Overview

OCPP Implementation Guide

A step-by-step guide on how to use OCPP for your EV charging operations

The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is a protocol for communication between an EV Charging Station and a central back office system.

OCPP has become the go-to standard for most charging applications. Leading charging station manufacturers and software developers use OCPP to communicate between a charger and a central system. Most hardware providers use OCPP 1.6, but hardware manufacturers are planning to transition into OCPP 2.0.

OCPP is used to connect electric vehicle (EV) chargers and software backend systems using bilateral communication. The OCPP client (EV charger) and OCPP server exchange general information such as meter values (Wh, W, V, etc.) and start/stop charging events.

This technical guide will teach you how to set up your charger with an OCPP backend, start and stop a charging session, send meter values, use smart charging capabilities during charging, and troubleshoot OCPP messages when having charging issues. 

We recommend you start with How to start a charging session with startTransaction.