How to configure an Alfen charger to work with an external RTU-meter

Instructions:

1. Connect the RTU-meter to the Charging Station

2. Open the Alfen ACE Service Installer (ASI) and login on the charger

3. In ASI, click the Load Balancing Tab

   1. Tick the ‘Active Load Balancing’ box

   2. Set Data Source to ‘Meter’

   3. Select your desired setting in the ‘Received Measurements’ field

   4. Set Protocol Selection to ‘Modbus RTU’

   5. Fill the ‘Maximum smart meter current (A)’, ‘Safe current (A)’ and ‘Allow single-multiphase charging’ fields that are valid for the installation and location.

   6. Click the Save button on the bottom of the screen
      
       

4. ​​​​In the menu on the left, click ‘Modbus RTU’ to open the specific settings

   1. Enter below settings for the communication to the meter:

      1. Address is set to ‘1' (Confirm by reading the ID on the meter)
         Note: a small number of Eastron SDM120ct-m(100)a (803873269-ICU) meters unfortunately were delivered with address ‘2’
         In case there is no communication using address ‘1’, please change the address to '2’ 

      2. Parity is set to ‘None’

      3. Baudrate is set to ‘9600’

      4. Word Order is set to ‘Low to High’

      5. Update Time is set to ‘2000’ 

      6. Read Timeout is set to ‘500’

      7. Function Code is set to ‘Input Registers’ 
          

   2. On the bottom-right, click the ‘Customer register mapping’ button
      This will open the list with pre-programmed setting for specific RTU-meters
       

   3. Select the entry that matches the RTU-meter that is installed.
      Alfen only provides presets for their tested Eastron meters.
      In case you installed another brand/type of meter, please select the manual settings and enter the specific details for the meter.
      In the example we selected preset: ‘eastron sdm120ct-m(100)a’
       

   4. Click ‘Save’ on the pop-up
       

   5. A confirmation pop-up appears, that can be closed by clicking ‘OK’
       

 
Testing the configuration

1. Test ACE Service Installer and meter value without load

   1. In the ACE Service Installer, press the 'Test Smart meter' button on the bottom of the screen.
      A popup screen appears that shows the actual current and power per phase
      
       

   2. Confirm these readings match the readings on the display of the RTU-meter
       

2. Test ACE Service Installer and meter with Load
   Start a charge session or switch on an appliance that takes some current, like an oven or microwave.

   1. In the ACE Service Installer, press the 'Test Smart meter' button on the bottom of the screen.
      A popup screen appears that shows the actual current and power per phase
      These should now be noticeable higher compared to the first test.
      ​​​​​​​
       

   2. Confirm these readings match the readings on the display of the RTU-meter