The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP): A Crash Course for Property Owners

When selecting an EV charging solution, you can choose between closed platforms, meaning hardware + software solutions that are tied to a specific supplier, or open platforms, which offer the flexibility to mix and match hardware and software as you like.

Openness and flexibility are huge advantages to properties looking to install EV charging today, and the gold standard for these qualities is compliance with the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP).

We have a detailed explanation of this standard available in this guide, but here is a quick review of what this standard offers and why it is so important in EV charging today.

What is OCPP?

Open Charge Point Protocol or OCPP exists to standardize communication between EV charging software and EV chargers.

It defines the way EV charging solutions communicate things like:

• Whether a charger is in use or not
• When a charging session has been triggered to start or stop
• The amount of electricity or time to bill for a charging session
• Diagnostic information
• More complex demands from smart charging programs

The main benefits of choosing OCPP charging solutions

There are several important reasons why OCPP charging solutions are the better choice when compared with closed solutions, but here are the three most significant.

Flexibility to grow and change your charging solution over time

With OCPP-compliant solutions, it’s easier to change hardware and software providers if ever you like—just replace your existing solution with something from a different OCPP-compliant provider. The transition process is quick and easy.

This is especially important given the relative youth of the EV charging industry—some of the closed systems that exist today likely won’t exist a few years from now. Already, we’ve seen situations where closed systems shut down and property owners have to simply rip out their charging stations and start over. It’s a big waste of time and money that can be easily avoided with an open solution.

A familiar charging experience for drivers

One of the goals of OCPP is to standardize the charging experience so that drivers have similar experiences no matter where they plug in. With an OCPP-compliant solution, you improve your odds of delivering a familiar experience to drivers, thereby reducing the odds of drivers coming to you with requests for support.

To sum it up, both for property owners and EV drivers, OCPP exists to remove unnecessary headaches by introducing greater consistency to the EV charging space.

Improved odds of securing government and utility funding

Increasingly, EV charging installation funding and rebate programs require that the installed solutions comply with OCPP. This is to help ensure longevity and avoid the chargers being left non-functional in the event of a charging solutions provider going out of business.

Funding programs can save you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on the cost of your project. For this reason alone, it’s very important to select an OCPP-compliant solution.

More advanced benefits of OCPP

Beyond the basics, OCPP is also an important standard in “smart charging” functionality. Choosing OCPP-compliant chargers and charging software can help you benefit from:

Ability to participate in demand response programs

When energy demand is high, a utility may put out a signal that reduces the energy consumption by participating EV charging stations. This is usually in exchange for preferential rates, rebates on an electricity bill, or other financial incentives.

Support for bi-directional charging

When the power is out, charging stations capable of bi-directional charging can send some of the energy in vehicle batteries back to the property to help power essentials.

Support for plug-and-charge charging

With plug-and-charge, a driver simply connects their vehicle to a charger, and the process of initializing a charging session and billing the session to their on-file payment method happens automatically. It’s the next big step for efficient and convenient EV charging and something that many new vehicles will support within the next few years.

For property owners looking to add EV charging to their properties, the benefits of OCPP are hard to overstate. To maximize the odds of securing funding support for your chargers, to retain flexibility in how you grow and change your EV charging offering, and to provide a familiar and reliable charging experience to drivers, be sure to select both hardware and software that are compliant with OCPP.

Don’t risk investing in closed technology

Contact SWTCH to learn about our OCPP-certified charging solutions today!