Unlike the use of household appliances and many other electrical devices, EV charging times can often be shifted without disrupting everyday life. A car is often parked for considerably longer than it takes to charge it. This makes charging ideal for automation: you tell the system when the car needs to be ready and how much energy is needed, and the system chooses the charging time and power for you. 

Think of a charging station as a long-term energy investment 

Charging stations are easy to compare based on the purchase price and maximum charging power, such as 11 or 22 kilowatt. In most homes, however, the key question is whether the charging station can communicate with an external energy management system. An internet-connected charging station can receive commands to start, stop and adjust charging power, as well as provide information about its status and energy consumption. If supported by the car, the system can also receive information about the battery’s state of charge. 

Without a functioning internet connection, a charging station remains a standalone device. You can use simple scheduling, but you lose the ability to coordinate charging with the rest of your home’s electricity consumption and dynamically adjust it according to electricity prices, grid capacity and power charges.  

1. Smart charging: Charge your car when electricity is cheap 

With spot-price-based optimization, an automation system retrieves up-to-date electricity prices and schedules charging during the cheapest timeslots before your chosen departure time. Instead of charging starting immediately after you plug in the cable, the system can wait, charge when the price is low, and still make sure the car is ready on time. 

The savings depend on the car’s energy needs, differences between 15-minute prices, the terms of the electricity contract and any distribution fees. It is therefore worth treating general savings claims with caution. What matters is that optimization happens without you having to monitor prices every day. 

2. Load management: Make the most of available power without overloading the fuses 

Dynamic load management measures the property’s load separately for each phase, monitors the property’s phase-specific electricity consumption in real time, and adjusts the charging power according to the capacity currently available. When, for example, the sauna, oven, or heating increases electricity consumption, charging power is reduced. When capacity becomes available again, the charging power is increased. 

This protects the main fuses and allows the existing electrical connection to be used efficiently. Load management can therefore reduce the risk of overloading and, in some cases, also the need to increase the fuse size. However, the installation must be carried out by an authorized electrician, who must ensure that the charging station, cabling, protections and metering are suitable for the property. 

3. Power management: Avoid power peaks and save on electricity distribution charges 

Load management and power management solve different problems. Load management responds to instantaneous loads and protects the fuses. Power management, on the other hand, monitors the metering period and calculation method used in the distribution network company’s power fee to keep the property’s average power below the selected limit. 

Because EV charging is a large but flexible load, it is naturally well suited to avoiding power peaks. The system can temporarily reduce charging power when several high-consumption devices are in use and continue charging later. The actual financial benefit depends on the applicable fees, threshold values, and metering periods of the local distribution network company. These terms should therefore be checked before making a purchase. 

4. Making use of your own solar power: Get more value from your own generation 

When a home generates solar power, a smart charging station can adjust charging power according to generation and other consumption. It directs unused surplus electricity primarily to the car’s battery instead of selling the energy to the grid. This allows you to increase the share of your own generation that you can use yourself, reduce the need to purchase electricity and pay distribution charges, and get more value from your solar panel investment. The system can also combine solar power utilization with price optimization: if your own generation is not enough to reach the desired state of charge, the remaining energy is charged during the cheapest timeslots so that the car is ready by the specified departure time. 

5. Balancing markets: A future opportunity to benefit from charging optimization 

In the electricity system, production and consumption must be continuously balanced. Fingrid, the operator of Finland’s national grid, pays electricity producers and consumers who can adjust their power consumption or production according to the needs of the electricity market and power system. A single home charging station is too small to submit its own bids, but a service provider can combine several charging stations into a larger controllable entity. 

For consumers, participation can mean that charging power is increased, reduced, or charging is temporarily interrupted within agreed limits. Compensation, availability and technical requirements vary between services and balancing products, and participation requires a compatible overall solution. An internet-connected and remotely controllable charging station therefore improves future readiness but does not in itself guarantee the possibility of participating or earning a specific amount of income. 

Check these things before buying 

• Compatibility: Can the charging station be controlled by your preferred automation or energy management system, and is the integration officially supported? 

• Internet connection: Does the solution work via Ethernet, Wi-Fi or a mobile network? 

• Communication: Check whether the charging station supports an established communication protocol such as OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol), which allows the charging station to communicate with an external control or management system. 

• Data security: How are software updates, user accounts, access rights and personal data handled? 

• Installation and maintenance: Who is responsible for the initial assessment, installation, commissioning, support, and availability of spare parts in the future? 

Get more out of EV charging – Expert recommendations 

Don’t choose a charging station based solely on the highest possible kilowatt. Prioritize a safe, professionally installed and internet-connected charging station that can be adjusted dynamically and integrated into a comprehensive energy management system. 

Vaasan Sähkö’s Smart Home is an automation service that allows a compatible, internet-connected EV charging station to be connected and controlled as part of your home’s energy management. This can provide the benefits described in this article: spot-price-based smart charging and, when combined with Power Hub, automatic load management, power management, and optimization of your own electricity generation. In the future, the aim is also to develop a solution that would allow customers’ flexibility to be utilized more broadly, for example in balancing markets. As compatibility and available features may change as the service and charging station models develop, you should check the up-to-date list of compatible EV charging stations in the Smart Home app before making a purchase. 

The best charging station charges the right amount of energy when the car is needed, without causing unnecessary costs or power peaks. With the right connectivity, the same investment can provide benefits at several stages: lower charging costs from day one, better protection and control at home, and readiness for the more flexible electricity markets of tomorrow.