Electric Vehicles (EVs) are projected to be one of the major contributors to energy transition in global transportation due to their rapid expansion. High-level of EVs integration into the electricity grid will introduce many challenges for the power grid planning, operation, stability, standards, and safety. Therefore, the wide-scale adoption of EVs imposes research and development of charging systems and EV supply equipment (EVSE) to achieve expected charging solutions for EV batteries as well as to improve ancillary services. Analysis of the status of EV charging technologies is important to accelerate EV adoption with advanced control strategies to discover a remedial solution for negative impacts and to enhance desired charging efficiency and grid support. This paper presents a comprehensive review of EV charging technologies, international standards, the architecture of EV charging stations, and the power converter configurations of EV charging systems. The charging systems require a dedicated converter topology, a control strategy, compatibility with standards, and grid codes for charging and discharging to ensure optimum operation and enhance grid support. An overview of different charging systems in terms of onboard and off-board chargers, AC-DC and DC-DC converter configuration, and AC and DC-based charging station architectures are evaluated. In addition, recent charging systems which are integrated with renewable energy sources are presented to identify the power train of modern charging stations. Finally, future trends and challenges in EV charging and grid integration issues are summarized as the future direction of the research.

We present a detailed survey of the Zero Trust (ZT) security paradigm which has a growing number of advocates in the critical infrastructure risk management space. The article employs a descriptive approach to present the fundamental tenets of ZT and provides a review of numerous potential options available for successful realization of this paradigm. We describe the role of authentication and access control in Zero Trust Architectures (ZTA) and present an in-depth discussion of state-of-the-art techniques for authentication and access control in different scenarios. Furthermore, we comprehensively discuss the conventional approaches to encryption, micro-segmentation, and security automation available for instantiating a ZTA. The article also details various challenges associated with contemporary authentication mechanisms, access control schemes, trust and risk computation techniques, micro-segmentation approaches, and Software-Defined Perimeter, that can impact the implementation of ZT in its true sense. Based upon our analysis, we finally pinpoint the potential future research directions for successful realization of ZT in critical infrastructures.

Photovoltaic arrays subject to partial shading conditions have more than one maximum power point (MPP), and conventional algorithms are unable to track the global maximum power point (GMPP) accurately. Thus, an improved global search space differential evolution algorithm for tracking the GMPP is introduced in this paper. The main contribution of the proposed algorithm are: a) capability in tracking GMPP and faster respond against load variation, b) optimization algorithm can search for the GMPP within a larger operating region as it is implemented by using a single-ended primary-inductor converter, c) easy tuning as less parameter has to be set in the algorithm. The proposed system is first simulated in MATLAB to ensure its capability. The feasibility of the approach is validated through physical implementation and experimentation. Results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has the capability to track the GMPP within 2 s with an accuracy of 99% and respond to load variation within 0.1 s.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly emerging field of technologies that delivers numerous cutting-edge solutions in various domains including the critical infrastructures. Thanks to the IoT, the conventional power system network can be transformed into an effective and smarter energy grid. In this article, we review the architecture and functionalities of IoT-enabled smart energy grid systems. Specifically, we focus on different IoT technologies including sensing, communication, computing technologies, and their standards in relation to smart energy grid. This article also presents a comprehensive overview of existing studies on IoT applications to the smart grid system. Based on recent surveys and literature, we observe that the security vulnerabilities related to IoT technologies have been attributed as one of the major concerns of IoT-enabled energy systems. Therefore, we review the existing threat and attack models for IoT-enabled energy systems and summarize mitigation techniques for those security vulnerabilities. Finally, we highlight how advanced technologies (e.g., blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence) can complement IoT-enabled energy systems to be more resilient and secure and overcome the existing difficulties so that they become more effective, robust, and reliable in operation. Precisely, this article will help understand the framework for IoT-enabled smart energy system, associated security vulnerabilities, and prospects of advanced technologies to improve the effectiveness of smart energy systems.