The Integrel system offers an alternative to generators, thanks to an ingenious technology to manage energy on board pleasure boats. Their idea: Transform any diesel engine, even old ones, into a regular and powerful onboard generator. We will explain to you how it works…
Founded in 2003, Triskel Marine (under the name of Integrel Solutions) had spent most of the last 20 years searching for methods to generate energy and developing technologies to store it for the maritime world. This is how Integrel was born.
Its main objective is simple: to guarantee energy autonomy when you are on the water by providing a solution that is environmentally friendly.
Winner of the DAME Design Award 2018, the most prestigious innovation award in the nautic industry, the Integrel system has encountered great success since its arrival in France, but what is it?
Integrel: the 2-in-1 nautical engine
In simple terms, the Integrel system transforms the engine into an engine + a generator. It uses the spare capacity that is not used by the engine to recharge the batteries quickly.
What makes Integrel different is the fact that it operates very efficiently at 48 volts and that it is controlled by a sophisticated power management system and a network of redundant safety checks and balances.
For these reasons, it can safely and more efficiently produce up to 9kW (up to 10 times more power).
The result: the batteries can be charged much faster, when compared to a conventional alternator.
How does an Integrel generator work?
When you use the diesel engine of a boat you dispose of a significant amount of spare capacity. Fitted to the inboard engine of your boat, the Integrel generator generates energy seamlessly and automatically.
Integrel uses this power to generate electrical energy while keeping the engine running at optimum performance (the priority is always given to the motorisation over the energy production)
The Integrel system has a very special alternator in which the magnetic flux coupling between the rotor and the stator has been considerably improved and the windings have been modified to provide very high production efficiency. The Integrel alternator is capable of generating 4 kWh in a stable way, at slow speed, or when riding below 1000 RPM.
The system includes a powerful 9 kWh 48V battery bank, a DC-DC charger to charge the engine battery at 12V or the propellers bank at 24V, a 48-230V converter and a controller that adapts the charge of the alternator to the engine’s speed thus guaranteeing a stable power generation at low speed.
The controller monitors through NMEA, the state of the engine and its use during propulsion to modulate the load required by the alternator so that the diesel engine in “propulsion” mode always has priority over the “generation” mode. This permanent monitoring of the engine demand and of the state of the batteries allows you to optimize the efficiency of the engine while producing electricity, without having to pay for gas or maintenance of the generator.
The energy stored in 48V is then used to supply large onboard consumers such as the bow thrusters, windlasses, watermakers and the 12/24 volts or 220V through converters.
The main advantages of the Integrel system
Your diesel engine will live longer. The diesel engine likes to be in action, and does not like to run at idling speed. By using its spare capacity, Integral preserves the whole mechanism of the diesel engine.
Other advantages that are also interesting for your navigation and your boat:
- Less weight and the space saved when compared to a generator
- Its large production when compared to an alternator
- Its maintenance: one engine for 2 uses
- Its price
- Its seamless operation when using the engine to move from one anchorage to the next for example.
- Significant gas saving (around 25%)
- Finally, The installation is definitely much simpler than that of a generator whose cooling system requires its own sea water circuit.
By replacing your generator, Intégrel reduces your carbon footprint!
Read the testimony of Paul Shard about Integrel and the performance of the solutions for the production of electrical energy on a boat.
Some examples of adaptation on different boats
A NEW SAILING BOAT
The couple that was navigating this vessel needed a power solution to be able to stay on the water for as long as possible. After selling their house and putting in service an explorer yacht they were searching for an alternative to a generator. They have now a dual Integrel system generating up to 18kW of power for their 28.8kW lithium battery bank which allows them to stay out of marines for longer.
AN OLD YACHT THAT NEEDED MORE POWER
This vessel was built in 2003 and had a lot of problems with the generator. That prompted its skipper to search for an energy device which led her to the Integral system.
He now has more than enough power with the 14 kWh LI-Ion batteries and a 9kW Integrel alternator.
A SAILING TRIMARAN
The family living on board this high performing Trimaran needed a power solution that could supply for 5 of them, while allowing them to use all the modern conveniences. By installing an Integrel, the skipper only has to run its engine once every ⅔ days to power its 30 kWh battery bank.
Each time that we run the engine, we generate electricity which is stored in the battery bank and when combined with our solar panels, we no longer need to worry about the electricity supply.
Our old generator weighed 270 kg. for a boat like ours, a sailing trimaran, the Integrel system was the best option. The reduction of weight means a faster boat.
Bob P, Skipper of a NEEL 51