Context-aware microgrid storage using electric cars

Electric cars could provide a viable power storage option for suburban microgrids. Such stored power could be used by the microgrid or supplied to the main grid at key times as part of the operation and management of a microgrid cluster. Tracking driver behaviour then becomes important in order to estimate and forecast the level of stored power at any given time. Context-aware information gathered from external sources such as an electronic work calendar can provide one means of predicting driver and car movements. We are using simulation studies to quantify the benefit of such context-aware information for calculating and forecasting battery storage capacity in a microgrid cluster. This capacity is then used in a simulation of power trading between the cluster and a main grid.