CE Pro October 2023 - 51

grid-failure conditions.
The Tesla Powerwall
(tesla.com), SonnenCore
(sonnenusa.com), Kohler
(kohlerpower.com) and other
home battery systems
do offer extended wholehome
backup power, but
do not include the robust
isolation the Energy Hub
provides.
Helping Your
Customers
Choose a Solution
This is an exciting new industry
and is still in its early
phases. Most manufacturers
offer vastly different
solutions to overall power
management, so matching
a solution to each specific
project is critical to offering
the best value for the client.
It also means that the
stability of each manufacturer
(and their commitment
to their product lines)
is just as crucial.
The market is a mix of
new startup companies as
well as traditional electrical
manufacturers, many of
whom have jumped into
the market through acquisitions
as well as traditional
in-house research and
development.
Additionally, the federal
Inflation Reduction Act of
2022 has brought billions
of dollars to the energy
market, bringing down costs
and barriers to entry. Solar
sales and installation companies
are looking at energy
management systems as an
add-on to solar sales. However,
custom integrators
are still in the best position
to offer these systems to
their clients, or as a way to
attract new clients at all
cepro.com
WHERE DO
ELECTRIC
VEHICLES FIT
INTO THE MIX?
When you add one or
more electric vehicles to
the system, there are even
more advantages. Emporia
Energy, SPAN, and Savant
Power all offer electric vehicle
charging systems that
integrate with their energy
management products and
are generally compatible
with other brands as well.
SPAN and Savant can
not only monitor power
consumption by an electric
vehicle charger, but can
also control it, so power is
used when electric rates
are lower, and when the
grid is active. During a
budget levels.
For existing installations,
the add-on monitoring
products are a safe bet -
they are low-cost solutions,
quite easy to install in most
cases (be sure to do a thorough
site evaluation before
committing to an installation),
and the information
provided to the client can be
transformational. They are
also especially useful if you
have very different types of
loads on one circuit, such as
lights and a refrigerator, or
to break out monitoring of
different devices in a home
theater or office.
Upgrading a main load
center panel can be complex
and expensive and will
require the customer to be
without power for a while.
Generally, an upgraded panpower
outage, vehicles will
not be charged - although
the user can override that if
it is an emergency. If there
is more than one EV charger
installed, the system can automatically
switch between
chargers to prevent high
peak consumption or reduce
the charging rates to allow
both vehicles to charge at
the same time.
el will also need to comply
with the latest electrical
code requirements, such
as GFCI and AFCI breakers,
solar provisioning, etc.
For new construction,
each product has advantages
and disadvantages.
Consider how each
product and manufacturer
matches with the clients'
needs and site issues.
Many of the manufacturers
will provide direct handson
support for dealers
to assist with marketing,
sales, installation, and
post-installation support.
How the product will
match the workflow of the
project architect, electrical
engineer, and electrical
contractor can also be
decisive considerations.
Decisions about load
Savant and Emporia are
promising an upgrade to
allow some EV's to even provide
power to the home in
an emergency through their
charging port.
Since this is all controlled
by the Apps, it can easily be
configured and reconfigured
as needs change, and all the
data is in one place and easily
accessible to the owner.
center locations, circuiting,
lighting control, EV
charging, solar and backup
systems will impact the design
of an energy management
system and influence
the choice of products.
For the best power management
options, provision
as many circuits as practical,
rather than combining
multiple loads into a single
circuit. It's best to get
involved early in the design
process. CE Pro
ORRIN CHARM
(orrincharm@gmail.com)
has been in the smart
home industry since 1989
as a system designer and
engineer. His consulting
company, Charm &
Imagination, is based in Simi
Valley, Calif.
October 2023 CE Pro | 51
http://www.tesla.com http://www.sonnenusa.com http://www.kohlerpower.com http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro October 2023
