Keep reading to learn more about how to connect battery management systems in parallel with the Lynx BMS.
A battery management system tells you how much charge is left in the battery bank. You can think of it like the battery percentage icon on your smartphone. It keeps track of energy flow in and out of the battery and measures voltage. Your battery management system will tell you if there’s enough power to keep your trolling motor running for a few more hours. Victron Energy introduced a major upgrade to its Lynx BMS range: the ability to connect multiple BMSes in parallel. This feature expands the power storage capacity and adds redundancy for a more reliable system. Keep reading to learn more about how to connect battery management systems in parallel with the Lynx BMS.
Why Paralleling Matters
It is well known that paralleling battery banks allows the system to handle higher currents. But even more importantly, it adds redundancy. And for electric yachts or commercial vessels, reliability isn’t optional.
Traditionally, if a lithium battery bank encounters an error, the entire system could shut down. This is a common drawback compared to lead-acid systems.
Now, with parallel battery management systems, if one battery bank or its BMS experiences a low cell voltage, its BMS will disconnect that bank to protect it, while the other battery banks continue operating normally. When the bank is ready to reconnect, the BMS checks the voltage difference before closing the contactor. The battery bank reconnects automatically once the levels are within a safe range.
With this paralleling feature, you can also connect existing Lynx Smart BMSes with the new Lynx Smart BMS NGs, making it possible to use Lithium Battery Smart and Lithium NG batteries in the same system, as long as the BMSes have the same current rating.
Onboard Monitoring
Just as important as the power generation and storage is how everything communicates on board.
The Cerbo GX is at the center of this integration. It ties everything together and gives the crew a clear view of what’s happening in real time. When multiple Lynx BMSes are connected to the same VE.Can network, they are treated as if they’re connected to the same DC bus. These BMSes will then form a ‘virtual’ battery bank, which appears as a single one in the GX device list, making monitoring easier. This virtual battery bank works just like a standard one, showing the overall system status. Still, it also has the option to view each individual BMS, including which battery banks are connected or disconnected.
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