TORONTO – One the barriers facing widespread electrical vehicle (EV) adoption is the various elements required to support the charging infrastructure. For site owners looking to support charging stations, that includes easy management.
That's why one of the pioneers in the EV segment is making it easier to manage charging infrastructure alongside other common building systems such as HVAC, electric and security: ClipperCreek Inc. recently introduced new advanced control interface for its HCS Series EV charging Stations. It comes in the form of an expanded functionality card, dubbed COSMOS, that provides an interface for integrating with building energy management or other third-party monitor and control systems.
ClipperCreek's COSMOS-enabled HCS charging stations come pre-assembled with a communication conduit for external access to serial and digital load management interfaces. The card-enabled stations are also compatible with the ChargeGuard key-based access control, feature a UART serial communication interface, and are available in 32 amp or 48 amp power levels. There is also a ruggedized option.
The COSMOS card is available for the Level 2, 240V ClipperCreek HCS Series and can be added to any HCS Series charging station for just $184. In a telephone interview with EE Times, director of sales Will Barrett said a lot of customers are getting to the point where they are installing a large number stations that along with other systems are consuming a great deal of power and they need to effectively manage the load. This might include an office building, apartment complex or a shopping mall.
ClipperCreak designed COSMOS for developers, system operators and system integrators. It includes a simple digital load management interface, as well as Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) Serial Communication interface for more advanced connection to third party monitoring and control systems. Available UART Serial commands include the ability to set the available power level, monitor vehicle connected status and view advanced diagnostics information, while the digital load management interface features four levels of output power control.
For now, the card is only available for ClipperCreek HCS Series of charging stations, but Barrett said the company would be interested in seeing it become an open standard for the industry, and the company has made its UART Serial Communications protocol document available to any interested developer.
ClipperCreek has introduced a new advanced control interface card for its HCS Series electric vehicle charging stations that provides an interface for integrating with building energy management or other third-party monitor and control systems.Barrett said there are many variables with charging infrastructures that must be addressed, including the need to effectively managing charging stations alongside other systems. Other aspects include payment and processing for different scenarios, such as an app that enables pay-per-use at a station. Right now, there are a variety of service providers as well as public infrastructure.
In Europe, for example, the Open Charge Alliance (OCA) is pushing for the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) standard that is already widely used in Europe to be the worldwide standard for payment collection and processing at networked charging stations.
“The overall market is moving toward more connected, networked systems for energy management," said Mareca Hatler, director of research at ON World. The ClipperCreek solution allows this networking to be done through a single card, rather than directly. “It makes it a lot easier for its existing base of customers to integrate with building energy systems." When you have more and more EVs charging at the same time, she said, it becomes more strenuous and costlier on the overall system.
Although there now tens of thousands of installed charging stations, said Hatler, EV adoption is still in its infancy. ClipperCreek is unique with its card approach to support existing energy systems. More broadly, cloud computing systems are playing a role is addressing various billing and management challenges across network charged infrastructures. Other barriers to increased adoption are logistical, such as how employees will be able to charge their vehicles at work, while utilities are grappling with the impact on the grid.
Of course one the biggest challenges remains getting batteries that can power an EV for more than 300 miles, said Hatler, which are limited to expensive Tesla models for the moment.
In Canada, meanwhile, the federal government and the province of New Brunswick recently announced an initiative that will see 15 charging stations set up throughout the province. The eCharge Network is aimed at providing existing EV drivers with a bit of peace of mind that they will be able to find a fast charging station frequently enough on longer trips.
—Gary Hilson is a general contributing editor with a focus on memory and flash technologies for EE Times.
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