Automatic Control of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Using a Novel Application Programming Interface

This paper presents a machine-to-machine solution which aims on simultaneous and remote control of several electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs). It uses an application programming interface (API) integrated with General Public Licence 3.0 (GPL3) software and was designed as a tool to control EVCS’ power dispatch. The solution proposed in this paper is tailored for use with the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), thus being compatible with a wide range of EVCSs already available in the industry. Moreover, the control scheme presented in this paper facilitates the implementation of dynamic pricing and demand-response mechanisms, necessary to business models seeking to fully integrate e-mobility with distribution grid and renewable energy resources. To verify the efficacy of the proposed solution, software-based validation is used for the API along with EV charge operations. Finally, this paper concludes with the insights gleaned from validation analysis and its discussion.