ChargeFox EV charging Network

[OzVic]

Soon solar owners might be penalized to export to the grid when there is a surfeit.

Not knowing how home solar fully works, is it possible to turn off exports? If so, where does the power get dumped?

If it isn't, we need Zappi style controlled bar heaters. Would rather dump the power than give it to them for less than 5c. Out of principle!

 

[OzVic]

When it can export energy when nobody else is.

My FIT is still 7.5c at 3am.

 

[Vostok]

Price Increase for the 350kw Chargers... Doesn't make a massive difference for Tesla Owners... Actually just makes the Superchargers more attractive again.

I’m a little surprised it took them this long. Their pricing was anomalous compared to Tesla and Evie, but this should put them in a more sustainable position. And they still beat the competition with the NRMA discount.

Superchargers only look more attractive if they are in a good spot. Which often they aren’t. I’ve never chosen to not charge somewhere based on price. Convenience wins every time.

 

[Vostok]

Not knowing how home solar fully works, is it possible to turn off exports? If so, where does the power get dumped?

It is possible to do this if you have Powerwall 2. All you need to do is tap the “take me off grid” button on the App and it will disconnect you from the grid, and stop exporting solar. It will then moderate the amount of solar generation if needed by dialing down the inverter to match the house load, or if solar isn’t enough, run off battery+solar. I watched it do this when I had a grid outage recently.

Power doesn’t get dumped anywhere because it can’t get dumped anywhere - generation has to match load at all times.

 

[Hairyman]

It is possible to do this if you have Powerwall 2. All you need to do is tap the “take me off grid” button on the App and it will disconnect you from the grid, and stop exporting solar. It will then moderate the amount of solar generation if needed by dialing down the inverter to match the house load, or if solar isn’t enough, run off battery+solar. I watched it do this when I had a grid outage recently.

Power doesn’t get dumped anywhere because it can’t get dumped anywhere - generation has to match load at all times.

Just to check, do you have a single or three phase inverter?

 

[cafz]

Soon solar owners might be penalized to export to the grid when there is a surfeit.

What's actually being proposed is a charge from the distribution network operator for exporting at certain times (typically when the local distribution network is highly loaded with exports). This doesn't mean a negative price for your solar from your retailer, though! If the retailer passes it on it means a lower FIT at those times, but should not actually make it negative.

ie your retailer still pays you for the power, it's just that your distribution network wants to get paid for carrying that exported power at the times when it's going gangbusters carrying exported power from the houses around you and very little imported power.

Not knowing how home solar fully works, is it possible to turn off exports? If so, where does the power get dumped?

The inverter just runs the panels somewhere other than their maximum power point. As for the overall energy, when run away from their MPP (in the extreme case - open circuit or short circuit) the panels end up running slightly hotter than they otherwise would and the excess power ultimate ends up radiated away in the infrared.

 

[cafz]

My FIT is still 7.5c at 3am.

If you switch to Amber you can get a FIT above ~1000 c/kWh at the right times. Of course a lot of the time it will be significantly under your 7.5c!

 

[miimura]

Not knowing how home solar fully works, is it possible to turn off exports? If so, where does the power get dumped?

If it isn't, we need Zappi style controlled bar heaters. Would rather dump the power than give it to them for less than 5c. Out of principle!

Places like Hawaii already have streamlined interconnect where you are not allowed to export at all. If you want to export you have to either get on a waiting list or pay for an expensive grid study which also takes a long time. There is hardware readily available to configure with grid-tied solar inverters that make the system automatically curtail the solar generation so that there is no export, or the export is limited to some minimal amount like 100W. House batteries, Zappi chargers or dump loads like storage water heaters then become very attractive additions to the home so the solar doesn't get wasted.

 

[jamesgo]

If you switch to Amber you can get a FIT above ~1000 c/kWh at the right times. Of course a lot of the time it will be significantly under your 7.5c!

Do you know if Amber has done the API work with the Powerwall 2 in Victoria yet. I believe it was only on SA initially. It'd be nice to do on-demand push to grid when prices spike.

 

[jamesgo]

Charging is delayed until power is available
And about 30 seconds later it came out with Charging Error. Communications Problem message.

Actually I've had that error at that site. Luckily for me the other 350kw charger was empty and I swapped to it and it started no issue.

 

[cafz]

Do you know if Amber has done the API work with the Powerwall 2 in Victoria yet. I believe it was only on SA initially. It'd be nice to do on-demand push to grid when prices spike.

As I understand it you have to join a VPP program for that.

 

[Vostok]

Just to check, do you have a single or three phase inverter?

Three phase power and single phase inverter. During grid outages only Phase A GPOs and lights stay on.

 

[Hairyman]

Three phase power and single phase inverter. During grid outages only Phase A GPOs and lights stay on.

Ta

 

[scully]

Chargefox showing charging at Worthington BMW Somersby/Kariong . It's just 22kW but plugshare info says 50 kW on the way and will be available 24/7. Very handy spot just off Kariong exit

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

BMW dealership chargers will likely be behind a locked gate. And once they genuinely try selling EVs, they’ll be unhappy to see a Tesla there for the 1-3 hours it’ll take to get some serious juice at 25kW. Perhaps until then they can point and baulk as they try and steer customers to one of their ICE cars.

 

[aegidius]

Not knowing how home solar fully works, is it possible to turn off exports? If so, where does the power get dumped?

With the right meter and upstream infra, the grid could reduce or turn off exports. The power doesn't get dumped - the inverter just stops taking amps from the panels, and they float up to their no-load voltage. (there's a sweet spot in a panel's load curve when it's loaded just right to get the maximum watts = volts x amps, and it's the inverter's job to track that maximum power point as the solar input varies during the day)

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

I note that Chargefox at East Village is even more offline than usual. Even the RTM50 is kaput.

It’s a good thing Evie is available at Royal Randwick, and Ampol has announced their servo in Alexandria will soon be one of their pilot AmpCharge sites. (See the Ampol thread).

 

[GrimRe]

I've never had a positive experience with a charge fox station.

The ridiculous steps of:

1. find station ID
2. find side
3. get type 2 cable out of boot
4. unlock charger in App
5. press green button
6. lift flap
7. plug in EVSE side
8. plug in EV side
9. pray it starts working
10. repeat steps 4-8 2x times
11. give up and leave it not charging

Compared to a Tesla charging experience

1. plug in EV side

Its actually amazing what a difference it makes to your quality of life.

 

[moa999]

I've never had a positive experience with a charge fox station.

Chargefox is a network so uses a variety of equipment, some BYO, and some with tethered cables.

What you seem to be referring to is a Schneider EVLink AC unit.. which is basically a big box - but also pretty robust, and due to the BYO cables and green flap, pretty vandal proof.

I'd recommend getting a Chargefox RFID card - makes the units a lot easier to use.

RFID – Chargefox

www.chargefox.com.au

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

I've never had a positive experience with a charge fox station.

The ridiculous steps of:

1. find station ID
2. find side
3. get type 2 cable out of boot
4. unlock charger in App
5. press green button
6. lift flap
7. plug in EVSE side
8. plug in EV side
9. pray it starts working
10. repeat steps 4-8 2x times
11. give up and leave it not charging

Those laughable AC charging stations always work for me, except for one of the four at Kirrawee Woolworths that hasn’t worked since day one. My steps are:

1. get type 2 cable out of frunk
2. plug in EV side
3. open app
4. use GPS to find the site, open it
5. find station ID
6. find side
7. unlock charger in app
8. lift flap
9. plug in EVSE side
10. press green button
11. confirm charging commenced

That order works quite reliably for me.

It’s still ~6 steps too many though. The green buttons ought to be removed, as they serve no useful purpose. And if the weather flap was left unlocked you could plug in both ends of your cable, then check the app for whichever stall just turned green, press start, and be done with it. No need to worry about side code or side, unless two cars just plugged in simultaneously and you’d need to ensure you pay for your own charging session.