PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Intelligent management
Energy management software is essential for controlling the optimum flow
of electricity to support a fleet of charging EVs or large-scale consumer needs
There is more to charging
a fleet of electric vehicles than
simply plugging them in, which is
why newcomers to e-mobility need
to plan long term and their suppliers
need to develop the tools to meet
their customers’ needs.
Phoenix Contact E-Mobility has
been working closely with energy
solutions company GP Joule since
2015, among other things
developing the EV Charging Suite.
Today, GP Joule uses the charging
management software itself, and
also successfully uses it in its
customer projects.
“The electrification of the fleet
has far-reaching consequences,”
explains Jonas Elbrond, hardware
developer at GP Joule, of the need
to plan long term. “The demands
on mobility are constantly changing
– primarily due to the growth of the
company and the need to integrate
PV power generation or large-scale
consumers into the energy
management system.”
Fundamental to this is the
consideration of how the energy
supply for charging is ensured by
the existing connected load. “An
energy management system is
required to control the energy flow,
and it can be autonomous or part of
a complete building management
system,” says Elbrond.
“The charging controllers and the
EV Charging Suite enable optimum
energy management,” says Piet
Gömpel, software developer at GP
Joule. “The suite also regulates the
release for the charging process and
regulates the charging current.
Charging processes are actively
controlled and information is sent
to the electric vehicle.”
Electricity from renewable
energies, such as solar power, is an
ideal basis for recharging electric
176 // January 2020 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
One of 30 charging stations. If required, GP Joule
can successively expand the charging park
vehicles, so GP Joule operates its
charging car park in combination
with photovoltaic systems (PV
systems), which provides additional
connected load.
GP Joule uses the export function
of the software for billing. In public
areas, charging processes are billed
by a third-party provider, which
receives the consumption data via
OCPP – the protocol is an integral
part of the EV Charging Suite.
The gradual expansion of a
charging park is common practice
for most operators. In 2015, GP Joule
started with a few relatively simple
AC wall boxes. The company now
operates 30 charging stations at its
headquarters. Extensions are
possible through a license model for
10, 30 or 50 charging points without
a software update.
Just how user-friendly a scalable
system is can be seen in the
configuration of new charging
points. With the EV Charging Suite,
the parameters are easily controlled
from any PC via a web browser.
The development and conception
of future-oriented mobility solutions
therefore go far beyond the sale of
charging stations. The EV Charging
Suite ensures that a range of
charging applications can be
implemented, and the software also
takes advantage of cloud-based
services where applicable to meet
customer requirements.
The EV Charging Suite from
Phoenix Contact is tailored to
companies that want to operate
anything between 10 and several
dozen charging points in the future
and have professional requirements
for energy management, operation
and safety. The intelligent and
dynamic distribution of the available
charging capacity, the integration of
building loads or renewable energy
generation as well as user
prioritization cover the requirements
of this target group.
With the EV Charging Suite, employees have access to diagnostic details on
charging status and occupation time, making management more convenient
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To learn more about Phoenix Contact,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
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