A sustainable battery scheduling and echelon utilization framework for electric bus network with photovoltaic charging infrastructure

Battery capacity degradation in battery electric buses (BEBs) poses a significant operational challenge for transit agencies. This study presents a sustainable battery scheduling and echelon utilization framework considering battery capacity fading and charging infrastructure integrated with solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems. The framework aims to minimize the sum of bus charging, battery replacement, and carbon emission costs during the BEB lifespan. We first present a power battery replacement problem for a single bus fleet, then extend it to a joint power battery replacement and fleet-depot matching problem. Finally, we propose a power battery replacement and fleet-depot problem by introducing solar PV and energy storage systems. Dynamic programming, Lagrange relaxation, and a two-step approach are adopted to solve the three problems. A case study involving six bus depots in Beijing demonstrates that optimal battery replacement schedules can significantly lower charging costs. Moreover, integrating solar PV and energy storage is shown to considerably reduce both charging costs and carbon emissions.