Kathrein DLM
Kathrein DLM
Company description
Kathrein is a renowned German company with a deep tradition, pioneering the production of radio antennas in Germany. Over the years, the company has expanded its business, strengthening its cooperation with Ericsson and Nokia. Among the companies belonging to the Kathrein Group is Kathrein Solutions GmbH, which specializes in the production of modern charging stations for electric cars .
The company with its headquarters in Rosenheim, Bavaria. KATHREIN Solutions GmbH focuses on the production of various types of AC charging stations , with an emphasis on devices using alternating current (AC). Their customers include private homeowners, hotels, businesses, and parking operators.
Project description
Dynamic Load Management (DLM) for Kathrein is an advanced energy management system that optimizes power distribution among multiple electric car charging stations. The project aimed to create an intelligent solution to dynamically control energy based on both the needs of users and the current consumption of a household or business.
Initially, Kathrein’s software was designed to operate individual chargers, each operating as an independent unit. The project introduced a central system that oversees and controls the charging process across the entire cluster of devices.
Project goals
To optimize the use of cheaper energy sources (e.g., photovoltaics) and reduce grid consumption during peak hours
Enable companies to make efficient use of chargers and adapt their operation to users' needs
To promote the use of renewable energy and reduce CO₂ emissions by optimizing electricity consumption
Description of DLM functionality
The DLM system allows chargers to be configured by assigning devices to the system and prioritizing them, as well as registering user accounts, allowing employees to be divided into teams and prioritized for their charging, such as giving the highest priority to the sales department. In addition, the system manages energy sources, allowing the selection of charging mode – exclusively from solar panels, hybrid (panels + grid) or with limited power drawn from the grid. DLM also adjusts charging power according to the level of charge of the car’s battery, analyses future electricity prices and optimizes the charging schedule for cheaper periods. In addition, it offers monitoring of energy consumption both at the whole-farm level and only within the charger system.
Solutions
Due to hardware limitations and performance requirements, the DLM system was implemented in GoLang. The choice was based on the need to manage hardware resources efficiently while ensuring high performance and low memory consumption. GoLang also allowed the development of a solution that can run both on a dedicated server and directly on one of the loaders.
Challenges
Several significant challenges were encountered during the project, such as the need to integrate the new master system with the existing Kathrein software, which originally ran independently on each charger. In addition, many companies did not allow the chargers to be connected to the Internet, which prevented central monitoring and made system diagnostics difficult. The mobile application, an early version of which contained numerous bugs that made it difficult to register, configure power and manage the charging process, also proved problematic.
Results
- Effective control of the charging process and optimization of energy costs
- Increased efficiency of energy management in companies
- Improved operation of the mobile application
- Further development of the system dependent on improved access to monitoring and diagnostics
- The challenge of convincing customers to integrate the system with the Internet so that its full potential can be realized
- Improving sustainable energy management and environmental protection