- When installing or specifying electric vehicle
charge points, you may come across the term OCPP,
buried on the product label or within the data sheet.
This video will explain what OCPP is
and how it impacts on your selection of an EV charger.
OCPP stands for Open Charge Point Protocol,
a communication protocol that standardizes the communication
between an electric vehicle charge point
and a back office system used to control it.
This communication is crucial
in enabling various smart functions that ensure reliable
and convenient EV charging, such as who can use the charger
and linking to payment platforms for billing users
based on what power is used to charge a vehicle.
It also allows the charge point operator
to gather information about the charger's performance.
For instance, if it's in use or has a fault
perhaps they can go in and remotely correct that fault
and reset the charger.
This data can also be shared with user apps.
So vehicle drivers know if a charging bay is available
before planning a journey.
All useful stuff.
Now usually you don't need to know about OCPP
for basic charger installations
because the manufacturer's software
is already pre-configured and provides most of the features
that you need to run a small charging installation.
However, as more chargers are installed
due to the growing popularity of EVs
or you may have a fleet of vehicles that you want to charge,
this is where or OCPP becomes important
because you need a more integrated approach.
Put yourself in the shoes of a company van driver
who uses a fully electric van.
You take the van home and charge it overnight
ensuring that it's ready for your journey the next morning.
However, unless you are extremely generous
you wouldn't want to pay for the energy used to charge it
out of your own pocket.
Additionally, as the week goes on you may need to top up,
possibly when visiting the office
or even at a fast charger out on the road.
Now, trying to remember how much energy you've used
for these different charges,
go into different apps and note that down
for that expense claim would be pretty heavy on the admin.
So wouldn't it be convenient to have a single
software platform for all of the EV chargers that you use?
And that's exactly what OCPP does.
It allows you to swap the manufacturer's control system
with a third party provider.
So in the case of our van driver, you'd be able to record
exactly how much energy's being used
to charge the van using just one app.
Using OCPP offers benefits to both users
and charge point operators.
App providers that support OCPP continually add new features
to their app and typically offer more features
than the charger manufacturers own apps that's built in
with the charger when you first install it.
This can range from payment options
and user account management,
to being part of a larger charging network
with strong branding that you can use to attract customers
or users to your charge points or destination.
If a new provider with better features emerges
then it's easy simply to swap to a new OCPP platform.
And it's this flexibility that's key
to the success of EV charger rollouts.
You also have the freedom to choose
the most suitable EV charger for your installation.
Some manufacturers are great at home chargers.
Some are great for public charging
but it is that flexibility and if that manufacturer
that you really love happens to go bankrupt,
then you can still use your charger
because you're not tied to their original software.
The OCPPs core protocol functionality is constantly
evolving to meet the needs of the EV charging industry.
Currently most chargers use version 1.6.
The upcoming version 2.0.1
will introduce advanced features such as plug and charge.
This feature will automatically recognize
and authorize the car for charging
as soon as it's plugged in.
Eliminating the need for users
to swipe a card or use an app.
Of course, you will still need to pay
for the actual energy used at some point.
In most instances, that is.
Looking to the future, version 2.0.1
has also introduced support for bidirectional power,
also known as vehicle-to-grid or V2G.
This feature allows you to use your car's battery
to support the wider power grid
and actually sell power back.
If you're interested in learning more
I've included a link to a video that explores this.
Now remember to use V2G, you do need a special type
of charger and a compatible electric vehicle,
but it is the future
and is the direction of travel that we're going.
However, back to today
and all this talk of apps, versions, installing new software
on the charger that's working perfectly,
may sound a bit scary.
So time for a challenge.
So we're gonna step through the process
of putting a third party OCPP app onto this Sevadis charger.
Now, I was a bit worried because in the run-up to this
it suggested I might have to plug a Windows-based laptop
into the communication port inside the charger
which would be a painful place for me
'cause I'm not a big Windows user.
However, I think I can just do it using a smartphone.
So let's dive in.
We're looking for the configuration app for this charger.
So we just open that up
and that's our charger there.
Connect via Bluetooth.
Usually a quick process, we're in, we're in.
So now I'm looking on the configuration menu here.
You can see down here OCPP server.
So that at the moment is the charger itself,
is their own software.
We're gonna flip it to Monta,
but you can see in here loads of different options
of third party providers
and I'm sure they all have their own unique selling points.
But just show us how dynamic this market is
at the minute for this charging control.
So we're looking for Monta.
Wow, there's a lot of people on here.
Guess it's a bit like Yellow Pages,
you wanna call yourself A1 charging solutions.
But anyway, Monta cloud. Here we go.
So we're gonna connect to that.
Duh duh duh, some warning there.
Auto start right here. Okay.
So what it's basically saying is previous things
like charging schedules and RF ID cards for this charger
won't be valid once this is done,
'cause obviously it's a separate platform.
So we're gonna connect,
we're gonna go through a charger reboot.
So we expect, oh there we go, the charger's gone off.
We've got flashing lights, things like that.
Talk amongst yourselves while this process,
oh there we go, we've done the reboot.
We're just waiting for a verification.
Alright, so we'll now see down there on OCPP server,
it's now the Monta cloud.
Now that's half the process.
The next part is to go across to the Monta app.
So I'm gonna add a charge point to Monta.
I've already got a Monta account 'cause we use it
for when you're out and about charging.
Tell us about your charge point.
Well there we go.
It is, there.
We've got the brand there.
Choose the model.
So this is the maxi charger
and it already knows about this charger.
It's a 22 kilowatt model with type two connection.
So this is looking good, right?
We'll call this Efixx for the charger
and we're on, Engine Shed Lane.
It's has found us there on the address was found us there.
We're gonna continue.
Allow charging in off peak hours.
Well yeah, 'cause this is a work-based point.
We wanna charge when we're actually at work.
Obviously we do work late hours as well.
Add the charge point.
Right. Connects now.
So there we go.
What we're doing now, the connection method is, OCPP.
We just need the serial number of the charger
which I can remember is hiding around here.
1-1-N. Right.
Pair the charge point.
It's got a picture of the charger
that we're expecting to see, which looks like this one.
Obviously different manufacturers
have a different process for doing this.
So share your experience of implementing this.
If you're an OCPP expert, we can perhaps learn from you.
And we've got a little bar going down there
suggesting something.
Oh, there we go. That was quick.
We're done.
So that was the process done.
We can see my charger now in there.
If I go the little settings function in the charger,
we've got another train going past here.
People wonder sometimes why we call this Line Side Studios.
It's because we're actually right next to the railway line
and at certain times of the day, about this time,
there's a few trains go past and this looks like
it's gonna be the longest train in the world.
So we look in the access settings here.
Here's the good bit.
This is a private charge point because we're here,
but if I wanted to make this a public charge point
and charge people or bill people for doing it
we could do that and set the price per kilowatt hour
and we would then also appear
on the Monta map with it within the app as well.
So that's fantastic.
We've gone from, obviously we've invested
installing a charge point
we could now earn money from this charge point,
which I think is a great thing.
Now let's have a look.
So the other thing, Monta sticker.
So we can order a sticker.
So the sticker goes alongside the charge point.
So if someone turns up and they don't have the app
for this particular, for Monta, they could scan it
and it would identify this specific charge point
and then be ready to charge.
However, I think there could be a better way
because this charger, as we've already reviewed previously,
has an LCD screen on it.
So what I'd like to see is that sticker on there.
The Monta sticker turns up after a few days
but you have to pay for it
which is something I try to avoid
as we are a bit careful with our brass here in Yorkshire.
And this charger has a perfectly good LCD display
which we've already customized.
So hopefully the features to automatically add the QR code
to the LCD display will be rolled out
as part of a future OCP upgrade from Monta.
Until then, we've been very naughty
and copied the QR code and made our own version
which the team at Sevadis have uploaded to our charger.
One feature Monta have added recently
is the ability to manage queues at an EV charger.
A great feature for anybody managing destination chargers.
I'd highly recommend you check out
this video here to learn more.
Hopefully you've witnessed that OCPP isn't so scary
and is quite easy to implement on a charger,
or at least it was in this case.
If you've had experience yourself implementing software
and you found any great apps, drop me a comment below.