Download document () of 20
Send email
Download
You have exceeded the download limit
Location: Mougins, Alpes-Maritimes, PACA region, France
Challenge: Double the required charging power capacity of electric vehicles without doubling the power demand on the grid.
Solution: Implementation of the Eaton xStorage Compact energy storage system coupled with smart charging and locally generated photovoltaic energy. The system has 40 kW of power and a capacity of 150 kWh.
Energy storage is becoming less and less expensive, especially if it is managed intelligently, and can facilitate the increased use of renewable energy, for instance from solar and wind. We have coupled Eaton's xStorage Compact system with our SAP Open E-Mobility monitoring software to create a future-proof solution that enables us to combine storage with renewable energy, and thus to decarbonize electricity.
SAP Labs France is an R&D subsidiary of the market leader in enterprise software and one of the pioneers in the electrification of corporate vehicle fleets. To allow its employees to recharge their vehicles at work, the company has set up numerous charging stations at its various sites.
As the number of employee-owned electric vehicles at SAP Labs’ Mougins facility has increased from 162 in 2018 to 245 in 2020 and now represents 90 % of the total fleet, a commensurate charging infrastructure had to be developed. In order to be able to deploy more vehicles and charging stations, the power demand on the grid also had to be kept in check. After installing solar panels on the roofs of all its buildings in 2018 and providing fast EV chargers, the company realized that its self-generated photovoltaic energy was independent of the charging network, meaning the benefits of its optimized electric vehicle charging facility would be limited. In addition, any photovoltaic energy produced on weekends went unused and was therefore lost.
To allow charging of all electric vehicles, the electricity supply needs to be protected to avoid interruptions and power peaks that might damage the local grid and overload the distribution network. The Mougins site consists of three buildings that require three “tarif jaune” (yellow tariff) subscriptions, which cover installations between 42 and 240 kVA. SAP Labs is keen to change this set-up by installing a transformer, but the cost of around € 250,000 has so far acted as a deterrent.
After looking at several options, the company determined that the best way to control costs while avoiding a change in its contract with the local energy provider, Enedis, was to add energy storage to the fast EV chargers. Gérald Seiler was therefore tasked with creating a software to manage the chargers and smooth out the power demands associated with EV charging. In other words, smart monitoring coupled with energy storage and solar panels proved to be the best solution.
“We chose xStorage Compact strategically, from an R&D standpoint, for the smart monitoring solution of our EV charging infrastructure because its technical capabilities seemed the best suited to our needs,” explains Gerald Seiler, Open E-Mobility solution owner at SAP Labs France. “In addition, Eaton offers second-life batteries from EVs, which significantly extends the life of batteries used in the automotive industry and thus contributes to recycling.”
The project started in September, 2019. The first step was to build a concrete slab to reinforce the existing one and create a dedicated room for energy storage. This room, with a surface area of 10 m2, had to be enclosed as it needs to be air-conditioned and protected against fire hazards. It also had to be able to accommodate the battery with sufficient space around it to install the rack-mounted modules. Eaton and Valenergies, the supplier of photovoltaic panels, worked together to complete and install the energy storage system. A total of six months of preparation was required between construction and network connection.
Once the energy storage system was in place, the control system had to be updated in order to integrate the data into the monitoring algorithm developed by Gérald Seiler and his team. This smart grid includes a centralized energy management system for controlling the charging infrastructure, the building’s power consumption and the self-generated electricity from the photovoltaic panels. The system was then subjected to manual load/unload testing and daily load/unload schedules.
The monitoring software features an embedded optimizer that enables smart charging according to the power requirements of the various loads, namely the EV charging infrastructure and SAP Labs’ various buildings.
This solution offers many advantages. Thanks to the use of xStorage Compact, the surplus energy produced by the photovoltaic panels during periods of low consumption can now be stored. This locally produced and stored green energy can then be redistributed at times of high demand, enabling SAP Labs to control and optimize its electricity costs while protecting the grid against power peaks.
In addition, SAP Labs avoided the additional costs of installing a transformer and changing the contract with its energy provider while easing the demand placed on the grid by the fast and ultra-fast EV chargers on site.
SAP Labs has doubled the turnover rate of its vehicles and its charging capacity. The company now has the capacity to apply optimized peak shaving on the current demand of its fast EV chargers and to improve the efficiency of its photovoltaic infrastructure.
SAP Labs is looking to take the project further by installing an additional 100 kWh of storage capacity, which is currently in progress. Moreover, SAP Labs’ smart control system for EV charging represents a potential development opportunity for Eaton, both technically and commercially. In fact, integrated systems consisting of an EV charging infrastructure plus photovoltaics, energy storage and power management software are becoming increasingly popular among SAP Labs’ clients.
The European Green Deal roadmap envisages 13 million electric vehicles on the road by 2025, which will require the deployment of more than one million public charging stations across the EU. This project is thus part of SAP Labs’ strategy to electrify its entire fleet and become carbon-neutral by 2025, also with a view to offering companies and public bodies a replicable model for the adoption of electric vehicles.
Discover more energy storage success stories
MyEatonFAQs
