Pushing batteries to the limit

Exploring ways to store electrons

- Nigel Calder

For several years, I was part of a project developing energy systems built around massively powerful alternator-type devices; the one I have now will generate up to 8 kilowatts (kW). To put this in perspective, that would be 666 amps at 12 volts! (See the Integrel system at OceanPlanetEnergy.com; in full disclosure, please note that I now have a commercial interest in OceanPlanet and the Integrel system.) But, there is not a lot of point in having this kind of generating capability if there is nowhere to dump and store the energy.

The “holy grail,” from my marine energy perspective, has always been a system capable of generating and storing — during normal propulsion engine run times — sufficient energy to run the house systems for 24 or more hours. In our case, normal engine run time is the time it takes to set or pull up the anchor, or to get on and off a dock. For those with air conditioning, the system would need to be able to replenish the energy used overnight during normal boat operations (i.e., without requiring a stand-alone generator).