Hardware is just one piece of the electric vehicle (EV) charging puzzle. Beyond the devices customers use to charge their cars, you’ll need software that gives you a top-down view of your charging station or network. With power management software, you can make sure everything is working properly and efficiently—no matter how many stations you operate.

But what is power management software? How does it work? What are the most important features to look for, and how can they benefit your business?

We're going to break all of that down.

What is power management?

Power management (also called load balancing or energy management) is a process that monitors the power demands and usage of all the devices in your infrastructure to make sure they all receive the power they need—no more and no less—when they need it. 

When you install a power management system in your electrical infrastructure, it begins to take readings from your EV charging stations, power meters, breaker trip units, and every other device with metering capabilities. When it notices that one element needs more power, it redirects unused power to meet that demand. On the flip side, if demand is low, it slows down supply accordingly.

In short, power management systems meet your customers’ charging needs while protecting you from paying for excess power. And where savings are concerned, efficiency is just the start. The right power management system can expand your site's energy capacity by up to 4X, saving you tens of thousands of dollars on infrastructure upgrades. 

What is power management good for?

For many EV charging stations, power management is an absolute must. Most buildings don’t have power infrastructure designed for EV charging. They may lack the electrical capacity to power several charging stations without interrupting service to the rest of the sytem. If too many chargers need power at once, some may receive power while others get nothing. Worse, they could trip circuit breakers and take out power for the whole building.

There are two common methods of solving this problem. One is to revamp your building’s electrical infrastructure, but that can carry a prohibitive cost. The other is to use power management so you can connect multiple charging stations to a single circuit without investing in infrastructure upgrades.

Without question, the single biggest benefit of power management is cost savings. Overhauling a building's electrical circuitry is no petty undertaking. Plus, a software-based solution translates costs that would've been accounted for as capex into opex. A sophisticated system takes the benefits even further with built-in safety and efficiency functionalities.

Ready to take your understanding of the future of EV charging to the next level? Check out our full guide on The tech powering what's next. 

Meeting fluctuating demand

Power management gives charging station owners two crucial advantages for meeting charging demand. The first is the ability to oversee how power is used across the infrastructure. The second, and possibly the more important, is charging stations’ ability to communicate with each other. This is typically achieved through software-based load management—in contrast to local load management that occurs on the charger itself. When a software system moderates power consumption across multiple devices, it can adjust charging speeds based on numerous factors. For example: If one vehicle is fully charged and idling, the system may detect this and reallocate power from the device automatically. 

How power management works

Let’s look at the system in action. Say you have an electrical panel that can provide 60 amps and three charging stations that need 30 amps each for full-speed charging. If all three chargers are in use, they’ll demand more amperage than your circuit can supply. Without power management, that would lead to a circuit break or the last driver receiving no charge.

What is power management doing to prevent this situation? It automatically splits the available amps across the charging stations, preventing over-subscription. That allows all three customers to receive charging without overloading your system. It's also possible to safely oversubscribe circuits by applying round-robin logic to power allocation. 

Maintaining availability

As far as problems go, multiple drivers trying to charge at the same time is a good one to have. More frustrating is the possibility of power failure, either in your own infrastructure or in your municipal grid. These outages may be beyond your control, but that won’t stop customers from expressing their displeasure when they can’t charge their cars.

With power management, you can mitigate the effects of these disruptions. By monitoring your devices, your power management system can flag instability or unavailability and react accordingly. If the power to your charging stations goes out, the power management system can automatically activate local batteries or generators to fill the gap. 

Raising efficiency

Power management can do more than avoid gaps in charging service. It’s also critical for any EV charging operation hoping to maximize efficiency. If your infrastructure has the capacity to serve several charging stations, it may also use more power than it needs when demand is low. Power management can identify those instances and curtail your power use. It also ensures all the power you pay for gets used. This is known as load handling, and it’s a great way to save money when operating an EV charging station.

Power management can also help you plan around peak and off-peak charging hours. Utility companies often charge more for power during certain times of the day. With power management, you can set your chargers to use less power during those hours and expand their use in off-hours. That leads to more cost-effective charging without disrupting the customer experience.

Curious what other trends and technologies are shaping the EV industry? Read our latest report. 

Key features in a power management system for EV charging

• ​​Intuitive interface: Running an EV charging station shouldn't require an advanced degree. Clean user interfaces and simple controls make it much easier to stay on top of your system's energy demands and respond accordingly. Not every system offers a view of current power allocations or allows you to edit without support. This should be a key consideration in selecting a software solution. 
• Real-time monitoring: Interval data can provide useful snapshots of your system's performance, but complete, real-time information makes it easier to spot opportunities for improvement. Fault monitoring is also critical for keeping all systems up and running.
• 3-phase and split-phase power settings: Commercial buildings often have nuanced electricity schemes that rely on phases to ensure stability. Be sure to choose a power management software that considers these variables in configuration. 
• Automatic reallocation of power between vehicles: The best power management software automatically detects when a vehicle's charging slows down and reallocates power to other charges for more efficient power utilization. 
• Round robin for significant oversubscription: Your chosen system should be able to safely round robin power allocation between devices in scenarios where significant oversubscription is effective. 
• Advanced system safeguards: The best power management software is capable of monitoring charger profiles deterministically so amperage never exceeds limits. Power management rules should also remain in place in the event a charger loses connectivity. 
• Rigorous hardware testing: Power management is difficult to get right—even with the right software in place, it's crucial to ensure hardware compatibility. To ensure total reliability, your software partner should test scenarios like software reset, firmware upgrades, and connectivity faults. 

Simplify power management with ChargeLab

The most effective way to get your EV charging business up and running is to partner with an industry veteran. ChargeLab’s Charging Station Management System (CSMS) makes it easy to balance your power loads across numerous OCPP charging stations. It also comes with a plethora of useful tools, from deep reporting to detailed administrative dashboards. To learn more, get in touch today.