Assets
Topics in this document:
To access this section in EV Charge, from the Menu, click Assets.
Assets overview
Assets relate directly to dynamic load balancing. Each charging area, next to its chargers, can also have assets.
Note:
Charging areas would work even if no assets are linked to the area. However, assets are helpful when dealing with solar panels or smart meters.An asset can be a consumer or producer of power. It can also be a smart meter delivering data into EV Charge for truly dynamic load balancing to be achieved instead of static dynamic load balancing.
Assets explained
Under assets, additional consumers or producers of energy can be added to a charging area—this is useful if you want to keep track of them.
For instance, a consumer of energy can be an apartment, while a producer of energy can be a solar panel.
Suppose you have a smart meter capable of sending data on the energy production from the solar panel; in that case, it can be added under assets as a smart meter and, therefore, can see how much power it produces.
Assets example
A producer can be a solar panel installed outside or on a hotel’s roof—here, the hotel represents a charging area. Then, if you tell EV Charge how much power that solar panel produces at a specific time, similar to a smart meter, EV Charge can consider that when it comes to dynamic load balancing.
Therefore, EV Charge knows how much power the solar panel produces. Suppose it also knows how much the hotel consumes through a smart meter. Then, EV Charge can perform dynamic load balancing in the charging area.
You can also have a battery; then, through the API, you can tell EV Charge when the battery is turned on. This battery will become an active producer, and EV Charge can pull out its power.
A consumer will be something else that you have plugged into the same network that is consuming power, and you can tell EV Charge precisely how much it consumes.
Under Assets, there are two sections, namely:
List view
Under the list view, a paginated list of all assets is shown in a tabular format.
To generate the assets list in a spreadsheet, click CSV. To print, click Print, and to copy, click Copy.
Note:
They are generated, printed, and copied per paginated page.Four actions/subpages can be performed/viewed under this section, namely:
Create asset
Under assets, to create an asset, click Create new. Provide a name, code, and description.
Note:
The code is a unique identifier of an object. It can be used during integration with the EV Charge API.Choose the type of asset, whether a smart meter, a producer, a consumer, or any other kind.
Additionally, choose the type of supplied electric current of the asset, whether DC, AC single phase, or AC three phase. It represents the asset’s electricity flow setup.
Selecting a particular area denotes the charging area the asset belongs to. The list gets filtered as you type when searching for a charging area.
Note:
Once the charging area is selected, the asset becomes part of the area and can then be shown on the map based on the location of the charging area.The power factor represents the relationship between current and voltage; the value has to be between 0 - 1, while 1 is the default.
The custom attribute is a key-value pair representing any additional information that can be stored for the asset.
Details asset page
Under assets, to see the full details of an asset, click Details. It contains the following:
- Name
- Code
- Description
- Type
- Electric current type
- Electric voltage type
- Power factor
- Any added custom attribute*
Update asset
Under assets, to update an asset, first, click Details; it shows the details of the asset. Then to update, click Update.
Note:
All information filled out under the create asset section can be updated except for the Code and Area.Delete asset
Under assets, to delete an asset, click Delete.
Map view
Under the map view, all assets are shown on a map. The location of the asset is based on the charging area’s location. By selecting a specific Asset on the map, it shows the driving distance away from the asset. In addition, it shows the name, location, and type of the asset, including the power the asset is generating or consuming.
