Version 1, 2024-03-20
Autor:
Filip Hancke

 

 

Introduction

This document provides instructions for remotely setting the number of phases used by a
Lumina charger. This can be achieved either by using Modbus protocol, or by using OCPP’s
Charging Profile.

 

 

Setup and limits

Configuration needed
In order to dynamically control the number of phases used, the charger needs to be
configured as 3-phased, both physically and in the configuration panel in the Mains section.
The number of phases cannot be dynamically set to 3 if Mains are configured to 1.

 

 

 

 

In addition, either Modbus or OCPP needs to be configured. It is not recommended to mix
these methods for this particular operation.

 

 

Limits to the changing phases’ operation

Phases cannot be dynamically changed during an active charging session. They can,
however, be changed during the same transaction, as long as the charging gets suspended in
the meantime. The chapter for each method also covers how this can be accomplished
remotely. Please note that if you want the number of phases not to be changed immediately
but at the beginning of a next charging session, these steps won’t be necessary.

 

 

 

Changing phases via Modbus

This section covers a specific usage of the broader Modbus server available on Lumina. For
more information and registers, check out the Modbus Registers list.

 

Switching phases

Write 1 to register 170 to set the number of phases to 1.
Write 3 to the same register to set it back to 3 phases.

 

Suspending charging
Write 0 to register 166 to suspend charging (enter SuspendedEVSE state).
Write 1 to the same register to resume it.

 

Example
To reduce the number of phases from 3 to 1 during an active charging session:
1. We write 0 to register 166, suspending charging.
2. We write 1 to register 170, changing the number of phases.
3. We write 1 to register 166, restoring charging, now using only 1 phase.

 

 

Changing phases via OCPP

This section covers a specific usage of OCPP’s SmartCharging module. For more information,
check out the OCPP 1.6 documentation.

Switching phases

The number of phases can be provided in each charging_schedule_period. It’s recommended
not to mix multiple schedule periods with different numbers of phases, unless they’re
interwoven with periods that suspend charging. Lumina accepts changes for the number of
phases for profiles with purpose TxDefaultProfile only.

 

Suspending charging

Charging can also be suspended by a charging profile, by providing a
charging_schedule_period with a charging limit of 0. This works for all profile purposes.

 

Examples

Fitting all steps in one profile

A ChargingProfile that first suspends charging and then resumes it after 5 seconds with a
number of phases limited to 1 can look like this. Please note that a proper start_schedule
needs to be set in this case, as otherwise it would be relative to the start of charging, thus
most likely omitting the first period.

 

 

Two-steps approach using two profiles

A more complex but flexible approach is to set two charging profiles - one that controls the
number of phases used and one responsible for suspending and restoring charging.

 

First profile that will set the number of phases to 1 at the start of the next charging session
(note that start_schedule is no longer needed in this case):

 

 

Second profile that will suspend charging. Clearing it afterwards with ClearChargingProfile
message will effectively start a new charging session with the new number of phases from the
first profile (note that stackLevel needs to be higher than for the first profile for the limit to
apply):