What is OCPP?

OCPP is the shared language spoken between open EV chargers and charging station management systems (CSMS). Not all EV chargers and management softwares support OCPP, but systems that do enjoy a wide range of benefits.

The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is an open-source communication protocol for networked electric vehicle chargers. The vision of OCPP is to make any EV charger work with any charger management software, even if the charger manufacturer and software developer have never met and are building their products on the opposite side of the world.

Open Charge Alliance

The Open Charge Alliance (OCA) is a global consortium of public and private EV infrastructure leaders that have come together to promote open standards. The OCA writes and publishes Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP).

The goal for OCPP is to offer a uniform solution for the method of communication between a Charging Station and Charging Station Management System (CSMS). With this protocol it is possible to connect any CSMS with any Charging Station, regardless of the vendor. A uniform standard prevents all kinds of coordination problems, and is therefore an advantage for the whole electric vehicle market. Realizing the OCPP 1.6 Certification Program has been a long-term ambition of the members of OCA. With such a certificate, vendors of OCPP compliant systems can now prove to their clients that their products’ conformance to the OCPP specifications has been approved by an independent test laboratory. Buyers of OCPP compliant products can easily check which products are certified and have been successfully tested for conformance to OCPP 1.6.