How to get the most out of electricity generated onboard

Join CTEK’s media workshop to learn more about these solutions. 17 November at METS in Netherlands (Marine Equipment Trade Show).

Batteries are like people. They suffer if they are left alone but will be your reliable friends if they are given proper attention. The focus for this attention in a boat has mainly been the shore power chargers. These have improved over the years and usually work quite well. There are significant differences between brands, but a boat that has been connected to shore power for a while could be expected to have batteries in quite good shape.

Much less attention has been spent on improving the current management when shore power isn’t available. Multiple battery banks were introduced many years ago, initially to guarantee engine start. Dedicated batteries for anchor winches and bow thrusts came later, to protect sensitive functions underperforming deep discharged batteries. Every new function and component further increased the complexity and reduced the efficiency of the electrical system onboard. Electricity onboard is controlled by diodes, switches or various types of relays. Their main purpose was to separate and isolate battery banks.

CTEK have introduced a family of modularized products that handles all these issues following a completely different concept. The system is based on a new principle onboard – separating consumption and charging of electricity. All electricity that is either generated onboard or transmitted to the boat either used directly or stored for later use.

The “Energy Management System” is a new component, SmartPass, that controls the flow of electricity onboard so that:

• The Starter Battery is protected to guarantee start.
• The Service Battery is charged with the voltage and current that maximizes life and minimizes charge time, even from a basic alternator.
• Consumers, like fridge, light and navigation operate independent of the Service Battery when the engine is running.
• The Service Battery is protected from harmful deep discharges and over temperatures
• Dual alternators are flawless synchronized

The SmartPass works best when it is combined with a dual-input DC/DC charger and battery separator, CTEK D250S Dual. This unit could be used as a stand-alone unit:

• Converts the alternator to a multi-step temperature compensated unit.
• Voltage Sensitive Relay for separation of Starter and Service batteries
• Solar panel regulator with Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT)
• Maintenance charge also of Starter Battery.

Together these units perform even better. Based on these two components a Smart DC Grid could be designed by anyone after 15 minutes training. The system will provide the boat owner with more available battery capacity and longer battery life than any other system on the market.

For more info – please come to the Press Meeting November 17, 13.30 – 14.30 or 15.00 – 16.00 at room D404, Elicium Tower or contact Börje Maleus, see below