Marine DC power supply. A case study of electric boats.

In the mid-1990s, one of our marine industry customers, Silent Yachts, began researching alternative energy sources to power yachts.

Today, solar energy is a viable and reliable power supply source for boats, and Silent Yachts has become a reference company in the industry. Their 100% electric yachts are unique worldwide.

Oscar Sjöstrand – Product Development Manager of Silent Yachts

“We are very pleased with the performance of Epic Power’s DC/DC converters. These products have proven to be 100% reliable under the hardest situations I personally have faced.

Furthermore, the pursue of Epic Power team on developing high standard solutions and their commitment to assist clients to achieve their goals is quite admirable.
No wonder why they are leaders on their industry.“

Currently, Silent Yachts offers three different yacht ranges, all fully electric, solar-powered, and equipped with battery energy storage systems (BESS).

The Series 60 yachts are equipped with epic power bidirectional DC/DC converters. These converters are critical components for proper yacht operation and achieving two main objectives:

• Charging the high voltage DC traction batteries from solar panels, which are responsible for propelling the yacht.
• Ensuring the auxiliary 24V DC battery is charged, supplying energy to the yacht’s habitable areas.

In this application, using isolated converters with galvanic isolation is essential to ensure safety in the habitable areas. This configuration also guarantees that, in the event of a solar panel failure, the traction batteries can continue to operate properly.

Marine MPPT solar charge controller

The epic power bidirectional DC/DC converters installed in Silent Yachts, the EPC 8k 8380iHL and EPC 3k5 648iHL, manages solar energy harvesting to charge the batteries efficiently.

To achieve this function, it includes the MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) function, an advanced fuzzy control MPPT algorithm developed by epic power specifically designed to extract the maximum possible power from solar panels under dynamic conditions.

In marine environments such as the open sea, the constant movement of the vessel and wave-induced oscillations cause rapid fluctuations in solar irradiance and the angle of incidence. This variability requires a highly responsive and adaptive MPPT control to continuously track the optimal operating point of the photovoltaic array and ensure efficient energy harvesting at all times.

All isolated converters from epic power operate with efficiencies of up to 98%. This high efficiency allows for a reduction in component size, an important advantage in confined spaces like those on a yacht, where maximizing space is critical.

Energy flow

Here is a simple schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of elements and the energy flow.

Here we can see an example of the monitoring screen:

If you need help with your marine DC project, we can help you to find the best solution.

Write us and let´s talk!