Where your charge points are using power from the landlord supply you will need a method of reimbursing the management company for the energy used.
This aspect is the fundamental difference between having a standard smart home charging point installation, and charging solution that is suitable for apartment blocks and residential developments with remote car parks.
You will need a combination of hardware and software to allow the reimbursement to run smoothly.
Hardware
No matter what type of charging solution you have chosen, if you are taking power from the landlords supply, your charging point will need to allow the management company to be reimbursed for the power used.
We recommend a charging unit that has an inbuilt meter to accurate measure the usage, and this is then communicated to a back office system using OCPP1.6. Whilst this sounds technical, this is the industrial standard for charging hardware to openly communicate with a software system.
Software
The software can help make light work of managing the reimbursement going forward and there are two main options for the management company and residents to decided on:
- Pay to point of use
Similar to public chargers, you can set a charging tariff for your charging points that will deduct the funds from the user (resident) at the time they use the charger. These funds are then reimbursed directly to the management company.
Costs to consider:
- One-off set up fee for the software
- Monthly subscription per socket
- Transaction fee
The software can help make light work of managing the reimbursement going forward and there are two main options for the management company and residents to decided on:
2. Periodic billing
This solution is a lower cost option but does require more involvement from the management company. The residents can be issued with a unique key fob that is used to activate the charging point. The key fob allows you to measure the residents usage and this can then produce a periodic billing report.
This solution bypasses the payment aspects needed in the software and is therefore a cheaper option overall
Costs to consider:
- One-off set up fee for the software
Managing your solution
Understanding what is required for your development, and then assigning a suitable budget to implement and then manage it, is not easy without expert help.
We will provide you with all of the available options, budgets and considerations to allow the management company to make an informed decision on the best way to move forward.
For information about you The EV Charging Consultant can help you, please contact us: