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| Fig. 1: A solar-powered EV charging station in Lohfelden. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
It is estimated that China will have over 2.5 million passenger electric vehicles (EVs) by 2022. It is the worlds biggest market for electric vehicles continues to grow, as the Chinese government recently announced that 20% of vehicles in the country must be hybrid or battery-powered. [1] However, despite the countrys well-intentioned efforts to reduce carbon emissions by converting more fuel-powered automobiles into clean alternatives, the power sector remains the largest carbon emitter in China. Over 42% of Chinas carbon emissions are energy-related, and between 2003 and 2012, the number of vehicles in the country grew from 24.2 million to 137 million. [2]
Therefore, the need for clean-energy charging solutions for electric vehicles should be a major concern for the Chinese government. At present, many cities and regions have started building electric vehicle charging stations, but still have not formed a complete and sophisticated layout planning system, not to mention the large scale of the construction. There is a clear need for more charging infrastructure, and as of 2018, there is no record of any public clean-energy charging stations available for use. [3] The government has ambitious plans for EV growth and carbon emissions reduction. However, its lack of emphasis on renewable energy alternatives to coal-burned electricity will mean that its carbon emissions problem cannot be significantly remedied. Research indicates that solar energy charging stations presents the potential be the most economically viable clean solution to achieve their goals. Fig. 1 provides a visual representation of what such a station would look like - it depicts a solar EV charging station in Lohfelden, Germany.
Densely populated coastal cities such as Shenzhen, which has become a major technological and economic hub in China, present the biggest opportunity new installations of solar-powered charging stations. Shenzhen receives approximately 1850 to 2050h of solar radiation per year. [2] The average charging station should have capacity to fully charge 100 electric vehicles per day. Based on energy conversion rates of the latest solar technology, cities with similar radiation exposure should produce ample energy to power the percentage of hybrid or electric vehicles operating there (in Shenzhen, that percentage is 18% of privately- owned vehicles). [2] Additionally, the cost of such a conversion would be lower than coal-powered EV charging stations on the long run. While building new charging infrastructure and solar panels will produce new costs for local city governments, studies show that the cost of energy (COE) with a well-designed solar charging system would be $0.098/kWh in cities like Shenzhen. [2] This is significantly less than current COE in Shenzhen for coal-powered charging stations ($0.178/kWh) and that of such stations in China as a whole ($0.163/kWh). [2] Thus, the opportunity for a new network of solar-powered charging stations is very much present in some of Chinas major cities.
While the prospect of solar-powered EV charging stations in China is attractive for major cities that can support the infrastructure, rural areas will have a difficult time implementing such stations. Furthermore, geographical regions that do not receive sufficient solar radiation could view this alternative as unjustifiable due to the cost of implementation. While a high percentage of EVs in China are owned by citizens living in cities, long range travel within the country will be difficult without extensive infrastructure throughout all regions. Solar alternatives for this charging infrastructure may be too unattractive to be considered seriously. Furthermore, Shenzhen presents an opportunity that is limited to itself and several similar cities due to its TOU tariff policy. [2] This policy enables the charging of EVs at off-peak hours, which reduces costs significantly. [2] Without this policy in place, the cost of implementation might also be fiscally unjustifiable. Finally, the lack of land in most cities calls for creative solutions to the placement of charging stations. Most cities are already overdeveloped, and the real estate cost to develop entire lots dedicated to EV charging, let alone solar- powered EV charging, will be highly expensive. Local governments must be willing to make concessions in rent and land allocation for charging stations to be ubiquitous.
China is the fastest growing EV market in the world. Therefore, it must be a pioneer in the development of renewable energy-powered EVs. It can achieve this goal by enforcing favourable tariffs in its major cities to make the conversion more economically viable. Furthermore, the government should look towards private companies such as Tesla to develop high-quality solar technology that can be used at solar-powered EV stations. The prospect of developing solar EV charging stations outside of major cities is not viable. In major cities, the biggest issue is initial investment and land availability. In order to overcome these issues, local government involvement and creative charging station design are key. Developing charging stations usually results in an imbalance in stakeholder interest due to high initial investment cost. [2] However, if the government can partner with large international companies such as Tesla or SolarCity, the viability of high-quality charging stations will increase. With regards to land availability, planners could utilize building rooftops to capture high amounts of solar radiation and transfer that energy to charging stations in carparks. [2] They could also employ a mobile charging model, wherein one high- battery capacity electric vehicle is charged at a small station and proceeds to transfer the energy to other vehicles in need throughout the city. [2] Key coastal cities can also utilize their geographic location to maximise the solar energy produced and saved for off-peak hours. [2]
Energy production remains Chinas largest producer of carbon emissions. While transitioning to EVs will reduce emissions produced by transportation, energy emissions will remain high and continuously rise. Therefore, renewable solutions such as solar-powered EV charging stations will become increasingly important.
© Matthew Lu. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] Y. Tian, "China Is Leading the World to an Electric Car Future," Bloomberg News, 14 Nov 18.
[2] B. Ye et al., "Feasibility Study of a Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station Model," Energies 8, 13265 (2015).
[3] Z. Zhu et al., "Charging Station Planning for Plug-In Electric Vehicles," J. Syst. Sci. Syst. Eng. 27, 24 (2018).
