Here’s How to Get the Most Out of Your Building’s Existing Electrical Capacity

As a building facilitator interested in installing electric vehicle chargers in your business’s garage or parking lot, there are ways to make sure you’re getting the most out of your existing electrical capacity before you pay for an upgrade.

If you’re planning EVSE installation, the first thing you’ll need to check is if your building has sufficient electrical capacity to accommodate the extra load from EV charging. Consulting an electrician is the best and fastest way to determine if your building needs necessary panel and/or meter upgrades.

If your panel is in good shape and you’re not ready to replace it, Smart Charging and Local Load Management are ways to make sure the extra load doesn’t put too much pressure on either your electric panel or the grid.

Local Load Management, also known as demand-side management (DSM), is the process of regulating the use of electricity on the grid, by adjusting or controlling the load rather than the power station output. It’s a matter of regulating the need for output rather than the output itself but itself but cutting down on the amount of electricity being used by businesses, utilities, and consumers.

Blink has designed an intuitive feature that allows output to be shared efficiently between chargers, which provides Blink site host flexibility to install and manage their chargers. This local load management can follow an equal distribution or first-in-first-served distribution. With equal distribution, the group of chargers manage the output by evenly redistributing the charge to each unit in use. With first-in-first-served distribution, the group of chargers manage the output by providing the maximum power a vehicle allows in order of arrival. For a more detailed explanation, watch our YouTube videos equal distribution and first-in-first-served on! 

These are great ways to take advantage of your panel’s capacity. However, if your panel is not in good shape, the best choice is to replace it before utilizing Blink’s innovative local load management.

Signs You’ve Gotten All You Can Out of Your Electrical Panel

According to electricians there are ways you can tell you need a panel upgrade. Some are instantly obvious, others not.

If you’re constantly tripping circuit breakers in your building or garage, you could have an issue with a breaker, but it could also mean the circuit is overloaded, or the wiring is undersized.

Flickering lights are a clear signal you need a bigger electrical panel. If they flicker in the lobby or garage, consider getting the issue fixed. Any of these issues could lead to bigger complicationsand they would need to be addressed before installing EVSE.

Blink can help you get the most of your existing electrical panel. If safety is an issue, get the panel replaced before you install, and we can show you how to balance your energy load to make sure your energy use, the panel, and the grid are all working in harmony.