Off-peak charging

Amra Ivojevic

BSc

ATP sustain

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

November 19, 2013

Hello I would like to know what LEED understands with off-peak charging. Is it trying to help charge electric vehicles off-peak, when they won’t bring down the power grid? Or does it mean to charge during special, off-peak rates and program their vehicles or chargers to use electricity only when costs are low? Thank you!

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Christopher Law

Project Manager, LEED

U.S. Green Building Council

LEEDuser Premium Member

6 thumbs up

Thu, 01/02/2014 - 15:50

Hi Amra (and Yoyo below) - This requirement speaks to the charger's ability to integrate into smart utility grid. This requires a network connection. In operation this will typically involve participation in peak demand or time-of-use pricing, which is an arrangement in which customers pay higher fees to use utilities during peak time periods and lower fees during off-peak time periods. The intent is not for the charger to be turned off during any particular period.

Jason Hercules

Manager, LEED Department

USGBC

LEEDuser Premium Member

3 thumbs up

Wed, 01/15/2014 - 17:53

Just to add to this, it may be helpful to review the language in the Demand Response credit to understand the intent of "off-peak charging" in this credit. So the main intent of off-peak in Demand Response is to reduce capacity needs on the part of the utility. Costs savings might be an additional benefit to some projects, but this will vary from project to project and from utility to utility. Therefore, off-peak should focus on capacity, rather than pricing.