Seeking Flexible Software to Control Condo Residents' EVSEs

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Toolworker

Toolworker

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A friend of mine is on a condo board trying to provide EV charging to residents. They want to provide 240v outlets for residents to plug in their own EVSEs.

Because of limited power capacity, not all EVSEs will be able to be in use at the same time.

What they need is a software system allowing them to manage those EVSEs, assuming they are wifi enabled to a standard they can specify. They need a system that can:
  1. Connect to and control the EVSEs.
  2. For each EVSE, store its maximum power and which of the 240v lines it is assigned to.
  3. Prevent EVSEs from beginning to charge if their 240v line is already at capacity.
  4. And allow them to bill the tenants for energy use.
Does anything like that exist?

Are there software tools that someone can use to develop such a system?
 
Toolworker said:
A friend of mine is on a condo board trying to provide EV charging to residents. They want to provide 240v outlets for residents to plug in their own EVSEs.

Because of limited power capacity, not all EVSEs will be able to be in use at the same time.

What they need is a software system allowing them to manage those EVSEs, assuming they are wifi enabled to a standard they can specify. They need a system that can:
  1. Connect to and control the EVSEs.
  2. For each EVSE, store its maximum power and which of the 240v lines it is assigned to.
  3. Prevent EVSEs from beginning to charge if their 240v line is already at capacity.
  4. And allow them to bill the tenants for energy use.
Does anything like that exist?

Are there software tools that someone can use to develop such a system?
Click to expand...
Evocharge has Electric vehicle load management capability, and would suit well for this purpose:

Additionally, billing can be handled using RFID readers (EvoCharge iEVSE Plus):
ievse-plus.jpg
 
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Thanks for the suggestions. They are hoping to avoid buying the EVSEs themselves, so they're looking for a way that the unit owners can buy them and plug them into outlets that the building will provide.

The problems are load management and billing for the energy usage. They could probably solve the billing by requiring wifi-enabled EVSEs that they could monitor.

Maybe the load management solution is to make the circuit breakers accessible. When someone adds his EVSE and blows a breaker, he unplugs, resets the breaker, and comes back later.

On further thought, there are current warning switches that could light a warning lamp when the circuit is drawing enough that another EVSE would overload it. So the breaker would only blow if the lamp were ignored.
 
Toolworker said:
owners can buy them and plug them into outlets that the building will provide.
Click to expand...
Continuous "plugging in and out" of owner supplied equipment will cause wear and tear of the outlets themselves, resulting in a high maintenance cost.
Toolworker said:
They are hoping to avoid buying the EVSEs themselves
Click to expand...
Have the owners that want to become involved cover the purchase cost of the EVSEs and share proportionately. The units must be hardwired to avoid usage from others not involved or declined in the investment. The condo board can still cover the installation costs if they want to provide accordingly.
Toolworker said:
someone adds his EVSE and blows a breaker, he unplugs, resets the breaker, and comes back later.
Click to expand...
Definitely not the way to go, for safety reasons.
Toolworker said:
So the breaker would only blow if the lamp were ignored.
Click to expand...
Against electrical code, must employ qualified maintenance personnel fulltime to monitor.
Toolworker said:
The problems are load management and billing for the energy usage. They could probably solve the billing by requiring wifi-enabled EVSEs that they could monitor.
Click to expand...
Exactly;)
 
When the IRA comes into effect, there may be tax savings to cover the EVSEs. A home owner, there was $1,000 tax saving for mine in 2016 and close to $10,000 for a commercial EVSE. Use the tax avoidance to get a quality system.

Bob Wilson
 
electriceddy said:
Continuous "plugging in and out" of owner supplied equipment will cause wear and tear of the outlets themselves, resulting in a high maintenance cost.

Have the owners that want to become involved cover the purchase cost of the EVSEs and share proportionately. The units must be hardwired to avoid usage from others not involved or declined in the investment. The condo board can still cover the installation costs if they want to provide accordingly.
Click to expand...
There are no spare parking spots. Each EV owner would have an outlet at the spot they own. There should be no unplugging/replugging. If there were, the owner would get an alert and could run down and catch the offender.

bwilson4web said:
When the IRA comes into effect, there may be tax savings to cover the EVSEs. A home owner, there was $1,000 tax saving for mine in 2016 and close to $10,000 for a commercial EVSE. Use the tax avoidance to get a quality system.

Bob Wilson
Click to expand...
Yes, if the unit owners buy the EVSEs they could get the tax credit. The condo association couldn't; it's surely a nonprofit and probably pays minimal or no taxes.
 
Why not just upgrade the power supply? Sounds like that will eventually be necessary for the long term. It will be a cost, but shared by everyone.
 
Yes, if the unit owners buy the EVSEs they could get the tax credit. The condo association couldn't; it's surely a nonprofit and probably pays minimal or no taxes.​

The previous credit included installation cost. Regardless, get the IRA rules and work out the details.

Bob Wilson
 
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