Energy Unlimited by Victron

1.Introduction

Victron Energy has been supplying components and systems for autonomous energy supply for some 25 years. These might be systems for sail- or motorboats, inland navigation vessels, off-grid houses, for many types of vehicles, and a nearly endless range of other, often unexpected, applications. We know from experience that generating and storing electrical energy on a small-scale is a complex business. The components of an autonomous system are costly and vulnerable. For example, the battery, that indispensable storage medium in a small-scale system, often goes flat quickly and unexpectedly, so that the “power fails” and eventually the harm caused by excessive discharge means premature investment in a new battery. Developments in the field of autonomous energy-supply on board sail- and motorboats are exemplary. The amount of electric (domestic) equipment on board boats is increasing rapidly, while at the same time the space and weight available for energy generation and storage are being kept to an absolute minimum. It goes without saying that living space and sailing characteristics take a higher priority. Growing demands imposed on autonomous energy systems have spurred the development of new products and concepts. This overview presents new products and concepts, with specific attention being paid to optimum system component integration and day-to-day operation of the complete system. Where system components are discussed, brands are only mentioned if the products are unique, that is to say available exclusively under that brand, or if other brands are very hard to obtain. The unique Victron Energy products mentioned are: - Parallel connection of inverters and combined inverter-battery chargers The parallel connection option (if needed even in 3-phase configuration) means that there are no limits anymore to the amount of AC power that can be supplied from a battery. As will be shown, this opens the possibility to run all kinds of domestic equipment, including the washing machine and the electric cooker, from the battery. Although the peak power consumption of such equipment is high, the amount of amp-hours needed is quite manageable and much lower than one would expect. - PowerContro l is an often overlooked but very convenient feature of the Victron Phoenix Combi and its even more versatile successor, the Phoenix Multi : by constantly monitoring the total power drawn from the on-board generator or shore supply, the Phoenix Multi will automatically reduce battery charging when otherwise an overload situation would occur (for example when high power household equipment is switched on). - The next step : PowerAssist . The revolutionary Phoenix MultiPlus , also an inverter-battery charger, actually runs in parallel with shore power or an AC generator, and uses the battery as a buffer to “help” the shore power or generator during periods of peak power demand. The implications of PowerAssist are truly far reaching: Traditionally the on-board generator had to be dimensioned to the peak power required. The use of power hungry equipment such as air conditioning, a washing machine or an electric stove would require a big and heavy generator and the required shore power capacity would often not even be available. With PowerAssist , shore power and the on- board generator can be reduced to less than half the rating that normally would be required! While this overview is directed mainly towards boats, many products and solutions are also applicable in other autonomous energy systems such as can be found in off-grid houses, motor homes, or special purpose commercial vehicles. - Battery chargers with adaptive software to automatically optimize charging.