Photovoltaic Electric Scooter Charger Dock for the Development of Sustainable Mobility in Urban Environments

Means and modes of transport in urban environments are changing. The emergence of new means of personal transport, such as e-scooters or e-bikes, combined with new concepts such as ‘vehicle sharing’ are changing urban transport. A greater social awareness of the harmful effects of polluting gases is leading to the adoption of new e-mobility solutions. A sustainable e-scooter recharging dock has been designed, built, and put into operation in a small town north of the city of Valencia (Spain). In the proposed novel solution, a stand-alone PV system is built for the free recharge of e-scooters using an original system that supports new sustainable means of transport. The design of the PV system considers the size limitations of the equipment, where a single PV module must generate the energy needed to recharge the e-scooters. A battery is used to store the energy and adjust power generation and consumption profiles. A commercial electronic converter adjusts the various electrical characteristics of generation, storage, and consumption. As a result of the system analysis, the surplus autonomy provided for the e-scooter recharging dock is calculated. Potential stakeholders in the use of the proposed system and their reasons for adopting this sustainable solution are identified. Experimental results of the first months of operation are included and these demonstrate the correct operation of the proposed system.