On the Evaluation of Plug-in Electric Vehicle Data of a Campus Charging Network

The mass adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) requires the deployment of public charging stations. Such facilities are expected to employ distributed generation and storage units to reduce the stress on the grid and boost sustainable transportation. While prior work has made considerable progress in deriving insights for understanding the adverse impacts of PEV chargings and how to alleviate them, a critical issue that affects the accuracy is the lack of real world PEV data. As the dynamics and pertinent design of such charging stations heavily depend on actual customer demand profile, in this paper we present and evaluate the data obtained from a $17$ node charging network equipped with Level $2$ chargers at a major North American University campus. The data is recorded for $166$ weeks starting from late $2011$. The result indicates that the majority of the customers use charging lots to extend their driving ranges. Also, the demand profile shows that there is a tremendous opportunity to employ solar generation to fuel the vehicles as there is a correlation between the peak customer demand and solar irradiation. Also, we provided a more detailed data analysis and show how to use this information in designing future sustainable charging facilities.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Energycon 201

Energy Production Analysis and Optimization of Mini-Grid in Remote Areas: The Case Study of Habaswein, Kenya

Rural electrification in remote areas of developing countries has several challenges which hinder energy access to the population. For instance, the extension of the national grid to provide electricity in these areas is largely not viable. The Kenyan Government has put a target to achieve universal energy access by the year 2020. To realize this objective, the focus of the program is being shifted to establishing off-grid power stations in rural areas. Among rural areas to be electrified is Habaswein, which is a settlement in Kenya’s northeastern region without connection to the national power grid, and where Kenya Power installed a stand-alone hybrid mini-grid. Based on field observations, power generation data analysis, evaluation of the potential energy resources and simulations, this research intends to evaluate the performance of the Habaswein mini-grid and optimize the existing hybrid generation system to enhance its reliability and reduce the operation costs. The result will be a suggestion of how Kenyan rural areas could be sustainably electrified by using renewable energy based off-grid power stations. It will contribute to bridge the current research gap in this area, and it will be a vital tool to researchers, implementers and the policy makers in energy sector

Comparison of different approaches to multistage lot sizing with uncertain demand

We study a new variant of the classical lot sizing problem with uncertain demand where neither the planning horizon nor demands are known exactly. This situation arises in practice when customer demands arriving over time are confirmed rather lately during the transportation process. In terms of planning, this setting necessitates a rolling horizon procedure where the overall multistage problem is dissolved into a series of coupled snapshot problems under uncertainty. Depending on the available data and risk disposition, different approaches from online optimization, stochastic programming, and robust optimization are viable to model and solve the snapshot problems. We evaluate the impact of the selected methodology on the overall solution quality using a methodology-agnostic framework for multistage decision-making under uncertainty. We provide computational results on lot sizing within a rolling horizon regarding different types of uncertainty, solution approaches, and the value of available information about upcoming demands

Optimal integration and management of solar generation and battery storage system in distribution systems under uncertain environment

The simultaneous placement of solar photovoltaics (SPVs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) in distribution systems is a highly complex combinatorial optimization problem. It not only involves siting and sizing but is also embedded with charging and discharging dispatches of BESSs under dynamically varying system states with intermittency of SPVs and operational constraints. This makes the simultaneous allocation a nested problem, where the operational part acts as a constraint for the planning part and adds complexity to the problem. This paper presents a bi-layer optimization strategy to optimally place SPVs and BESSs in the distribution system. A simple and effective operating BESS strategy model is developed to mitigate reverse power flow, enhance load deviation index and absorb variability of load and power generation which are essential features for the faithful exploitation of available renewable energy sources (RESs). In the proposed optimization strategy, the inner layer optimizes the energy management of BESSs for the sizing and siting as suggested by the outer layer. Since the inner layer optimizes each system state separately, the problem search space of GA is significantly reduced. The application results on a benchmark 33-bus test distribution system highlight the importance of the proposed method

Stochastic make-to-stock inventory deployment problem: an endosymbiotic psychoclonal algorithm based approach

Integrated steel manufacturers (ISMs) have no specific product, they just produce finished product from the ore. This enhances the uncertainty prevailing in the ISM regarding the nature of the finished product and significant demand by customers. At present low cost mini-mills are giving firm competition to ISMs in terms of cost, and this has compelled the ISM industry to target customers who want exotic products and faster reliable deliveries. To meet this objective, ISMs are exploring the option of satisfying part of their demand by converting strategically placed products, this helps in increasing the variability of product produced by the ISM in a short lead time. In this paper the authors have proposed a new hybrid evolutionary algorithm named endosymbiotic-psychoclonal (ESPC) to decide what and how much to stock as a semi-product in inventory. In the proposed theory, the ability of previously proposed psychoclonal algorithms to exploit the search space has been increased by making antibodies and antigen more co-operative interacting species. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm has been tested on randomly generated datasets and the results compared with other evolutionary algorithms such as genetic algorithms (GA) and simulated annealing (SA). The comparison of ESPC with GA and SA proves the superiority of the proposed algorithm both in terms of quality of the solution obtained and convergence time required to reach the optimal/near optimal value of the solution

Optimizing lot sizing model for perishable bread products using genetic algorithm

This research addresses order planning challenges related to perishable products, using bread products as a case study. The problem is how to effi­ci­ently manage the various bread products ordered by diverse customers, which requires distributors to determine the optimal number of products to order from suppliers. This study aims to formulate the problem as a lot-sizing model, considering various factors, including customer demand, in­ven­tory constraints, ordering capacity, return rate, and defect rate, to achieve a near or optimal solution, Therefore determining the optimal order quantity to reduce the total ordering cost becomes a challenge in this study. However, most lot sizing problems are combinatorial and difficult to solve. Thus, this study uses the Genetic Algorithm (GA) as the main method to solve the lot sizing model and determine the optimal number of bread products to order. With GA, experiments have been conducted by combining the values of population, crossover, mutation, and generation parameters to maximize the feasibility value that represents the minimal total cost. The results obtained from the application of GA demonstrate its effectiveness in generating near or optimal solutions while also showing fast computational performance. By utilizing GA, distributors can effectively minimize wastage arising from expired or perishable products while simultaneously meeting customer demand more efficiently. As such, this research makes a significant contri­bution to the development of more effective and intelligent decision-making strategies in the domain of perishable products in bread distribution.Penelitian ini berfokus untuk mengatasi tantangan perencanaan pemesanan yang berkaitan dengan produk yang mudah rusak, dengan menggunakan produk roti sebagai studi kasus. Permasalahan yang dihadapi adalah bagaimana mengelola berbagai produk roti yang dipesan oleh pelanggan yang beragam secara efisien, yang mengharuskan distributor untuk menentukan jumlah produk yang optimal untuk dipesan dari pemasok. Untuk mencapai solusi yang optimal, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memformulasikan masalah tersebut sebagai model lot-sizing, dengan mempertimbangkan berbagai faktor, termasuk permintaan pelanggan, kendala persediaan, kapasitas pemesanan, tingkat pengembalian, dan tingkat cacat. Oleh karena itu, menentukan jumlah pemesanan yang optimal untuk mengurangi total biaya pemesanan menjadi tantangan dalam penelitian ini. Namun, sebagian besar masalah lot sizing bersifat kombinatorial dan sulit untuk dipecahkan, oleh karena itu, penelitian ini menggunakan Genetic Algorithm (GA) sebagai metode utama untuk menyelesaikan model lot sizing dan menentukan jumlah produk roti yang optimal untuk dipesan. Dengan GA, telah dilakukan percobaan dengan mengkombinasikan nilai parameter populasi, crossover, mutasi, dan generasi untuk memaksimalkan nilai kelayakan yang merepresentasikan total biaya yang minimal. Hasil yang diperoleh dari penerapan GA menunjukkan keefektifannya dalam menghasilkan solusi yang optimal, selain itu juga menunjukkan kinerja komputasi yang cepat. Dengan menggunakan GA, distributor dapat secara efektif meminimalkan pemborosan yang timbul akibat produk yang kadaluarsa atau mudah rusak, sekaligus memenuhi permintaan pelanggan dengan lebih efisien. Dengan demikian, penelitian ini memberikan kontribusi yang signifikan terhadap pengembangan strategi pengambilan keputusan yang lebih efektif dan cerdas dalam domain produk yang mudah rusak dalam distribusi roti

Multi-item inventory policy with time-dependent pricing and rework cost

The price of broiler chickens at the consumer level varies daily. The price can be very low or otherwise. The price has resulted from the imbalance between the availability of chicken from suppliers and the market demand. As a result, demand will also fluctuate because it is influenced by consumer purchasing power. When the price of live chickens is low, the carcass company will usually buy in large quantities and expect to sell them at a higher price. The problem arises when the chicken overstock company will risk product damage due to product buildup in the refrigerated warehouse, so rework is necessary. In this paper, we will be developed a multi-item inventory model that considers material prices that vary to time, probabilistic demand, and rework costs. The aim is to determine the right policy for controlling frozen chicken products' inventory to minimize losses and total inventory costs.  This model can evaluate the best time to order broiler chickens, how much to order, how long the interval between orders, and the optimal number of orders, resulting in minimum total inventory cost per period.  The model solution is carried out with an optimization approach based on the parameters that affect the model. A numerical example is given at the end of this paper for model validation and illustrates the model solving algorithm