LF Energy CitrineOS 1.3.0 transforms EV charging management

This new release marks a significant advancement in CitineOS' implementation of an Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) 2.0.1 compliant Charging Station Management System (CSMS). S44 Energy, a global specialist in EV charging solutions, lead contributions to the latest version as part of an open source community developing CitrineOS.  This underscores S44 Energy's commitment to driving innovation and scalability within the electric vehicle charging industry.

Key Features of CitrineOS 1.3.0

CitrineOS 1.3.0 introduces several major new features designed to streamline operations and enhance user experience. The first is support for OCPP 2.0.1 smart charging, which enables intelligent and efficient management of charging stations, optimising energy use and cost.

Its main features include:

• Registration (credentials and versions): Simplifies the onboarding process for new e-mobility partners looking to access your charging network.
• CDRs (charge detail records): These records are provided to your e-mobility partners to enhance tracking and reporting of charging utilisation for billing and operational analysis.
• Charging profiles: These profiles can be pushed to CitrineOS from e-mobility partners to provide smart charging enhancements to their users during charging sessions.
• Commands (start, stop, and unlock connector): Remote management capabilities for your e-mobility partners to control charging sessions.
• Locations (push and pull): Share charging station location details with e-mobility operators.
• Sessions (push and pull): Real-time session data pushed to e-mobility operators so that they can track their EV drivers’ charging.
• Tariffs: Pricing info given to e-mobility operators so that it can be shown to their customers when selecting a charging station.
• Tokens: Secure authorisation mechanisms provided by e-mobility operators to CitrineOS for seamless user access to charging stations.

Finally, CitrineOS’s 1.3.0 release open sources Stackbox’s Payments module. The Payments module supplies a web payment option via Stripe, enhancing payment flexibility and security.

This release also introduces the Scan&Charge feature to the Payments module: CitrineOS provides QR Codes to charging stations that when scanned send the user to a Stripe payment portal.

"We're particularly excited about the release of our Stackbox Payments Module as open source," added Olga Haygood, CEO of S44 Energy, the organisation which authored CitrineOS. "This underscores our commitment to fostering community-driven development and innovation in the EV charging sector."

"As EV adoption continues to accelerate, initiatives like CitrineOS are essential to speed the deployment of reliable, interoperable EV chargers to ensure drivers can charge rapidly and conveniently," said Alex Thornton, Executive Director of LF Energy. "The latest release of CitrineOS helps push us further in that direction, while optimising for energy use and cost. The LF Energy community is grateful to S44 Energy for their leadership in the CitrineOS project, and their efforts to advance the project to this important stage."

CitrineOS 1.3.0 represents a collaborative effort under LF Energy with the global EV charging community, aligning with S44 Energy's vision to drive industry standards and facilitate widespread adoption of sustainable mobility solutions.