During the first year of the project the activities were focused on development of the technical solution that enables achievement of project’s goals. A detailed system architecture was defined which contains actors and components involved directly in charging, local actors and components, and external actors that communicate with the charging system.
Due to its modular structure a new charger’s motherboard allows to equip the chargers with different components and modules adapted to the requirements of each individual user. The modularity also enables adapting the charger’s communication physical interfaces (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, PLC, or GSM) to the communication system already implemented on site. The newly developed charger’s casing enables easy installation and maintenance, bringing additional savings to the end customer.
The implemented power management algorithms use information from the EV, from EV users, from the Load guard device that monitors the building’s internal network, and from previous charging sessions. The algorithms control the charging process to achieve different goals: prevention of overload of internal network, charging cost optimisation by shifting the charging load to the periods of low energy delivery tariffs, maximisation of consumption of locally produced energy, and distribution of total charging load to several chargers installed at the same location by strict consideration of individual users’ charging needs. In addition, the charging system is capable to communicate with grid and energy market actors in order to adapt the charging load to their needs.
The charger’s physical user interface enables the user to enter the necessary information needed for management of charging load. It enables implementation of functionalities required for public charging, such as provision of information about charging price and support for different identification methods. The charger’s web interface allows the user to supervise the operation of the system and to monitor the efficiency of power management algorithms.
The activities of the project’s second year were focused on testing the developed charging system. The lab tests enabled the developed product to be successfully implemented on the field and tested in different real-world environments. The continuous analysis of system operation under different conditions and above all the users’ feedback resulted in many ideas for improvement of functionalities that were successfully implemented already during the project.
In parallel with testing activities, comprehensive communication and commercialisation activities were conducted in order to enable smooth transition of the product from development stage to market entrance. Different media and communication approaches were used to inform the interested community, the beneficiaries of the solution (EV users, grid operators, energy market actors), and current and potential dealers of Etrel’s products about the new charging system and its functionalities. The commercialisation activities were focused on designing the processes that will help in later establishment of network of dealers and other business partners that Etrel will cooperate with in sales, installation, maintenance, and customer support.
