Lithium power for an Elba 45 catamaran

After buying a new Elba 45 catamaran from Fountaine-Pajot, one owner wasted no time in packing the new boat off for some additional work on the power system. UK dealer MiCats arranged for the boat to go to straight to Keto Marine at Swanwick Marina, for a bluewater upgrade.

The first step was to add four 16kWh lithium-ion batteries from Victron. These operate at 48V, giving around 330Ah of power each.

“It comes as a complete system, so it basically means that we can stay within the realms of Victron,” said installer Daniel Hawkes. “They give you a whole suite of components to build the system.”

A pair of 5kW inverter chargers came next, both running at 48V and capable of handling up to 70A current. These both charge the batteries and supply power to appliances like the dishwasher and washing machine. “You can restrict the amount of power they pull, so if you plug into a 16A supply, the boat will only take 16A of shore power, and as the AC consumers start up on board, the charger will begin to back off.”

A Panda 10kW diesel genset was also added to provide power without firing up the engine. And on deck, there are four 400W solar panels mounted on a gantry. Keto doesn’t bother with marine-specific panels, preferring instead rigid glass-covered domestic panels. Not only are they cheaper, but they’re also more reliable, according to Hawkes. “The only panels we’ve ever had issues with are the flexible ones that you mount on decks.”

The real advantage of the new setup is that it sits alongside the boat’s existing 12V system. The 48V lithium system covers AC loads and also tops up the 12V domestic batteries as required via DC-to-DC chargers. The whole set-up, which included a watermaker and aircon, cost in the region of £70,000.