SolarEV Cities for deep urban decarbonization: A critical review of integration gaps and transition pathways
T. Kobashi (Tohoku University)
G.R. Chandra Mouli (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
J. Liu (Harbin Institute of Technology)
S. Chang (Purdue University)
C.D. Harper (Carnegie Mellon University)
R. Zhou (Harbin Institute of Technology)
R.G. Dewi (Bandung Institute of Technology)
U.W.R. Siagian (Bandung Institute of Technology)
J Kang (Seoul National University)
More Authors (External organisation)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
Urban decarbonization is essential for meeting global climate goals; however, progress toward integrated low-carbon urban energy systems remains inadequately slow. The SolarEV City Concept integrates rooftop photovoltaic (PV) generation with electric vehicles (EVs) as city-scale distributed mobile energy storage, using EV batteries to increase the value and flexibility of urban rooftop PV. Modeling studies suggest that high-penetration PV+EV systems could supply 60–95% of municipal electricity demand under scenarios aligned with future sustainable-city development, but real-world integration remains limited. Despite rapid worldwide growth of both PV and EV markets, bidirectional Vehicle-to-Home/Building (V2H/V2B) and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) applications have advanced unevenly, revealing a persistent PV-EV integration gap. This critical integrative review analyzes this gap using a socio-techno-economic framework encompassing six interdependent dimensions: climate, urban structure, technology, economics, policy, and society, across nine countries: Australia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, and the United States. Cross-national comparison shows that implementation is constrained by fragmented bidirectional-charging standards, immature value-stacking and compensation models, distribution-grid and market-access constraints, regulatory separation between energy and transport sectors, and equity barriers that disproportionately limit access for renters, apartment residents, and lower-income households. Five transition-pathway archetypes, ranging from Japan’s resilience-driven V2H pathway to regulation-enabled commercial V2G pathways in France and the Netherlands, demonstrate that SolarEV Cities require a transition from parallel PV and EV promotion toward shared urban-energy visions, interoperable digital infrastructure, feeder-aware planning, inclusive market designs, and multi-stakeholder implementation platforms that convert rapid PV and EV innovation into scalable, resilient, and socially inclusive urban decarbonization.
help_outline