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Device integrations

Schneider StarCharge Fast

Supported devices: Schneider StarCharge Fast 60, 180 and 320 DC chargers

Our EMS supports the Schneider StarCharge Fast DC fast chargers over Modbus TCP. The station exposes a load management interface: our EMS limits its charging power and reads back what it draws, so fast charging stays within the limits of the grid connection.

Supported devices

Model Current type Connectors Default rated power
StarCharge Fast 60 DC 2 60 kVA
StarCharge Fast 180 DC 2 180 kVA
StarCharge Fast 320 DC 2 320 kVA

Schneider StarCharge Fast support is available from EMS controller version 0.0.335.

EMS functionality

With the current integration, our EMS enables:

  • Monitoring per gun: charging state, power, vehicle state of charge, session energy and duration
  • Charging power limiting, so fast charging follows the available power at the grid connection
  • Load balancing together with the battery, the PV and the other chargers on site
  • Incidents for a station error, over-temperature, a faulted gun and a station that refuses the load management

The interface has no session start, stop or pause. Starting and stopping stays with the driver; our EMS only sets how much power the station may draw.

Additional functionality may be added over time as integration capabilities evolve.

Setup

  1. Put the station on the network

    Connect the station to the same network as the Voltmasters Controller and give it a fixed IP address.

  2. Switch Modbus to port 502

    The station ships with Modbus over TLS on port 802. Our EMS speaks plain Modbus TCP, so the station does not answer until you switch it to the non-secured port 502. You find this setting in the web interface of the station under Charger Configuration, Basic Configuration.

    Follow the Schneider manual for logging in to the web interface of the station.

  3. Add the station in the platform

    Add a device of type EV charger, brand Schneider and model StarCharge Fast 60, 180 or 320. Fill in the IP address, port 502 and the slave ID (prefilled with 1), and check the parameters:

    • Rated power: prefilled with the rating the model family is named after. Correct it with the rating on the nameplate: a Fast 180 is also sold as a 150 kW unit, and the station itself reports the family rating, not its own.
    • Fallback setpoint: the power in kW the controller leaves the station at when it stops. Left empty, 60 kW is used. Choose a multiple of 30 kW, the block size in which the station allocates power.
    • Load balancing mode: leave it on Charger only. The other modes are offered, but the tested firmware does not accept per-gun control and the station then raises a load management incident.

  4. Verify

    Start a charging session and check on the device page that the charging state and the power come in, and that the station follows a lowered power limit.

No fallback on the station

The station has no working protection against a lost connection: its own offline fallback is cleared by the very disconnect it is meant to cover. That is why the controller writes the Fallback setpoint to the station when it stops. Set it to a value the grid connection can carry without the EMS.

Load management refused

When the station keeps reporting a different limit or control mode than the one written to it, our EMS raises an incident and no longer allocates power to it, so a station that ignores its limit does not go unnoticed.