Intelligent Connection: SMA Data Manager Successfully Tested at the 3rd E-Mobility Plugfest

“On the energy market, energy generators, consumers and utility grids are getting closer together,” said Maik Brüschke, Head of Product Group Solutions at SMA. Components in energy systems that communicate via EEBUS speak the same language, meaning that the energy flows can be coordinated and optimized more effectively. Plugfest in Brussels focused on e-mobility, a key pillar of our future energy supply. We are delighted that our energy management platform ennexOS and the SMA Data Manager S with the EEBUS specification enable efficient charging for electric vehicles. In the future, the SMA Data Manager S will also integrate the different electricity sectors — including self-generated PV electricity, heat, e-mobility and storage systems — into the Home Energy Management System, thereby helping consumers optimize energy usage and reduce costs.”

“Electric vehicles will play a key role in the digital energy landscape of the future,” said Veit Rohrberg, who heads Audi’s Smart Charging development team. “As a flexible energy storage system, it offers tremendous potential for driving forward e-mobility against the background of the energy transition and absorb conditional peak loads through regenerative generation. This is why Audi is working on seamless, cross-industry communication in the energy system of the future. Our first all-electric series vehicle, the Audi e-tron, is intelligently connected to the home energy system and offers customers real added value.”

Uniform standard for trouble-free communication
At the E-Mobility Plugfest on January 28 and 29, EEBUS members in the Audi plant in Brussels will be testing their developments on the basis of the open communication standard. Developers and engineers will be performing model-based experiments to test whether the PV system, charging infrastructure, electric vehicle and heater can communicate among each other smoothly. The devices are connected by means of a Home Energy Management System (HEMS), a control center where all the relevant information and data are pooled so that the devices can communicate their respective electricity demand among each other. Following Plugfest, the participating companies will agree upon the EEBUS specifications for e-mobility.

SMA and AUDI AG collaborating in the field of e-mobility
In June of last year, SMA and AUDI AG announced plans to collaborate in the field of e-mobility. Thanks to the SMA Data Manager S and AUDI AG’s charging system “connect,” the new Audi e-tron can be charged easily, safely and cost-effectively. The SMA Data Manager S ensures that the batteries are charged with electricity whenever prices are especially low. Not only personal mobility needs but also factors, such as departure time and charge level, are taken into consideration here. Thanks to the intelligent charging functions, customers benefit from power outage protection. The customer can always use the maximum available power that the house connection and the car allow for charging. The charging system takes into account the needs of other loads and thus avoids overloading the utilities connection and triggering the main breaker. If the house has a PV system, customers can optimize the charging process in such a way that the Audi e-tron prioritizes its self-generated electricity for charging.