Flipturn, the unified control center for EV fleet and charger operations, became OpenADR certified last year.

What is OpenADR certification?

OpenADR is a demand response protocol that allows a software platform such as Flipturn to bidirectionally exchange information with utilities and other demand response service providers. OpenADR certification is performed by the OpenADR Alliance’s various objective testing partners, and requires passing over 100 individual tests of platform functionality. 

OpenADR certification is a major requirement for software providers that are a part of SCE’s Charge Ready Program. You can read more about Flipturn becoming officially recognized as an SCE Charge Ready network provider here.

How does the OpenADR protocol work?

The OpenADR protocol is device and manufacturer agnostic, which allows for interoperability between many different systems. It is a server/client message exchanging protocol where the server is typically the utility (VTN), and the clients (VENs) are the nodes that can respond to information sent by the utility. 

OpenADR’s protocol believes that client nodes are best equipped to make their own decisions on how to respond to information about events. So, OpenADR does not directly control end devices, but rather informs and motivates. 

For example, if there is a spike in demand happening on a random Monday between 6-7PM, the VTN will notify VENs, which can then choose to take the respective action, such as reducing power consumption on their EV chargers. 

What opportunities does OpenADR certification open for Flipturn’s customers?

Now that Flipturn is OpenADR certified, the platform can be configured to react to demand response events from various utilities. This functionality is completely opt-in. Numerous OpenADR-enabled demand response programs exist today.

For example, Southern California Edison (SCE) uses OpenADR’s automated demand response in its critical peak pricing (CPP) program, which provides monetary incentives in exchange for reducing energy usage during demand response events. One SCE customer participating in CPP, Railex, averaged almost 300 kWs in load reduction per CPP event, with participation yielding savings of more than $32,653.

Another example is the Hawaiian Electric Company, which uses the OpenADR standard to manage a large pool of distributed energy resources (DER), including solar PV, storage batteries, and EV charging. Hawaiian Electric linked batteries in 6,000 different homes to create a decentralized power plant for its local utility. OpenADR helps the utility communicate the hours when grid demand will surge, and Hawaiian Electric can respond by drawing backup electricity from their portfolio of 25 megawatts of solar power and 80 megawatts of battery capacity.

To see the locations and status of every OpenADR deployment, check out this map, published by the OpenADR Alliance.

If you operate EV charging stations and are interested in enrolling in a demand response program, please reach out here. 

About Flipturn

Flipturn is a leading charging management solution for fleets. Flipturn provides a comprehensive fleet solution that minimizes your utility costs with energy management, improves uptime and issue resolution speed, and provides powerful cost per mile and range insights.