Rhombus Energy Solutions, a company that develops and manufactures bi-directional electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, has received certification from Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and the Consumer Electronics Testing and Certification Services Group (CSA) for its RES-D2-CS20 EV Charging Dispenser.
The RES-D2-CS20 EV Dispenser is compatible with Rhombus’s UL Certified 60 kW and 125 kW power conditioning systems (PCS) for high-power EV charging of medium- and heavy-duty (M/HD) fleets. The dispenser can be used in both unidirectional and bi-directional charging use cases, providing fleet operators for vehicles such as school buses, public transit buses and delivery vehicles with fully certified DC fast chargers that are built specifically for their M/HD EV fleet needs.
The certifications include UL 2202 (Standard for EV Charging System Equipment) and UL 2231(Personnel Protection Systems for EV Supply Circuits: Particular Requirements for Protection Devices for Use in Charging Systems), as well as CSA C22.2. These standards define design, safety and testing requirements for all EV charging systems. Combined with the UL 1741-SA certification of Rhombus’ AC to DC PCS units, these certifications allow Rhombus solutions to be used in both unidirectional and bi-directional vehicle to grid (V2G) applications, providing a total solution for M/HD EV fleet operators, notes Rhombus.
“Vehicle electrification allows fleet operators to reduce their operating expenditures by lowering energy and maintenance costs,” says Rick Sander, CEO of Rhombus Energy Solutions. “With bi-directional chargers, fleet operators can integrate renewables and energy storage into their overall solution. To future proof their operations, fleet operators require a highly reliable DC fast-charging infrastructure with bi-directional capability to ensure an optimized solution. Rhombus provides fleets with a complete toolset for their charging needs of today and tomorrow.”
V2G applications, which require bi-directional functionality, provide a means for EV fleet operators to utilize their vehicles as a source of energy storage, allowing power to be put back onto the grid during peak demand hours or to be used to power buildings in a “behind the meter” approach.
Rhombus says it has deployed hundreds of high-power, bi-directional fleet EV charging systems and inverters for energy storage and PV solar-based microgrids to customers in a variety of operational environments. Bi-directional charging enables both energy cost savings for EV fleet operators and the ability to provide power to infrastructure during power emergencies if needed.