How awesome can a 750Ah Lithium + 1-2kW solar boat be?

[John Holbrook]

Exit Erik please also note that you need a charging profile suitable for Lithium. I think victory has customizable charging profiles.


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[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by John Holbrook

Exit Erik please also note that you need a charging profile suitable for Lithium. I think victory has customizable charging profiles.


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Victron (not Victory) does have full customization of charging voltages and is suitable for LiFePo4 batteries in their Multiplus models.

[smac999]

Originally Posted by ErikFinn

" Dedicated Voltage Sensing Rant:
Here we go again.. In a nut shell there are very, very few chargers or inverter chargers out there that offer dedicated voltage sensing. This is STOOPID!

the victrons do.

though in reality an inverter / charger is normally wired in 4/0 and is only a few feet from the battery so Likey doesn't make much difference.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by TheThunderbird

I share the doubt of the many who don't like the charger+inverter combo.

You just get simpler installation but no redundancy, same cost or more (victron and mastervolt are expensive}, and some additional chance of malfunctioning.

Nothing prevents me from charging and using the inverter at the same time. Why having two in one? . . .

The killer advantage of combined inverter/chargers is power boost. You can't do that with separate charger and inverter. Power boost allows you to limit the amount of power you take from shore or generator and boost it with inverted power if needed. This lets you shave the peaks and use limited AC power efficiently. If you have a lot of AC gear on board, especially anything with an electric motor and large startup loads, and you have to deal with limited shore power (10 or even 6 amps in many places in N Europe), or your generator is not huge, you can't live without this, once you've discovered it. It also helps protect your generator by allowing you to be sure you never overload.

[exitstrategy]

Thank you to everyone who has helped me in this thread.

I have made a lot of progress understanding my boat and getting the power generation to be more sensible - principly by adding the Xantrex 150 Amp battery charger /inverter.

Now I am able to run the generator at least for half the hours, but I still remain disappointed with the state of my lifeline AGMs. I believe they were over discharged a lot in charter.

If you guys care to read more about what I have been up to I have written it up here:
https://medium.com/@erikbethke/zen-a...126#.diay2ho95

Cheers,
-Erik

[John Holbrook]

Anyone got a good article on advances in battery technology? I see that Tesla, LG Chem, Faraday and many other big players all say they have something special coming up.

I just saw a video on the BBC website saying some engineers reckon they can get 45% efficiency out of solar panels. Hell we will be able to sell the marina electricity soon😄👍


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