FR3147983A1 - INSTALLATION FOR CHARGING ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN AN ISOLATED SITE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an installation and a method for recharging electric vehicles comprising a field of photovoltaic cells (1) and/or a wind farm (2), forming renewable energy sources, a generator set (4), a set of buffer storage batteries (5), charging stations (6) for electric vehicles (7), a management device (10) comprising first and second management units (8, 9), a user interface allowing a user to view the status of his vehicle and to modify the future departure date, the installation being devoid of connection to a general electricity network, the installation being designed to use as a priority the energy coming from the renewable energy sources, then the buffer storage batteries, if necessary by drawing energy from vehicles present but not having priority for their recharging which will then be carried out later, and as a last resort by operating the generator set. Figure 1

Description

INSTALLATION FOR CHARGING ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN AN ISOLATED SITE

The invention relates to a iInstallation for recharging electric vehicles in an isolated site.

Generally speaking, for various reasons, particularly ecological and climatological, we are seeing an increase in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles in circulation.

This goes hand in hand with the need to increase the number of charging stations in public or semi-public areas.

It should also be noted that corporate vehicle fleets are pioneers in the adoption of 100% electric vehicle solutions, with companies being fiscally incentivized to switch to all-electric and install charging stations on their sites ('semi-public').

We know the constraints on the range (limited mileage) of 100% electric vehicles, which requires increasing the number of charging stations and distributing them geographically in a balanced manner to cover a given territory with a suitable network of charging stations.

Most charging stations in the public or semi-public domain are connected to the general electricity supply network of the territory or country concerned.

However, it may be useful to locate a charging station in an isolated geographical location that is not served by the general electricity supply network. This situation is the subject of the present invention.

There is a need to provide a charging facility for electric vehicles in an isolated location, which also has a minimal carbon footprint.

For this purpose, the invention proposes a charging installation for charging electric vehicles comprising:
- a field of photovoltaic cells and/or a wind farm, forming renewable energy sources,
- a generator,
- an energy buffer storage device,
- a plurality of charging stations for charging existing vehicles, each of the existing vehicles being connected to a charging station,
- a management device, for managing the production and storage of electrical energy, managing energy levels on board vehicles, and planning and ordering vehicle recharges,
- at least one user interface allowing at least one user to view the charge status of his or her vehicle(s) connected to a charging station,
the installation being devoid of connection to a general electrical supply network, characterized in that the management device is configured to:
- receive for each of the vehicles, or estimate, a future departure timestamp and a current charge level, at least for the vehicles present, or receive an update of a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)) via the user interface,
- identify one or more priority vehicles among the plurality of vehicles present based on their future departure timestamp and their respective current charge level,
- recharge the priority vehicle(s) using the following energies in a predetermined order of preference: solar energy provided by the photovoltaic cells, wind energy provided by the wind turbines, energy stored in the energy buffer storage device, energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles, and if these energies are not available in sufficient cumulative quantity then the management device is configured to start the generator set and an output from the generator set is directed to the charging station(s) to which the priority vehicle(s) are connected,
- make available for one or more user interfaces at least one expected end of charging time stamp and a charge status of at least one vehicle connected to a charging station.

With such an arrangement, priority is given to all available energy sources that do not directly use fossil fuels. Indeed, we note that only the generator, here conventional, uses a hydrocarbon-based fuel, most often of fossil origin (although it is not excluded to use a synthetic hydrocarbon).

Advantageously, the management device can build a schedule for recharging the vehicles present while identifying the highest priority vehicles for recharging and those whose recharging can wait, which forms a planned need for energy to be provided for recharging and the management device compares the current resources, in power and in energy stored on the different available sources, by prioritizing their use as will be seen later.

If the resource balance requires it, it is planned, where appropriate, to draw energy from vehicles that are present but not priority. These vehicles that are present but not priority have a more distant departure time stamp, their battery charge level will be temporarily lowered, but their battery will be recharged later, while remaining compatible with their own departure time stamp. In other words, non-priority vehicles are used as an additional buffer battery in addition to the stationary buffer storage batteries.

It is noted that the energy buffer storage device can typically be a set of electrochemical storage batteries, but other solutions are also envisaged as will be seen later.

It is specified here that the expression "and/or" is open, which means that the installation can be equipped only with a wind farm (or several) or only with a solar/photovoltaic farm (or several) or even both at the same time, wind and solar.

In this document, the term "electric vehicle" covers both the case of 100% electric vehicles (zero emissions) and the case of plug-in hybrid vehicles, whether they are private vehicles, commercial vehicles or heavy goods vehicles.

In the case of electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, the term "current charge level" means the current filling rate of the main battery of said vehicle, often expressed as a percentage from 0% to 100%, this level or rate also corresponds to the English term "State of charge (SOC)".

Regarding the future departure timestamp, it can be received directly from the vehicle. If it is not received from the vehicle, then it is estimated by the management device assuming that the vehicle will remain in contact with the charging station for a predefined time, for example X hours.

Advantageously, the future departure timestamp can also be entered via the user interface, by the owner or manager of the vehicle. The user interface also allows the modification, e.g. moving forward or backward, of said future departure timestamp.

According to one embodiment, the predetermined order of preference is: first the renewable energy sources, then the energy from the energy buffer storage device, then finally the energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles.

Whereby priority is given to renewable energy sources, whether wind or solar. Next in the hierarchy is the energy stored in the energy buffer storage device (buffer batteries), which most often also comes from the wind or solar source within the framework of the installation considered. The other vehicles present are only used in the case where the elements higher in the order of preference cannot contribute sufficiently to the recharging of the priority vehicles. Note that the generator is outside the order of preference because it is an absolute last resort.

According to one embodiment, the vehicles present transmit to their respective charging station the time remaining before complete charging, and the charging station transmits said time remaining before complete charging to the management device.

Thus the planning calculation can be more precise, it is the vehicle considered which has the best knowledge of its possible recharging curve. In the absence of this information the management device will have to make assumptions based only on the current charge level and the future departure time stamp.

According to an optional aspect, the installation may further comprise a fuel cell generator, and the predetermined order of preference is then: first the renewable energy sources, then the energy provided by the fuel cell or the energy of the energy buffer storage device, then finally the energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles. It may be necessary to resupply the fuel cell generator with hydrogen, periodically or on request.

According to one embodiment, the installation may further comprise an administrator interface for at least managing user interfaces. Via this administrator interface it is possible to give more or less extensive rights to each of the users including deleting one or accepting the creation of a new user. The administrator interface also makes it possible to configure the prioritization of vehicles, or even to a certain extent energy sources.

According to one embodiment, the charging stations are configured to, in cooperation with a charging manager on board a vehicle present, draw electrical energy from a vehicle present but not a priority intended for the management device.

This energy flow of discharge from a vehicle is exceptionally authorized, in the opposite direction to the usual direction, this characteristic being singular and distinctive.

According to one embodiment, the management device comprises a first management unit for managing the production and storage of electrical energy, and a second management unit, for managing energy levels on board the vehicles, and planning and ordering the recharging of the vehicles.

Thus, the roles of the first and second units are specialized. Incidentally, the functions can be specialized to optimize the electronic cards, particularly concerning the thermal management of the power modules and the control or signal cards.

The present invention also relates to a method implemented in a charging installation for recharging electric vehicles comprising a field of photovoltaic cells and/or a wind farm, forming renewable energy sources, a generator, an energy buffer storage device, a plurality of charging terminals for recharging vehicles present, each of the vehicles present being connected to a charging terminal, at least one user interface allowing at least one user to view the charging status of his or her vehicle(s) connected to a charging terminal, the installation being devoid of connection to a general electricity supply network, the method comprising:
- a step of estimating or receiving for each of the vehicles, a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)) and a current charge level SOC(i), at least for the vehicles present, or of receiving via the user interface an update of a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)),
- a step of identifying one or more priority vehicles among the plurality of vehicles present according to their future departure timestamp and their respective current charge level,
- a step of recharging the priority vehicle(s) using the following energies in a predetermined order of preference: solar energy provided by the photovoltaic cells, wind energy provided by the wind turbines, energy stored in the energy buffer storage device, energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles, and if these energies are not available in sufficient cumulative quantity then starting the generator set and directing an output of the generator set to the charging station(s) to which the priority vehicle(s) are connected,
- make available for one or more user interfaces at least one expected end of charging time stamp and a charge status of at least one vehicle connected to a charging station.

According to one embodiment, the vehicles present transmit to their respective charging station the time remaining before complete charging, and said time remaining before complete charging is used in the identification of priority vehicles.

According to one embodiment, the predetermined order of preference is: first the renewable energy sources, then the energy from the energy buffer storage device, then finally the energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles.

According to one achievement, it is expected that:
- when an instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is greater than the power requirement for charging priority vehicles, then this power is used to charge the priority vehicles and to recharge the energy buffer storage device,
- when an instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is lower than the power requirement for charging priority vehicles, then the charging of priority vehicles from the instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is supplemented by a draw from the energy buffer storage device,
- when an instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is lower than the power requirement for charging priority vehicles and the current state of charge of the energy buffer storage device is insufficient, then the charging of priority vehicles from the instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is further supplemented by an energy draw from one or more vehicle(s) present but not priority,
- when an instantaneous power available on the renewable energy sources is less than the power requirement for charging the priority vehicles and the current state of charge of the energy buffer storage device is insufficient, and the energy draw from one or more vehicle(s) present but not priority is insufficient, then the generator set is started and then the charging of the priority vehicles from the instantaneous power available on the renewable energy sources is further supplemented by power delivered by the generator set.

Advantageously, the proposed method is recurrent, we proceed cyclically to the determination of the priority vehicle(s), to the planning, to the power demand, then to the arbitration in relation to the predetermined order of preference.

In particular, the cycle for calculating priority vehicles and the charging schedule is restarted each time a future departure timestamp is modified via a user interface, or by an administrator.

According to one embodiment, the charging stations are configured to, in cooperation with a charging manager on board a present vehicle, draw electrical energy from a present but non-priority vehicle for another priority vehicle.

According to one embodiment, the step of identifying one or more priority vehicles comprises a calculation of a priority index for each of the vehicles present, the vehicles being classified according to said priority index and the priority vehicles are defined as those whose index is greater than a predetermined threshold.

According to a particular option, one or more vehicles not present but expected shortly at the facility in question are included in the list of vehicles to be considered.

The invention will be further detailed by the description of non-limiting embodiments, and on the basis of the appended figures illustrating variants of the invention, in which:
is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of an installation according to the present invention,
represents an example of a planning and prioritization table,
is a partial schematic representation of an example of the installation.
represents an example of a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the installation system.
is a schematic representation of a flowchart illustrating the operation.

Installation – Overview
We now describe, with reference to the figures, a charging installation 100 for charging electric vehicles 7. Each vehicle is equipped with a main battery 71, a charge manager 74 and a connection socket 72 for charging.

In this document, these are electric vehicles with electric propulsion or traction, for example 100% electric vehicles (zero emissions) or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

These can be four-wheeled vehicles, private vehicles, utility vehicles, company fleet vehicles, rental vehicles, vans. They can also be heavy goods vehicles, without excluding small urban vehicles with four or fewer wheels, such as electric motorcycles, or even snowmobiles, electric jet skis.

In this case, the installation is not connected to an electricity supply network, in other words it is not connected to a general electricity network.

This type of installation can be found, for example, along a road crossing the Australian Outback where the general electricity network is non-existent. More generally, very sparsely populated areas may correspond to the configuration of having to install such an installation without the presence of a general electricity supply network.

The term "battery" is generally understood here to mean any electrical energy storage system regardless of the electrochemical type of the cells, without excluding the possible presence of supercapacitors. This definition applies both to stationary buffer storage electric batteries in the installation and to batteries on board vehicles 7.

The installation 100 comprises a field of photovoltaic cells marked 1, also sometimes called a “solar farm”. A control cabinet 16 manages the various photovoltaic panels, their orientation if they are mobile, and ensures electrical protection as known per se and not detailed here. The control cabinet 16 delivers a power output to a management device marked 10.

The installation comprises a wind farm marked 2 comprising one or more wind turbines. One or more control cabinets 26 manage the various wind turbine motors, their azimuthal orientation, and provide electrical protection as known per se and not detailed here. The control cabinet 26 delivers a power output to the management device.

Optionally, the installation may include a fuel cell generator marked 3. This generator 3 is powered by one or more hydrogen tanks 30. The hydrogen in question may have been produced using renewable energies, in whole or in part.

The installation 100 comprises a generator set marked 4. This is a conventional generator set based on a diesel or gasoline internal combustion engine. This generator set is powered by one or more hydrocarbon tanks. The hydrocarbons in question may be fossil fuel hydrocarbons or synthetic or biomass hydrocarbons.

The installation includes an energy buffer storage device marked 5. In the example illustrated, this is a set of electric batteries, for example of the type comprising electrochemical cells. The storage capacity of this set of batteries can reach several hundred kWh and can be sized according to the number of charging stations present in the installation.

The battery assembly may be equipped with a monitoring device 50 that collects one or more temperatures as well as one or more voltage or voltage drop measurements. The monitoring device 50 may calculate the state of charge itself or provide the information for the identified management device to calculate the state of charge of the energy buffer storage 5.

For example, you can choose between lithium-ion batteries or lead-acid batteries.

According to an alternative embodiment, the energy buffer storage device may be formed as a kinetic flywheel, in which case the energy is stored in kinetic form. It is also not excluded to use another principle of energy storage, for example the lifting of a weight or volume of water, in which case the energy is stored in the form of potential energy of the earth's gravitational field.

The installation 100 comprises a plurality of charging stations marked 6. In the illustrated example, three charging stations are shown but in practice there may be a much larger number of charging stations. The stations provide at least a so-called standard charge, i.e. with a power of around twenty kilowatts. Certain other specific stations may also provide a so-called fast charge, i.e. with a power of 200 kilowatts or more.

As is known per se, one of the functions of the terminal is to be able to deliver electrical energy to the connected vehicle, more precisely to a charge controller 74 which manages the battery 71, in particular its recharging.

But in a special way, all or part of the terminals 6 of the installation have the ability to draw electrical energy from the connected vehicle, in the opposite direction to the usual charging direction.

For this purpose, the charge controller 74 on board the vehicle communicates with the charging terminal 6 to exchange information and in particular to receive the operating mode to adopt, namely charging or sampling. The use of the particular sampling mode will be seen later.

The management device 10 comprises a first management unit 8, which has the role of managing the production and storage of electrical energy. The first management unit 8 is an electrical/electronic unit and comprises various electrical energy switching and conversion functions, by implementing various DC/DC conversion blocks, inverter blocks and/or rectifier blocks.

The management device 10 comprises a second management unit 9, whose role is to manage energy levels on board the vehicles, to plan the recharging of the vehicles, and to give the corresponding orders to the different recharging terminals 6.

The second management unit 9 is an electrical/electronic unit and may comprise, depending on the functional and hardware distribution between the two management units, power switches, relays, inverter blocks and/or rectifier blocks, DC/DC converters.

The second management unit 9 continuously indicates the power requirement to the first management unit 8, which notes the supply of wind and solar energy, monitors the filling rate of the buffer storage device and can, if necessary, order the start-up of the generator set 4 as will be seen later.

A power connection 11 is provided to deliver electrical power from the first management unit 8 to the second management unit 9 which will use it to power the charging stations. The power connection 11 may for example be a connection with two large direct current conductors, for example under 1000 volts or even 1.5 kV.

It should be noted that the two management units 8,9 could be grouped into a single unit 10 as illustrated in the mixed line at .

The first management unit 8 receives on its input 81 the electrical energy supplied by the field of photovoltaic cells 1, in the form of a direct current with variable voltage. The first management unit 8 receives on its input 82 the electrical energy supplied by the wind farm 2, for example in the form of an alternating current with variable voltage. The first management unit 8 receives on its input 83 the electrical energy supplied by the fuel cell 3, in the form of a direct current with variable voltage. The first management unit 8 receives on its input 84 the electrical energy supplied by the generator set 4, in the form of an alternating current.

The first management unit 8 controls the operational voltage on its input/output 85 to selectively recharge the buffer battery 5 or conversely draw energy from the buffer battery 5.

As visible on the , information exchanges are provided between the first management unit and the second management unit. In particular, via the link 12, the second management unit expresses the instantaneous power requirement as well as the planned short-term requirement. In particular, via the link 13, the first unit expresses the current availability of the energy sources as well as the short-term production forecasts.

The second management unit 9 transmits to each charging station 6 via the connection 62 the desired operating mode, e.g. charging, drawing off, waiting for the vehicle connected to it. Each charging station 6 transmits to the second management unit 9 the current state of charge SOC(i) of the main battery of the connected vehicle, where appropriate the expected departure time stamp Hd(i) and the necessary charging time TRC. Each charging station 6 also transmits to the second management unit 9 the connection mode established with the vehicle and the vehicle's capacity to absorb a rapid charge.

The overall system including the installation 100 further comprises a data link, in particular a link in the form of an Internet connection, with a server acting as a platform 20 .

The server 20 processes requests from devices connected to the Internet, including for example one (or more) computers 21 or one (or more) smartphones 22. A user interface is thus formed between a user and the charging installation in the isolated site.

The connection of the second management unit 9 to the Internet can be made by any means, in particular a connection to the Internet via a satellite network. The server 20 can be a distributed service in the “cloud”.

The user referred to here may be the owner of the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle, or the fleet manager of the fleet to which the vehicle belongs.

An administrator interface is also planned to manage user rights and carry out direct interventions concerning the change of vehicle prioritization or even modifications of future departure timestamps as will be seen in detail later.

How the system works

A vehicle 7 that needs to be recharged must be connected to a charging station 6 by means of a charging socket 72. Furthermore, the information concerning the time stamp of the future use of said vehicle by its user must be indicated at the installation, either by the vehicle itself or by the driver who indicates it via a smartphone application.

In principle, the future departure timestamp Hd(i) is transmitted by the vehicle to the second management unit 9. If the future departure timestamp Hd(i) is not received from the vehicle, then it is estimated by the second management unit 9 by assuming that the vehicle will remain in contact with the charging station for a predefined time, for example X hours. Hd(i) is then assumed to be equal to the arrival time of the vehicle to which X hours are added.

In addition, the future departure timestamp Hd(i) can be transmitted by the user interface if the vehicle does not transmit this data to the second management unit 9.

In the illustrated example, the vehicles 7 are identified by an index i, namely Vh1, Vh2, … Vhi, .. up to VhN. The timestamp of the future use is noted Hd(i) for each vehicle Vhi. The second management unit 9 receives, for each vehicle, the timestamp of the future use, either directly by the charging cable or by a wireless link.

As visible on the , in the illustrated example, the first vehicle Vh1 has indicated as departure timestamp Hd(1) April 16, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. The second vehicle Vh2 has indicated as departure timestamp Hd(2) April 17, 2023 at 8 a.m. The third vehicle Vh3 has indicated as departure timestamp Hd(3) April 16, 2023 at 8:45 p.m.

Each vehicle 7 also communicates to the second management unit 9, via its respective charging terminal or by wireless link, the current state of charge of its main battery, i.e. with the SOC(i) notation for each vehicle Vhi.

Optionally, the vehicles present 7 transmit to their respective charging station the time remaining before full recharge TRC, and the charging station 6 transmits said time remaining before full recharge TRC to the second management unit 9.

As a result, the second management unit can establish a table of vehicles and their characteristics of interest, as illustrated in the .

From this, the second management unit 9 performs a planning calculation. Starting from each departure timestamp of a vehicle Hd(i), and the time required to recharge this vehicle (either known directly by the variable TRC, or estimated a little more roughly), the second management unit 9 calculates the latest time at which the recharging of the vehicle i must start so that it is fully charged at the time corresponding to the departure timestamp Hd(i). Here we are talking about standard recharging at a power of 20 kilowatts.

This planning calculation makes it possible to identify so-called priority vehicles, i.e. those whose recharging must be done as a priority.

More specifically, according to one embodiment, the identification of priority vehicles can be done with the help of a priority index calculation.

According to an example, a priority index is defined from 0 to 10. Referring to the example of the , assuming that it is April 16, 2023 at 10 a.m., the first vehicle Vh1 must leave at 4:30 p.m. the same day. With a necessary recharge time of 3:30, this vehicle is the highest priority the index calculation gave 6, because there is still a little freedom on the timing (3h).

Conversely, vehicle number 2, Vh2, is not due to leave until the next day, namely April 17, 2023 at 8 a.m. In addition, its state of charge is already 75%, so there is a little over an hour (1h12) left to charge it to 100% and almost 24 hours to carry out this recharge, which can also be done at night; its priority index is very low here, e.g. 0.8.

In the case of the Neme VhN vehicle, it must leave the facility on the evening of April 16 at 8:45 p.m., its state of charge is only 22% and it takes 4 hours and 25 minutes to recharge it to 100%. According to the chosen metric, its priority index is 3 (10 hours and 45 minutes remain to fully recharge it).

The index calculation therefore gives a result between 0 (plenty of time remaining to recharge) and 10 (critical path to recharge before departure, no margin available).

To identify the vehicles that will be considered priority vehicles, we can, for example, choose to select vehicles whose priority index is greater than 5. In another example, we can choose a single vehicle, namely the one with the highest priority index.

In all cases, the second management unit 9 establishes a hierarchy between the different vehicles present. It can also take into account a vehicle that will arrive shortly and that has announced itself as having priority, by announcing its arrival time at the installation and its desired departure time after recharging.

The user interface can be used by a user to request a modification of the starting timestamp Hd(i), either to advance it or to move it back. The different scenarios that may arise in the event of modification, via a user interface, of the starting timestamp are explained below.

As already indicated above, the second management unit announces to the first management unit the desired electrical power (instantaneous or short term) according to the calculated planning. The first management unit 8 strives to meet this need by prioritizing renewable energy sources, namely solar and wind. The first management unit 8 also has at its disposal secondly: the generator set, the buffer storage batteries and optionally the fuel cell generator.

The first management unit 8 manages a predetermined order of preference as a parameter setting. According to the present invention, the predetermined order of preference is: first the renewable energy sources (wind and/or solar), then the energy from the buffer storage device, then the energy on board the vehicles present other than priority vehicles, then finally the generator set 4.

In the case where the fuel cell generator 3 is present, its priority level is for example positioned at the same level as the buffer storage rate device 5.

Turning now to the , block 91 represents the establishment of the table of present vehicles with the characteristics recovered concerning the future departure time stamp Hd(i), the current state of charge SOC(i), and where applicable the remaining charging time TRC. Block 92 represents the identification of priority vehicles by index calculation or by another method. Block 93 represents the indication of the instantaneous and future power requirement.

The diamonds marked 94,95,96,97 represent decision steps related to the order of preference of energy sources. In block 94, the instantaneous supply of renewable sources is compared with the power requirement; if this is insufficient, in block 95, the comparison is made by adding the power that can be drawn from the buffer storage battery; if this is still insufficient, in block 96, the comparison is made by evaluating what power or energy can be drawn from one of the vehicles present but not having priority; and if this is still insufficient, in block 97, the possibility of using the generator is evaluated.

If the solar cell field 1 or the wind farm 2 provide enough power at time t to meet the need established by the second management unit, then everything is fine (output 94a of the flowchart), and the power is directly used for recharging the priority vehicle.

The excess power is then used to recharge the buffer batteries or, if these are already fully charged, the first management unit limits the available power or suggests to the second management unit to anticipate the recharging of a non-priority vehicle.

If the power available from the renewable energy sources is less than the instantaneous requirement, then the first management unit draws energy from the buffer batteries 5 to supplement the power and meet the power requirement of the second management unit (output 95a of the flowchart).

Optionally, if present, fuel cell generator 3 can be called at the same priority level.

If it turns out that the buffer batteries cannot fulfil this role because they are not sufficiently charged, then the process plans to draw energy from one or more non-priority vehicles present on the installation (output 96a of the flowchart).

This scenario is illustrated in particular in , where the first vehicle Vh1 is being recharged while the terminal connected to the second vehicle draws energy from the second vehicle Vh2 (discharge mode). It is noted that in this phase, it is the second management unit 9 which transfers the energy from one vehicle to the other, the first management unit 8 exchanging with the second management unit only information about the implementation of the order of preference of the energy sources.

To finish on the , after positive verification of the availability of the generator set (97a), block 98 illustrates the start-up of generator set 4.

As illustrated by the dotted line 90, the process is recurrent and is repeated periodically. In particular, when a change to the starting future timestamp is validated by the second management unit 9, then the calculation process is restarted from the beginning.

Turning to the , the lowest curve of the illustrates the production of energy by renewable energy sources (wind and/or solar, noted '1+2'), this production is intermittent by nature. Between time T0 and time T1, and between time T2 and time T5, the energy produced is used to recharge the buffer batteries 5 (third curve from the bottom 'Batt 5'). Between T1 and T2, the production from renewable sources is zero, for example at night without wind.

Vehicle Vh1 arrives at time T3 and is declared as a priority; it will be recharged between time T4 and time T8.

Between times T4 and T5, the recharging power is provided by the sum of the decreasing renewable power and a draw from the buffer batteries. Between times T5 and T6, the power only comes from the draw from buffer battery 5 because the renewable energy source no longer produces energy.

At time T6, we stop drawing energy from the buffer battery 5 and we draw energy from the second vehicle Vh2. We note that from time T6 to time T7, the state of charge SOC(2) of Vh2 decreases. At time T7, the state of charge SOC(2) of Vh2 falls below a threshold and we stop drawing energy from the battery of the vehicle Vh2

To finish recharging the vehicle, we come to the last resort measure, namely the start of generator set 4 (top curve, noted ‘Gen 4’) at time T7 and the production of electrical energy from generator set 4 to finish recharging the first vehicle.

At time T8, the state of charge SOC(1) of the first vehicle Vh1 reaches 100%, and generator set 4 can be stopped.

The first vehicle Vh1 leaves the installation at time T9. Then, at time TA, a new renewable energy production cycle starts which continues until time TE. The energy produced is initially used to recharge the buffer batteries 5 (from TA to TB) and then partly to also recharge the second vehicle Vh2 (from TB to TC). Between times TC and TD, the energy produced is also used to recharge the second vehicle Vh2. At time TF, the second vehicle Vh2 leaves the installation fully charged, i.e. SOC(2) at 100%. The temporary energy draw from its battery did not hinder its use or its user.

It is understood that the greater the number of vehicles present, the greater the flexibility to use some of them temporarily as energy buffer storage.

Furthermore, as already indicated, it is possible to request a change of the future departure timestamp via the aforementioned user interface.

A user, whether a driver, owner or fleet manager of a vehicle, can create a user interface connecting to an interface platform 20.

To create this user interface, the user in question must provide a login ID, a password and must identify one or more vehicles for which he is responsible. The vehicle(s) are identified either by their registration plate number or by their specific number such as the VIN. In an auxiliary manner, a vehicle can be identified by the terminal number to which it is connected.

The creation of this user interface may be subject to the approval of an administrator of the installation. Such an administrator accesses the platform and beyond to the second management unit via an administrator interface. The administrator may be a natural person responsible for managing the 100% isolated site charging installation.

The administrator interface allows you to manage user rights. The administrator interface allows you to give more or less extensive rights to each user, including deleting one or accepting the creation of a new user.

The administrator interface allows direct interventions to be made concerning the change of vehicle prioritizations or even modifications to future departure timestamps. The administrator interface also allows, where appropriate, to act on the prioritization of energy sources.

The user interface (21,22) allows a user to view in real time the state of charge of his or her vehicle(s) connected to a charging station. Via the user interface, a user can request to modify the future departure time stamp.

If the modification consists of delaying the future departure date then this is taken into account by the platform 20 and the second management unit 9. The prioritization calculations and the scheduling of recharges can be carried out again and the recharge schedule can be amended accordingly.

On the other hand, if the modification consists of advancing the future departure date, then the second management unit 9 will return to the user interface the best possible predictable charge state at this new departure timestamp, based on the same schedule recalculated by prioritizing the vehicle in question. This is followed by a transactional exchange that allows the new departure timestamp to be adjusted, which will ultimately be validated based on what is acceptable to the user.

Once the new departure timestamp is validated, the second management unit performs a new prioritization calculation and the scheduling of recharges can be carried out again and the recharge schedule can be amended and implemented accordingly.

It is noted that there may be an economic impact as a result of the decision to bring forward the departure time, the charging bill may in this case be higher for the vehicle in the most hurry.

Regardless, the ability to change the future departure date through a user interface adds flexibility to the overall vehicle charging system.

Claims (10)

Charging installation for charging electric vehicles comprising:
- a field of photovoltaic cells (1) and/or a wind farm (2), forming renewable energy sources,
- a generator set (4),
- an energy buffer storage device,
- a plurality of charging stations (6) for charging present vehicles, each of the present vehicles (7) being connected to a charging station,
- a management device (10), for managing the production and storage of electrical energy, managing energy levels on board the vehicles, and planning and ordering the recharging of the vehicles,
- at least one user interface (21,22) allowing at least one user to view the charge status of his or her vehicle(s) connected to a charging station,
the installation being without connection to a general electricity supply network,
characterized in that the management device (10) is configured to:
- receive for each of the vehicles, or estimate, a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)) and a current charge level SOC(i), at least for the vehicles present, or receive an update of a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)) via the user interface,
- identify one or more priority vehicles among the plurality of vehicles present based on their future departure timestamp and their respective current charge level,
- recharge the priority vehicle(s) using the following energies in a predetermined order of preference: solar energy provided by the photovoltaic cells, wind energy provided by the wind turbines, energy stored in the energy buffer storage device, energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles, and if these energies are not available in sufficient cumulative quantity, then the management device is configured to start the generator set and an output of the generator set is directed to the charging station(s) to which the priority vehicle(s) are connected.
- make available for one or more user interfaces at least one expected end of charging time stamp and a charge status of at least one vehicle connected to a charging station. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the predetermined order of preference is: first the renewable energy sources, then the energy from the energy buffer storage device, then finally the energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the vehicles present transmit to their respective charging station the time remaining before complete charging, and the charging station transmits said time remaining before complete charging to the management device. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an administrator interface for at least managing user interfaces. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the charging terminals (6) are configured to, in cooperation with a charge manager (74) on board a vehicle present, draw electrical energy from a vehicle present but not a priority intended for the management device. Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the management device (10) comprises a first management unit (8), for managing the production and storage of electrical energy, and a second management unit (9), for managing energy levels on board the vehicles, and planning and ordering the recharging of the vehicles. Method implemented in a charging installation for charging electric vehicles comprising:
- a field of photovoltaic cells (1) and/or a wind farm (2), forming renewable energy sources,
- a generator set (4),
- an energy buffer storage device (5),
- a plurality of charging stations (6) for charging present vehicles, each of the present vehicles (7) being connected to a charging station,
- at least one user interface allowing at least one user to view the charging status of his or her vehicle(s) connected to a charging station,
the installation being without connection to a general electricity supply network,
the method comprising:
- a step of estimating or receiving for each of the vehicles, a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)) and a current charge level SOC(i), at least for the vehicles present, or of receiving via the user interface an update of a future departure timestamp (Hd(i)),
- a step of identifying one or more priority vehicles among the plurality of vehicles present according to their future departure timestamp and their respective current charge level,
- a step of recharging the priority vehicle(s) using the following energies in a predetermined order of preference: solar energy provided by the photovoltaic cells, wind energy provided by the wind turbines, energy stored in the energy buffer storage device, energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles, and if these energies are not available in sufficient cumulative quantity, then starting the generator set and directing an output of the generator set to the charging station(s) to which the priority vehicle(s) are connected,
- make available for one or more user interfaces at least one expected end of charging time stamp and a charge status of at least one vehicle connected to a charging station. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the vehicles present transmit to their respective charging station the time remaining before complete charging, and said time remaining before complete charging is used in the identification of priority vehicles. Method according to any one of claims 7 to 8, characterized in that the predetermined order of preference is: first the renewable energy sources, then the energy from the energy buffer storage device, then finally the energy on board the vehicles present other than the priority vehicles. Method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that it is provided that:
- when an instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is greater than the power requirement for charging priority vehicles, then this power is used to charge the priority vehicles and to recharge the energy buffer storage device,
- when an instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is lower than the power requirement for charging priority vehicles, then the charging of priority vehicles from the instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is supplemented by a draw from the energy buffer storage device,
- when an instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is lower than the power requirement for charging priority vehicles and the current state of charge of the energy buffer storage device is insufficient, then the charging of priority vehicles from the instantaneous power available on renewable energy sources is further supplemented by an energy draw from one or more vehicle(s) present but not priority,
- when an instantaneous power available on the renewable energy sources is less than the power requirement for charging the priority vehicles and the current state of charge of the energy buffer storage device is insufficient, and the energy draw from one or more vehicle(s) present but not priority is insufficient, then the generator set is started and then the charging of the priority vehicles from the instantaneous power available on the renewable energy sources is further supplemented by power delivered by the generator set.