Becky Hornby at Rolec explores why getting EV infrastructure right has become essential for developers in delivering Building Regulations Part S.
It is not new to suggest that more needs to be done to tackle the current climate emergency. The push for rapid decarbonisation can be felt throughout the UK and expands far into the world. Something that has been acutely felt in the built environment industry. This is especially apparent with the emergence of Part S of the Building Regulations.
Residential and commercial EV infrastructure has been a huge conversation point over the last few years, and the Government’s Part S have only worked to cement this concept further. Making it compulsory for all new build properties with off-street parking to provide an EV chargepoint for future occupants. It also applies to properties undergoing major renovations that will have more than 10 parking spaces upon completion and sets minimum standards for all new chargepoints.
The aim, of course, is to make EVs more accessible and create infrastructure to support the switch to electric.
This regulation specifically aims to tackle the problem of electric vehicle infrastructure we currently have in the UK. Highlighted as one of the greatest problems facing the adoption of electric vehicles, many people have stated the inaccessibility of electric vehicle chargepoints as one of their main deterrents against taking the step to emission free transport.
Rolec’s 18 years of experience in the EV industry means that the company can offer solutions that meet both your current and future charging needs. Providing you with assistance from planning to breaking ground and after. Streamlining the installation of chargepoints while ensuring full compliance.
Design & Specify
If designers of new housing feel like their plans are missing something, but can’t quite put their finger on it, we are giving them the elements to build your development from the ground up.
Rolec are partners with NBS, which means they can find our products on NBS Source; a free-to-use construction product platform that allows specifiers to find, select and specify products quickly and easily. Giving them the detailed information they need to make informed product decisions is key, as is access to BIM & CAD packages to help specifiers visualise our chargepoints in a development’s design.
Installation
The first thing that needs to be considered when selecting the right charge point is where it will be located. For example, a home charger is likely to only be used by you and often only once a day (overnight), whereas chargers located in a residential estate or commercial development are likely to be used by a number of different electric vehicles and subject to a greater level of wear and
tear. This is where BasicCharge and Quantum chargers step in.
Furthermore, factors such as the complexity of the installation, site conditions, the types of chargers, and labour will determine the installation cost.
A fully qualified and experienced EV chargepoint installer will be able to provide the best advice on what would work for a specific location and based on their assessment, they will give customers an accurate cost for the installation. To assist in this process, manufacturers can recommend an Approved Installation Partner, who can offer a full turnkey solution from site survey to civils, installation, and commissioning.
Additional considerations for commissioning, like opting for a wireless setup via Bluetooth allow for Building Control approval before the homeowner or resident installs Wi-Fi. This approach therefore gives specifiers the freedom to set up chargepoints without ongoing costs to the developer until the property is occupied.
Load Balancing & Management
Adding chargepoints to a development means that the demand on its available electrical load can increase notably. This therefore influences the capacity needed onsite.
Load balancing solutions can allow a developer to increase the number of chargepoints they can operate on the site’s existing available supply. Rolec can provide this in two ways.
For single charging units, Automatic Dynamic Load Balancing via a CT clamp that is attached around the property’s live cable between the meter and consumer unit.
For multiple charge points, a load management profile is created at the point of installation and balances the property’s available power: Dynamic Load Management via a DLB & Fuse Protection Device which is connected directly to the main electrical supply.
Charging speed
For homes, a 7.4 kW charger is the industry standard and is in fact required to meet Part S of the Building Regulations. Since the user is likely to plug in for eight hours overnight or to top up during their off-peak tariff hours.
On the other hand, commercial spaces would typically opt for either 7.4 kW or 22 kW chargers for general charging, and fleet operators may look toward DC rapid charging with speeds of up to 650 kW.
Mid-metering
MID-approved metering is essential for accurately monitoring energy usage and producing automatic billing. This is something that is especially important to consider when creating a public or shared charging network.
For this reason, the commercial/public charging solutions we have developed come equipped with in-built ‘class B accurate’ MID-metering as standard, while many other models on the market do not.
Solar
As part of a developer’s journey to future proofing your development, it is important to consider how the chargers will work with any existing or future solar arrays. Not all chargers are created equal, and some models may not be compatible with solar power.
The introduction of EVO to Rolec’s AC range earlier this year also marks the arrival of a new way to solar charge. With the ECO+ smart solar feature, EVO can detect and allocate surplus solar energy generated from a home to power an electric vehicle, offering a 100% renewable, as well as ‘cost-free’ charge.
Becky Hornby is business development manager at Rolec