Case Greenstation – New Innovation Allowing Price Data Transfers via Cloud Platform

LED price displays are seen in almost all service stations nowadays. Price information seen in them can be of different fuel types or even EV-charging prices. Our range of display products contains large selection of different sizes and different LED colors, which allows customer to match the displays with their brand.                 

There are several ways to transfer the price data to the LED displays depending on the infrastructure of each station. There can be a fixed cable connection from the forecourt controller to the pylon when price updates are automatically completed via cable. The same price updates can also be done with a radio connection using automatic price changes. It is also possible to update prices manually by using a hand terminal which can be connected to the control unit of the pylon via cable or using a radio equipped hand terminal.

As a result of the electric revolution in mobility, more and more electric vehicles drive around with the need to recharge. So, there is an increasing number of EV-chargers being installed, some to the existing fuel retail infrastructure but there are also new service providers without existing forecourt systems.

Greenstation, a Norwegian developer for EV-charging stations is offering to its customers latest innovation and seamless charging experience. Their charging stations do not have existing infrastructure including forecourt controlling systems, concentrating solely on EV-chargers with card payment possibilities. For this kind of service station type we have developed an independent data transfer possibility based on cloud functionality. Solution only requires an internet connection which can be created via a fixed cable connection or via 4G router with a local SIM-card, depending on the location. The price data is transferred from the customer’s cloud service to our HOST cloud platform using a rest-API interface between the two cloud systems. HOST then updates the prices into the LED price displays on site. Price updates are completed automatically, and the service provider can use different price rates during different hours for example.

The same approach could be used in car washes as well. In addition to LED price displays, a parking camera with license plate recognition or information display stating space availability of charging spaces could be added. By using license plate recognition and combining the data with loyalty programs an automatic charging or special pricing is easy to apply. A combination of our products and software creates great customizable solutions for varying customer needs resulting in improved customer experience.