Lithium-Ion batteries (in particular the LiFePO4 / LFP variants) are becoming increasingly popular on boats. We look at the advantages and disadvantages of this fascinating new technology, plus installation and safety requirements for lithium-ion batteries on boats. There are a plethora of brands and BMS types on the market and systems evolve quickly, so we will not cover individual manufacturers, but instead focus on general requirements and best practices covered in the new ABYC E-13 and related standards.
Lithium-Ion Batteries
New!
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Hi Jan. I’m revising the whole course and I’m pretty sure this section is new since I first did it. (Might be wrong though) Would it be possible to put the date a new section is added please so it is easy to see if it is new.
(By the way I’ve done my Lithium installation with BMS and Battery Protect on load/ charge circuits and B2B chargers from starter AGM to Lithium to protect alternator. Whilst boat is still on hard I’ve had them charged once a month and the whole system is running fine for the last year. Without the course I would never have managed the installation so thanks. Steve
Hi Steve,
Thanks a lot for your kind words and the suggestion. We do occasionally update and revise the lecture notes based on questions and comments we get or updates to standards (or new things we learn somewhere). However, sometimes this is just some minor changes like typos, so I’m not sure how useful it would be to have some sort of date that indicates the last changes.
I’ll think about it, maybe we find some solution for the future where we can indicate major updates to specific lessons.
Best
Jan
Hello Jan and Nigel,
In terms battery-life preservation, what would be the optional lithium housebank discharge-recharge cycle after disconnecting from shore power and leaving the marina for a long passage?
– Discharge from 100% to 20% (or less), then charge back to 100% and repeat? or;
– Discharge from 100% to 20% (or less), then charge back to 80-90%% and repeat?
Hi Paulo,
The great thing about lithium-ion batteries is, that their lifetime is only minimally affected by the state of charge. It may vary a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer and I would have a look in the data sheet, but generally there should be no problem to cycle a lithium-ion battery bank between 20% and 100% SOC. If you store them for a longer time, it is typically beneficial to leave it in 50-80% SOC (make sure there is no self-discharge through a BMS).
You may slightly increase the lifespan of your battery bank if don’t charge it to more than 80-90% also in normal operation, but to be honest, even full-time liveaboards will likely never use the 3,000+ cycles of lithium-ion batteries.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Jan