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TIDA-010071: Evaluate suitable AC charger station use TI reference design

Part Number: TIDA-010071

Hi team,

My customer wants to design an AC charger. I find some reference designs from TI.com

TIDA-010071 and TIDA-00637. but seems to some different with these EVM.

Besides the above question, Does it need another function board to complete the AC charger design or not? thanks!

  • Hi Jimmy,

    Both of these designs do not implement a complete todays AC Charger. 

    TIDA-00637 covers most of the system blocks for an AC Charger:

    -Pilot signal generation but OPA171 must be replaced by TLV1805 to comply to newer requirements
    -GFCI with self test
    -AC/DC fly back converter for power rails
    -Relay Drive
    -Metrology

    There is the option to Wi-Fi enable this design (TIDC-EVSE-WIFI = TIDA-00637 + CC3100BOOST), but the necessary adapter board is no longer available, so this is a little more complicated at the moment.
    Since the design is already a few years old it is not sate of the art in some fields like the metrology.

    The TIDA-010071 is a newer design, but it only covers a few system blocks:

    - Pilot signal generation with TLV1805
    - Weld Detection with ISO1212
    - Improved  Relay drive with RV110
    - Low power AC/DC fly back design for all the required voltage rails.

    So you can see that GFCI, Metrology and all the communication part is missing here.

    Hope this helps.

    Best Regards,

    Andreas

  • Hi team,

    Thanks for your great support. So do I need to integrate 2 EVMs to complete the design? 

    If I want to complete the design of the AC charging gun, what kind of circuit do I need?

    Thanks

  • Hi Jimmy,

    Its not like you can plug these two EVMs together and you get a AC charging gun. You have to implement all the necessary subsystems which are partly shown in these reference designs.

    For a AC Charging gun TIDA-010071 is a good stating point to highlight how the power supply, relay drive, pilot signal generation and weld detection can be done, since the metrology part is typically not needed. 

    The one mandatory missing block in TIDA-010071 is the GFCI circuit. This block is implemented with 2 amplifiers in TIDA-00637, but can also be implemented with special ICs like the AFE3010. 

    Best regards,
    Andreas

  • Hi Andreas,

    Thanks for your explain! So Can I base on TIDA-00637 then add the below function?

    -GFCI with self-test (maybe use AFE3010)

    - Pilot signal generation with TLV1805
    - Weld Detection with ISO1212
    - Improved Relay drive with RV110
    - Low power AC/DC flyback design for all the required voltage rails.

    I have two questions below.

    metrology : (Why metrology part is typically not needed?.) How to calculate the charging fee?

    The communication part is missing : (what communication part is needed)

  • Hi Jimmy,

    The subsystems needed depend on what kind of AC Charger with what features you want to build. For a home charger the metrology is not needed since there is no billing if you charge at home. In this case I would  start with TIDA-010071 nd add the GFCI block.

    If we talk about a public AC Charger with billing, then the metrology is needed. In this case there is often additional communication to the car or back to the grid necessary, which is not implemented in our reference designs. Here I would look at TIDA-00637, which implements all the blocks besides the additional communications.

    To sum up:

    -TIDA-00637 has a pilot signal generation circuit, but the OPA171 has to be replaced with TLV1805
    -TIDA-00637 has a form weld detection, but the implementation with IS01212 in TIDA-010071 is more elegant
    -TIDA-00637 has a relay drive, but in TIDA-010071 it is done more efficient with DRV110.
    -TIDA-00637 has a GFCI circuit, but with AFE3010 this could be improved (GFCI is missing in TIDA-010071)
    -TIDA-00637 has full metrology (Metrology is missing in TIDA-010071)

    TIDA-00637 is the more complete design, while TIDA-010071 has only a few of the subsystems  but they are done in newer more efficient ways.

    I hope this helps.

    Best regards,
    Andreas