Baggywrinkle
Well-Known Member
I started this year with good intentions and a huge upgrade plan for the boat. I completely underestimated the time the project would take and ended up giving up in the summer to go sailing - admittedly I lost 2 months at the beginning of the year getting the solar arch made, and another month on the bowsprit and code-zero fittings, so that didn't help. I ended up connecting the solar panels to the 520Ah of Gel batteries the boat already had, and put the lithium install on hold until this winter.
This is the overview of the upgrade, I've got all the bits in green finished and I have ripped out everything that was there before including the wiring.
Well, winter has come around and I was starting to panic a bit about the batteries sitting in the cellar since March and self-discharging - so I was spurred on to hook it all up and charge them, and also complete the commissioning and setup of all the components - spurred on by @geem post about induction instead of gas.
The reasoning behind what I have built is as follows ...
•The Integrel E-Power system was chosen as an alternative to fitting a diesel generator. The ability to generate 6-9kW from the main propulsion engine in an intelligent manner tailored to the particular engine/prop combination is unique in the market and makes Integrel stand out from Wakespeed, Balmar, Zeus etc. It does however force a 48V Lithium system which in itself is not a problem, but the shortage of native 48V components at this time forces a dual voltage system.
•The original 12V Gel bank of 520Ah was retained as it provides a large buffer to run heavy 12V loads – this was done because the boat has a number of 12V electrical winches, a 12V windlass, and a 12V bow thruster – but the current inverter load will be on the Lithium system when it is installed.
•For the 48V -> 12V charging, 2 x 100-50 Smart Solar MPPTs were chosen instead of Orions. This solution is not recommended due to possible shorting of the MPPT inputs resulting in large current draw exceeding the MPPT spec. A Battery Protect has been installed between the 48V feed and the MPPTs which “may” mitigate this. This solution is in use on many boats, and feedback from both the boating community and Victron community is positive. Maybe a 100A 48V-12V Orion will be offered by Victron eventually.
•For winter storage, the solar panels can be routed to the 100-50 Smart Solar MPPTs charging the 12V system, and the 48V system can be shut down. This is a hidden benefit of the decision to use MPPTs for 48V to 12V charging.
•Both Victron and Integrel can communicate and implement Victrons Distributed Voltage and Current Control (DVCC). NMEA2000 was chosen over hard wired ATC/ATD signals and/or VE.Can conversion connections. The Ekrano GX and the Integrel Controller are connected to the Raymarine SeatalkNG network with appropriate cables as described in the Inegrel E-Power Installation Guide V5.5 from June 2025, section 5.9, “CAN bus Networks with Victron over VE.Can”. The ATD/ATC connections to the Integrel Smart Switch will therefore be left disconnected.
•The main 48V Battery shut off is implemented using the Victron Smart BMS remote Switch input. Additionally the cable run from the batteries to the Lynx Class-T Power In are both extremely short and will be physically protected, so a combination of Class-T fuses and BMS disconnect should provide adequate protection.
This is hopefully the final version of the wiring diagram, so any feedback would be very welcome, especially if anyone notices any glaring errors. ..
This is it all connected and working on the bench, after 8 hours and 5,7kWh from a 16A mains socket all the 16 cells are perfectly balanced and happy. Result!!! .... now to build it into the boat.
This is the overview of the upgrade, I've got all the bits in green finished and I have ripped out everything that was there before including the wiring.
Well, winter has come around and I was starting to panic a bit about the batteries sitting in the cellar since March and self-discharging - so I was spurred on to hook it all up and charge them, and also complete the commissioning and setup of all the components - spurred on by @geem post about induction instead of gas.The reasoning behind what I have built is as follows ...
•The Integrel E-Power system was chosen as an alternative to fitting a diesel generator. The ability to generate 6-9kW from the main propulsion engine in an intelligent manner tailored to the particular engine/prop combination is unique in the market and makes Integrel stand out from Wakespeed, Balmar, Zeus etc. It does however force a 48V Lithium system which in itself is not a problem, but the shortage of native 48V components at this time forces a dual voltage system.
•The original 12V Gel bank of 520Ah was retained as it provides a large buffer to run heavy 12V loads – this was done because the boat has a number of 12V electrical winches, a 12V windlass, and a 12V bow thruster – but the current inverter load will be on the Lithium system when it is installed.
•For the 48V -> 12V charging, 2 x 100-50 Smart Solar MPPTs were chosen instead of Orions. This solution is not recommended due to possible shorting of the MPPT inputs resulting in large current draw exceeding the MPPT spec. A Battery Protect has been installed between the 48V feed and the MPPTs which “may” mitigate this. This solution is in use on many boats, and feedback from both the boating community and Victron community is positive. Maybe a 100A 48V-12V Orion will be offered by Victron eventually.
•For winter storage, the solar panels can be routed to the 100-50 Smart Solar MPPTs charging the 12V system, and the 48V system can be shut down. This is a hidden benefit of the decision to use MPPTs for 48V to 12V charging.
•Both Victron and Integrel can communicate and implement Victrons Distributed Voltage and Current Control (DVCC). NMEA2000 was chosen over hard wired ATC/ATD signals and/or VE.Can conversion connections. The Ekrano GX and the Integrel Controller are connected to the Raymarine SeatalkNG network with appropriate cables as described in the Inegrel E-Power Installation Guide V5.5 from June 2025, section 5.9, “CAN bus Networks with Victron over VE.Can”. The ATD/ATC connections to the Integrel Smart Switch will therefore be left disconnected.
•The main 48V Battery shut off is implemented using the Victron Smart BMS remote Switch input. Additionally the cable run from the batteries to the Lynx Class-T Power In are both extremely short and will be physically protected, so a combination of Class-T fuses and BMS disconnect should provide adequate protection.
This is hopefully the final version of the wiring diagram, so any feedback would be very welcome, especially if anyone notices any glaring errors. ..
This is it all connected and working on the bench, after 8 hours and 5,7kWh from a 16A mains socket all the 16 cells are perfectly balanced and happy. Result!!! .... now to build it into the boat.
.... the MPPTs will be pulling around 12,5 A on the 48V side for 50A on the 12V side, which is probably more than the battery can take. I did think about fusing the 48V side with 20A fast blow fuses ... and if they ever blow, then I need to remove the MPPTs.
..... not easy but I created all the pics with Photoshop by removing the backgrounds and saving as PNGs as they support transparency, then pasted them into PPT and grouped the pic with tiny circles as the connectors (which have 8 attachment points for lines). The auto-routing of PPT for lines isn't great but useable.