Implementation of OCCP Protocol for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

The ability of the software and hardware systems to interchange information is a key factor for the success of the electric vehicle industry. Standards have been developed and are in use to ensure base level interoperability of the front-end communication and signalling processes for smart charging between electric vehicles and charge stations. The Open Charge Alliance (OCA), a group of European industries, have developed an open-source common back-end protocol, called Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), for charging stations to reduce and secure overall investment costs. OCPP intends to enable grid services based on smart charging. In this paper the authors provide a review of the functionalities OCPP offers and how it can be used in the electrical vehicle- charging infrastructure.