The Smart Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure Association (SSRIA) is here to present its Green Building Technologies Network (GBTN) Spotlight Series. This series will be featuring a project team once every other month until March 2023. The aim is to get to know the projects and teams working in the GBTN and support further collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing among our members.
Our guest this month is Swift Charge, welcome!
Project Type: Campus | Retrofit
Project Aim: Demonstrating a Building-friendly Smart Charging Solution in University of Alberta Car Parks
Project Summary: Click here for the complete project summary
Innovation: Smart EV charging solution
Swift Charge supports grid modernization with high-density and intelligent power electronic technologies. Can you tell us about the project innovation regarding a building-friendly smart charging solution?
EV charging draws a very high power demand if uncontrolled. As a result, upgrades of the building electrical service infrastructure will be required, which can be expensive, time consuming, and disruptive. We use a cloud-based control system to regulate EV charging power demand to ensure the peak charging power demand is always below the limited while the system can still deliver the desired amount of energy to the EVs.
This project highlights that GHG impacts will move from the transportation sector to the building sector as electric cars gain in popularity and the infrastructure to support them will fall on the building. What is involved in setting up electric charging stations on existing buildings and how is eGrid Systems be able to minimize charger deployment costs?
Deployment of EV chargers requires that the building electrical service has enough power capacity. Expensive infrastructure upgrades will be required if the chargers are not controlled. Our smart charging power management allows 8 to 12 times more chargers to be deployed on the same infrastructure. Therefore, the infrastructure upgrades can be avoided.
One of the challenges with EV charging stations is in managing the energy flow in a building with a considerable increase in electric demand. How does Swift Charge management software assist with demand both peak and otherwise?
We can monitor the power of the main electrical service to dynamically determine the available power for EV charging. In this way, we maximize the utilization of the available power capacity without overloading the existing system.
What will happen with buildings that do not have space in their electric rooms for upgrading equipment to support charging stations – Do they have other options?
Our solution allows them to deploy chargers using existing infrastructure. However, if the the building infrastructure is already maxed out, our solution allows integration of EV charging with energy storage, which will shave the charging power from the building load. But this system has to be carefully designed for each building.
Swift Charge has developed a Central Charger Management System (CCMS) what can it do and why is it innovative?
It has a built-in smart load management in the backend. In addition to that, we provide monitoring and billing features for charging station operators.
Alongside the development of a CCMS is a level 2 smart EV charger. How does a level 2 charger differ from a Level 1?
Level 2 chargers are 5 to 20 times faster than level 1 chargers. A level 2 charger can finish a full recharge in 5 to 8 hours while a level 1 charger needs to take 2 to 3 days to finish. Also, when temperature is cold, level 1 charger will not work as it cannot keep the car battery warm.
Why was the University of Alberta campus selected as the pilot site for this innovation? Do you see this technology expanding across campus and to other academic institutions?
Charging stations at academic institutions will have a high utilization as many students, staff, and employees do not have access to EV chargers at home. At the same time, academic institutions usually have large car parks where a large number of EV chargers will be needed. Without a smart load management, expensive infrastructure upgrades will become inevitable. We expect that the technology will be adopted in many different locations including campuses, multi-unit residential buildings, and commercial buildings.
Will the data collected from this project provide the needed scientific support to attract future projects in embracing these innovations?
Yes, this project is a good demonstration of the technology and can help attract projects in all types of buildings.
In your view, what will be the greatest reward or take-away from this project?
A reference project that can be used in marketing and sales materials.
Have questions for Swift Charge? Send us a message, and we will get in touch. Send Mail