley filling and total cost minimization are both investigated under the system’s technical constraints. To this end, a hierarchical optimal algorithm combining the water-filling-based algorithm with the consensus-based method is proposed to solve the constrained optimization problem. Moreover, a moving horizon approach is adopted to deal with the case where PHEVs arrive and leave randomly. We show that the proposed algorithm not only enhances the stability of the power load but also achieves the global minimization of vehicle owners charging costs, and its implementation is convenient in the multi-level power distribution system integrating the physical power grid with a heterogeneous information network. Numerical simulations are presented to show the desirable performance of the proposed algorithm.