The energy industry loves an acronym and EV charging has brought a whole new batch of them for us to learn.
When it comes to workplace charging, understanding the role of the CPO Charge Point Operator is critical to making good business decisions that will make life easier, (and cheaper) in the long term.
EV Charge Point Operators (CPO) Explained
What is an EV Charge Point Operator?
A CPO performs the operation, management and maintenance of electric vehicle (EV) charge points.
They deal with network connections when workplace chargers need to be connected to new metering installations in your buildings and may liaise with Distribution Network Operators for you.
They handle all the billing and payments from EV drivers, maintain a back-office software CPO platform and keep the charge point infrastructure up and running for you.
Are all workplace EV charge point installers CPOs?
Not always. An EV charge point installer will have electrical expertise, can install the physical chargers at your location and will focus on the technical aspects of the job including the safety of your connections.
What is a CPO platform?
The CPO platform gives you an easy way to manage your EV charge point payments and handle proactive and reactive maintenance.
The Data available in it relates to the basic operation and some driver usage information on charging sessions with data provided in csv files in kW.
It also covers the management of billing and payment data from drivers, maintenance issues and a list of drivers’ charging sessions with dates and times.
How does the CPO platform link to building energy management?
In short, it probably won’t.
A CPO platform will likely just give you the sessions drivers have spent at your EV charging points. It’ll be in a .csv export and in KWs.
If you have multiple CPOs you will have to navigate their different data sets and calculate what electricity is being used across them all.
Without the power of Stark, you’ll have to calculate everything yourself which is why we treat EVs like another utility…
How are Stark Charge different to other CPOs?
Stark is the only CPO and EV infrastructure installer in the UK who is also an accredited HH data collector, meter operator and IDNO.
1. We treat your EV chargers like another utility
We’re an accredited Data Collector. And it means we can protect businesses’ ability to save energy costs from the impact of EV charging on their buildings.
We do this by turning all your EV consumption into granular Half Hourly data. So it’s just like another utility.
Then it’s seamlessly integrated into your existing energy management processes.
2. We adopt existing chargers
This means you can switch to us as your Charge Point Operator for any compatible chargers you already have installed.
That way they’re all managed in one place, with the same quality maintenance and fully managed service.
3. We provide your new connections & networks
Meaning you no longer need to navigate network operators by yourself. We can handle it all for you with our expert Stark Works and Stark Infra teams
Speak with our EV Charging experts today.
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