Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Biting the bullet!

It was still cold and we decided to have a day in.. Al and Han watched a few films and Del spent the time organising the new battery system Derwent6 is going to have..
We have now sorted out the right price and made our minds up with what system we are going to have, and we are booked in for later in the year.
Derwent6 will be having four Lithium LiFePo4 12.8/100Ah Smart batteries wired for a 24 volts domestic system.
This is linked into a management system which manages the batteries so the charging is controlled when the batteries are full, and also low, but most importantly when the temperature drops below 5 degrees Celsius (which kills Lithium Batteries).
The batteries are going to be fitted in the same place as the lead acid batteries and it will all be able to be controlled (including each battery cell) by our phones, by Bluetooth.
We are also having two 24v 340 watt solar panels fitted on Del's shiny roof which are on tiltable brackets to get maximum watts to charge the Lithium's. This runs through a Smart MPPT  (Maximum Power Point Tracking) controller which is also all visible on Bluetooth.
Yes its not cheap, but we feel boating also has to be quality of life when you're living aboard.. With the summers getting warmer and Lithium being the way forward, we feel now is the right time.. These batteries have been known to last 15 years, if managed, so when they need changing the cost will hopefully have come down a hell of a lot and our system is in place.



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