Microchip Technology has released three flexible and scalable EV Charger Reference Designs, including the:
- Single-Phase AC Residential
- Three-Phase AC Commercial with OCPP and Display
- Three-Phase AC Commercial with Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) and System-on-Chip (SoC)
Most active components for the EV charger reference designs are available from Microchip, including the microcontroller (MCU), analog front-end, memory, connectivity, and power conversion.
Microchip’s EV charger reference designs allow manufacturers to scale according to the target market, offering a variety of solutions for residential and commercial charging applications. These reference designs offer complete hardware design files and source code with software stacks that are tested and compliant to communication protocols, including OCPP.
OCPP offers manufacturers a standard protocol to communicate between the charge point or charging station and a central system, designed to enable interoperability of the charging applications regardless of the network or vendor.
“Microchip’s E-Mobility team is focused on developing reference designs that our customers can directly use and benefit from,” said Joe Thomsen, corporate VP of Microchip’s digital signal controller business unit. “We want to help our customers shorten design cycles by offering complete solutions, such as these new EV charger references designs, while also supplying the hardware, software, and technical support.”
The new EV charger reference designs
1. The Single-Phase AC Residential EV Charger Reference Design offers a cost-effective and convenient solution for home charging, where a single-phase supply is used. The onboard high-performance energy metering device with automatic calibration simplifies the production process. The design has integrated safety protection features including Protective Earth Neutral (PEN) fault detection and Residual Current Device (RCD) detection.
2. The Three-Phase AC Commercial with OCPP and Wi-Fi SoC EV Charger Reference Design is intended for high-end residential and commercial charging stations. It features OCPP 1.6 stack integration for communication with charging networks and Wi-Fi SOC for remote management.
3. The Three-Phase AC Commercial with OCPP and Display EV 
Charger Reference Design caters to commercial and public charging stations with a focus on robust operation including a completed architecture review according to UL 2231. It is designed to support up to 22 kW with bidirectional charging capabilities and a modular architecture.
This design also features a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with a Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) screen and touch input designed to withstand harsh environments.
Navigating the global EV charging landscape is complex, but Microchip offers technologies and solutions to help simplify the design process through implementation. Beyond the reference designs, Microchip supplies the hardware, software, and global technical support.
Filed Under: Technology News