The Busbar

Ben Stein's LiFePO4 cycle-life test on the Panbo bench has passed 1,100 cycles on the original WattCycle 100Ah Mini and 500 cycles on a newly added Blue Heron 100Ah Extreme Series. WattCycle's degradation rate has slowed and projections now point at 3,000–4,000 cycles to 80 % SOH — well short of the 5,000-cycle marketing claim, but more than enough for serious marine use.

Battle Born published a technical note on 31 March arguing that the failures documented across forums, autopsies, and Will Prowse's bench are an intentional 'passive thermal fuse' that triggers around 85 °C. Will Prowse and RV-electricity's Mike Sokol have both responded — Prowse with a video disputing the framing, Sokol with a controlled load-bank test now under way.

Victron's new Microgrid solution lets separate, standalone inverter/charger installations synchronise on a shared AC bus using frequency droop — no communication cabling between units, no central controller, scalable to 400kW with existing MultiPlus and Quattro hardware.