User-redirection-aware co-optimization of public charging with local photovoltaics and battery storage

Journal article, 2026

Rapid transport electrification creates spatially concentrated and temporally varying charging demand, making public charging infrastructure a joint investment and localized energy management problem. This study develops a co-optimization approach, from a charging point operator perspective, integrating incentivized user redirection as a flexibility measure into the spatial joint deployment of multi-class public chargers and on-site solar photovoltaic generation, and battery energy storage, together with retail tariff-responsive grid procurement and battery operations. Logic-based Benders decomposition is used to separate infrastructure decisions from the discrete annual operational problem under user redirection, dynamic time-of-use tariffs, land use constraints, seasonal solar variability, and spatiotemporal charging demand. The method is tested in a case study in Gothenburg, Sweden, using multiple spatial, transport, and energy data sources. Relative to the chargers-only case without user redirection, the combined photovoltaic, battery storage, and user redirection case increases annual net profit by SEK 19.10 million (3.94%), reduces grid purchases by 32.77 GWh/year (28.4%), while serving all charging demand. Within the photovoltaic and storage configuration, user-redirection increases profit by SEK 1.73 million (0.34%), reduces the public charger count by 14.9%, and reallocates 2.08 GWh/year (2.10%) of public demand. The results indicate that local photovoltaics and battery storage account for most of the reduction in grid electricity use, while incentivized user redirection reduces the required chargers and improves the operational use of local energy and charging capacity, consequently amplifying the benefits of PV with battery storage.