Easy Plug & Forget
Extend Battery Life
Protect your Battery & your Installation
Fault Anticipation
Reduce Energy Cost
To manage your installation and your energy, the TAO BMS can communicate with many equipment using the CANbus protocol. A new set of instruction has been released to explain in details how to connect and configure the different equipment to integrate the TAO BMS with Victron products.
Keeping a lithium battery full all the time will reduces its lifespan. After 10 years a battery will loose 17% of its capacity if its average state of charge is 50%, and it will loose 28% of its capacity if it is full most of the time (*).
TAO BMS can control the chargers to stop the charge at a set SOC and restart them when the SOC gets low.
Latching (bi-stable) relays have the great advantage to maintain their contact position indefinitely without any power being sent to the coil. They save a lot of energy compared to standard contactors that can consume up to 0.4 A to maintain their contacts closed (10 Ah per day / 300 Ah per month). But they need to be commanded by pulses…
Temperature and SOC are important parameter that influences the aging of a lithium battery. I summarize some research results and draw guidelines to better manage our lithium cells (LiFePo4) for a longer life.
When power is first applied to a capacitive load (like inverters and chargers), a large inrush current is induced. This current creates an arc between the relay contacts… that are severely damaged. For that reason capacitive loads need to be pre-charged with a controlled current. TAO BMS can do that for you as a standard feature… What is the risk…
When installing a lithium battery on a boat or a camping car you need to decide if and how the alternator will charge it at the same time as the starter battery. If not done the right way the alternator could be damaged. In this article I address some key questions you may ask yourself, I point out some challenges…
Not only a BMS… It is a comprehensive “Energy Management System” TAO BMS is unique on the market by the level of protection it provides and a number of features designed to maximise battery life.
As each manufacturer only puts forward what they think will make you buy their product, it is very difficult to make a comparison based on a set of criteria. You can download a BMS comparison chart with more than 100 criteria grouped in 17 sections. There are currently 4 BMS and more will be added as we get input from manufacturer and users.
A WiFi connection to the BMS monitor and a browser are enough to access a new world where you can visualise your battery usage and condition. This information is also available on the Cloud if the BMS monitor is on a WiFi with Internet connection.
Lithium batteries age rapidly if they are kept above 70% SOC (state of charge) most of the time. TAO BMS has a new feature to manage the charge cycles and extend battery life. Just set it up and forget about it.
Checklist of what a BMS (Battery Management System) should do. I start from the definition given by BUREAU VERITAS. Then I review the functionalities that will enable a BMS to fulfil its purpose.