Connecting EV Chargers to Operational Visibility
An EV charger may be connected to the internet while a connector is unavailable. A charging session may start successfully but stop unexpectedly. Electricity may be delivered while the central system receives incomplete session records.
Operators need visibility into connectivity, connector availability, charging activity, and faults to understand these situations.
The Open Charge Point Protocol, or OCPP, provides a standardized communication method between charging stations and a Charging Station Management System (CSMS). It supports interoperability between equipment and management platforms, reducing dependence on proprietary communication systems.
For charging operators, the opportunity is to turn these exchanges into useful monitoring and a clear response process.
What Does OCPP Enable?
OCPP allows a charger and its management system to exchange operational information and supported commands.
OCPP 1.6 remains widely deployed. Its JSON variant, commonly called OCPP 1.6J, uses WebSocket communication. OCPP 2.0.1 adds a more detailed device model, improved transaction handling, and additional security capabilities. The two versions are not directly compatible, so the charger and server must support the same version.
An integration should confirm:
- The charger’s OCPP version and firmware.
- The server endpoint and charger identity.
- Authentication and secure-connection requirements.
- Supported measurements and reporting intervals.
- Supported remote-management functions.
These checks help establish what the monitoring system can reliably receive and control.
Monitor Connectivity and Charging Availability Separately
A charger responding to the server does not prove that every connector can deliver energy.
The Open Charge Alliance’s uptime guidance explains how connection checks, heartbeats, and status notifications can help detect problems. It also highlights that charging success depends on several components, including the charger, authorization services, and vehicle.
A practical dashboard should distinguish:
- Communication health: Whether the station is communicating and when it was last seen.
- Connector availability: The latest reported state of each connector.
- Session activity: Whether charging has started, continues, or has ended.
- Data freshness: Whether measurements are recent enough to interpret.
When communication stops, display the last reported state with its timestamp. Treat the current condition as unknown until fresh information arrives.
Track Charging Sessions and Energy
Session records help operators understand charger use, delivered energy, and interruptions.
In OCPP 1.6, transaction reporting uses messages including StartTransaction, StopTransaction, and MeterValues. OCPP 2.0.1 introduces TransactionEvent for transaction-related reporting. The integration must handle these differences rather than applying one version’s message logic to another.
Useful session information includes:
- Station and connector identity.
- Start and end timestamps.
- Authorization reference.
- Energy delivered.
- Reported stop reason.
- Whether the record is complete or awaiting reconciliation.
Power, current, voltage, and other readings depend on charger capability and configuration. A monitoring system should preserve measurement units and distinguish cumulative energy readings from instantaneous power.
A session-energy calculation also needs to account for missing records or meter resets. Energy monitoring provides operational evidence; billing additionally requires suitable metering, tariff rules, and payment integration.
Make Fault Alerts Actionable
An alert should explain what changed and provide enough context for the support team to investigate.
For example, an operational alert could include:
- Station and connector affected.
- Reported error or status change.
- Time of occurrence and last communication.
- Related session reference.
- Whether the condition has cleared.
Operators can then review repeated faults, compare events with maintenance records, and assign the appropriate response.
Alert thresholds should reflect actual reporting behaviour. A missed update should trigger an investigation into communication health without automatically being labelled a hardware failure.
Use Remote Operations With Clear Feedback
Depending on the protocol version and implemented features, OCPP supports remote operations such as starting or stopping transactions, changing configuration, and managing firmware. OCPP 1.6 also includes smart-charging support through charging profiles.
The dashboard should show both the command response and the resulting equipment behaviour. Acceptance of a remote-start request, for example, should be followed by confirmation that a charging session actually began.
Access permissions, command logs, and verification help make remote operations accountable.
Plan for Secure Connections and Network Interruptions
OCPP deployments need secure communication as well as functional message handling.
The Open Charge Alliance’s OCPP 1.6 security guidance describes standardized enhancements covering secure connection setup, security-event logging, and secure firmware updates.
Commissioning should verify authentication, certificates where applicable, and secure WebSocket connectivity.
It should also test what happens when the network fails during charging. Offline authorization and transaction recovery depend on the charger’s implementation and configuration. After reconnection, the platform should reconcile delayed records without duplicating sessions or energy totals.
Connect Charging Data With Site Energy Context
Charger-side information becomes more useful when reviewed alongside site electricity consumption.
Linked Things’ Smart Energy solution provides energy monitoring and threshold alerts for connected operations. These capabilities can complement an OCPP integration by adding site-level energy context.
For example, comparing charging activity with a site meter can help explain demand peaks. The comparison should account for other loads, electrical losses, and differences between measurement points.
Start With One Charger
A practical pilot should verify registration, connector status, authorization, session records, measurements, and supported remote commands.
Test normal charging, interrupted sessions, network disconnection, and recovery. Agree on which events require alerts and who will respond.
Once the records are reliable, expand to additional chargers and compare operational measures such as connector availability, energy delivered, session completion, and fault-response time.
Useful EV charger monitoring connects station events to a clear operational response. To discuss OCPP integration and monitoring requirements for your charging infrastructure, contact Linked Things.