A solar-powered bus charging infrastructure location problem under charging service degradation

Photovoltaic and energy storage system (PESS) offers a compelling pathway towards boosting green transportation due to its low carbon emissions. This study investigates a solar-powered bus charging infrastructure location problem by considering PESS. A two-stage robust optimization model is formulated to handle the uncertainty of charging service degradation. The first-stage decision is to determine which bus depots are to be upgraded with PESS. The second-stage de-cision is to conduct emergent bus and energy scheduling when the charging service degrades. Two objectives are optimized simultaneously. The first objective is to maximize the net benefits of PESS during day-to-day operations. The second objective is to minimize the unmet passenger demands during the charging service degradation. We implement a case study using a sub-network of Beijing public transport. The results present pieces of evidence that PESS can lower the daily bus charging costs and improve the service capacity of passengers when the charging service degrades.

Automated summary

This study investigates the location problem of solar-powered bus charging infrastructure by considering photovoltaic and energy storage system (PESS). A two-stage robust optimization model is formulated to handle the uncertainty of charging service degradation. The results of a case study using a sub-network of Beijing public transport show that PESS can lower the daily bus charging costs and improve the service capacity of passengers when the charging service degrades.