What is the Solar Charging feature on an Alfen charging station?
Solar Charging uses your solar panels to charge your electric car.
What does the 'Boost' function do?
If you select 'Boost', the charging point will charge as quickly as the local network and the vehicle permit. The charging point may still limit the charging current, for example, due to your ALB settings. Boosting is a manual action that applies only to your current charging session.
If you have set a charging schedule, the 'Boost' option is only valid for the specified period:
- If you have set the charging schedule to not charge, using 'Boost' will override this and charging will commence. The charging point will use the maximum charging speed appropriate for the situation.
- If you have set the charging schedule to charge (without solar energy), the charging point will always aim to get the most from your grid connection unless otherwise configured. In this case, the 'Boost' function will not increase the speed as the maximum charging speed is already being applied.
- If you have set the charging schedule to charge (with solar energy) in Comfort mode, the charging point will use the maximum charging speed suitable for the situation. It will draw extra energy from the regular grid connection to increase charging speed to the maximum possible level. Solar energy will still be utilized as much as possible.
What is the difference between Comfort Mode and Green Mode?
- In Comfort Mode, the charging point will charge at least at the set Comfort level, regardless of whether there is a surplus of solar energy. This ensures that the vehicle will be adequately charged, regardless of the situation. The charging point will only charge faster if there is more surplus solar energy than the set Comfort level. This mode is suitable if you are uncertain about whether there will be sufficient solar energy production to adequately charge your vehicle.
- Green Mode enables charging exclusively with solar energy. The charging point will only begin charging when there is sufficient solar energy production (at least 1.4 kW). Whether the vehicle will be sufficiently charged depends on the situation. If there is insufficient surplus solar energy, the vehicle will not be charged.
How do I get the Solar Charging feature?
Solar Charging is part of the Active Load Balancing license key.
If you already have an activated Active Load Balancing license, Solar Charging will be available after a firmware upgrade to version 6.3 or higher.
How much does it cost to use the Solar Charging feature?
Solar Charging has no separate pricing as it will be part of the Active Load Balancing license pricing.
Which firmware do you need to use Solar Charging?
Solar Charging is available from firmware version 6.3 and up.
Which charging stations are compatible with Solar Charging?
Solar Charging will work on the Eve Single S- and Pro-line charging stations.
Which smart meters support Solar Charging?
Solar Charging is compatible with Belgian and Dutch DSMR smart meters, as well as Modbus TCP meters. In the future, other types of smart meters or external energy meters will also be supported.
Is Solar Charging compatible with 1-phase installations?
Solar Charging is compatible with both single-phase and three-phase installations. Enabling phase switching allows you to use solar charging even when there is limited solar power available.
How do you activate Solar Charging?
It can be activated using Eve Connect, ACE Service Installer (version 3.6.8 and later), MyEve (version 1.18.6 and later), or through backend parameters.
How do you install Solar Charging?
The charging station should have firmware version 6.3 or later, and Active Load Balancing must be enabled. You can use Eve Connect, MyEve, or ACE Service Installer to configure Solar Charging. ACE Service Installer or MyEve can also be used for the initial installation of the charger.
Do you need to make modifications to your charging station to use Solar Charging?
If the charging station is connected to the smart meter no additional hardware change is needed.
Does Solar Charging work with every PV inverter system?
Yes, as long as the PV system is behind the same smart meter as the charging station.
Will it be possible to switch on Solar Charging remotely via a Back Office?
Yes, this is possible if the Back Office can control the backend parameters.
Can the charging current exceed 16A during Solar Charging when I don’t have the 32A upgrade activated?
No.
How can I see that Solar Charging is active?
The status will be visible in the Eve Connect app, on the charging station display (Eve Single Pro-line) or with a yellow LED indication (Eve Single S-line).
The minimum charging current of an EV is 6A (1.4 kW), will Solar Charging only start charging once excess PV power is at least 1.4 kW?
No, the solution can be configured to start charging even if there isn't enough excess solar power. In such cases, the charging will be partially supplemented by grid power.
Can Solar Charging prevent feed-in into the grid?
Yes, it will be possible to set a Comfort Level regardless of the actual solar production. This prevents unwanted feed-in into the grid.
Will it be possible to charge on 3 phases when using solar?
By default, solar charging begins with single-phase charging because many residential solar installations typically generate no more than 4.2 kW of excess power, which is the minimum charging power for three-phase charging according to the IEC61851-1 standard. For single-phase charging, the minimum charging power is 1.4 kW. The actual minimum charging power also depends on what the vehicle supports; some specific vehicles require a minimum charging power of 2.3 kW. The maximum charging power on single-phase is either 3.6 kW or 7.4 kW, depending on whether the charging station supports charging up to 32A.
If the excess power exceeds the maximum charging power for single-phase during a charging session, the charging station can switch to three-phase charging to ensure all excess solar power is delivered to your electric vehicle. However, allowing the charging station to switch between single-phase and three-phase charging during a session must be manually enabled in the configuration.
What is the function of the Power Slider?
Power slider is designed to set a static maximum power level on your charging point. The charging point will not charge at a higher power level than what you set here. The maximum adjustable power is limited by the MaxCurrent set in the ACE Service Installer/MyEve by the service engineer or installer.