Table of Contents

5. Connecting Charging Station

Insertion of Cables Through the Installation Pipe

After the installation pipe is built into the concrete foundation, it is used for cabling and connection of the charging station. The concrete foundation must be left to dry for at least two days before the cables can be inserted in the installation pipe.

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Supply cables are routed through the underground anchoring structure with the use of installation pipe as shown in the figure above. The exact way of cable routing depends on the type of cables used and their diameter (which is determined in the project documentation). When dealing with cables with larger diameters, their bending radius must be considered.

Appropriate length of cables must reach through the upper opening for later connection of the charging station. At least 50 cm of the power cable and at least 150 cm of the optical / UTP cable (if the station's mode of communication does not use a wireless LTE 2G/3G/4G connection) must reach through the upper opening of the anchoring structure.

These minimum lengths of cables must be strictly observed to enable later effortless connection of the charging station.

Preparation of Cables

Remove 20 mm of insulation from all cables and attach and compress the appropriate crimp tubes on all cables. To prevent cables from getting in the way of mounting the charging station, twist them into an installation pipe. Length of cables on the other side of the gland should be:

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Power Supply Compartment

The power and communication cables are routed through the foundation after the casing of the charging station is installed. Care must be taken not to damage the equipment inside the charging station.

According to the dimensions of the power cable, the contracting entity chooses the proper configuration of the charging station with the appropriate terminals.

A three-phase 5-wire power cable is used for the connection, based on the type of connection. Standard terminals enable connection of cables of up to 50 mm² diameter. Customization with additional clamps is possible and they enable double connection up to 95 mm².

The configuration of the charging station depends also on the type of grid connection. The charging station is usually connected to an existing installation.

To enable access to the power supply compartment first unscrew and remove the protective cover.

There is a sticker on main connection element showing the correct designation of phases and neutral conductor. Remove the sticker and make sure that screws inside the main miniature circuit breaker (MCB) in which wires will be connected are unscrewed.

To the main circuit breaker of the charging station, three supply phase conductors are connected in right order of phases. Normally, this would mean connecting from left to right, phase 1 (L1, brown), phase 2 (L2, black), phase 3 (L3, grey).

The neutral conductor (N, blue) must be connected to the neutral pole of miniature circuit breaker and PE conductor (PE, yellow/green) to the earthing clamp.

The order of phase conductors could be different in case of clustering of more charging stations. The reason is avoidance of current and voltage asymmetry in case of possible charging of one phase electric vehicles.

This means that if three charging stations are installed, the first phase of first station would connect to L1 of the system, the first phase of the second station would connect to L2 of the system and the first phase of the third stations would connect to L3 of the system. The sequence of phases must be kept (L1, L2, L3).

The software configuration must be properly made in charging station web interface and in the charging management platform (e.g., Etrel Ocean).

Connection of the Protective Earthing (PE)

If the charging station is grounded locally, the grounding strip needs to be connected to the grounding busbar of the charging station.

The connection is performed as follows:

1. A hole is drilled into the grounding strip.

2. The grounding wire which connects the grounding busbar inside the station with the grounding strip is equipped with a cable shoe on one end and a hollow connector on the other end.

3. The cable shoe is fixed to the grounding strip on one end.

4. The grounding wire is fixed to the grounding busbar on the other end.

Connection of the Power Cable

Prior to the beginning of work make sure that the main power supply is turned off.

Required tools: Allen key (Hex key), wire stripper pliers (for stripping of insulation and for fine-core cables), crimping pliers.

1. Cut off three (five) wires of the power cable to the appropriate length to reach the connectors. Do not make the wire routing too tight or too loose.

2. Use wire stripper pliers to remove 20 mm of the insulation from the end of all wires (L1, L2, L3, N, PE).

3. Loosen the bolts on the MCB terminals (all phase conductors and the neutral conductor N).

4. Loosen the bolts on PE clamp.

5. Insert all wires into their terminals and tighten the bolts.

Connection of the Communication Cable (UTP)

Required when wireless LTE communication is not used.

Required tools: network cable pliers, RJ45 connector.

Procedure:

1. Cut off the network cable to the appropriate length to reach the Ethernet connector. Do not make the wire routing too tight or too loose.

2. Use the network cable pliers to attach the RJ45 connector to the network cable.

3. Insert the RJ45 connector into the Ethernet connector.

4. If a network switch is installed in the station, the UTP cable is connected to its Port 4 (for means of clustering or DLMS communication with the meters). When there is no network switch installed, the network cable is connected directly to the Ethernet port of the main controller of the charging station, located on the station's doors. Ethernet port is located on the lower left side.

Finishing Work

Before closing the station, check the condition of the over-current protection elements and the residual current devices. Switches must be set to ON position.

The charging station has built-in overcurrent protection with miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and leakage circuit breakers (RCD).

Check that all circuit breakers are on:

• There is a main circuit breaker and an electronics power circuit breaker at the bottom of the station. Check the condition of both.

• Each of the component’s baskets contains a branch circuit breaker and a residual current protection switch.

Check the condition of all four elements. Close the charging station door and lock it. Connect the charging station to the power supply in the electrical cabinet. Turn on the power supply where the station is connected.

The hole in the bottom of the charging station should be filled with polyurethane foam filler (or similar material).