E-Tech Group, the UK’s largest marine electrical contractor with locations throughout the UK, France, Spain and Dubai has recently extended its range to provide the complete electronics solution as a natural extension of the services provided to clients around the world. Known in this sector as E-Tech Yachting, the decision to enter this new market is in response to clients looking for a single provider of the electrical and electronic package during refits and new builds. E-Tech now represent and are approved installers of many of the leading brands of Sat Nav, Comms and AV systems.
E-Tech Group launch E-Touch power management system
However, in keeping with their reputation of being innovators at the leading edge of technology, E-Tech Group has secretly been working on a new product which has the potential to change the way electrical systems on board are controlled through the use of bespoke software and state of the art hardware.
Effective power management on a large yacht is key to the smooth running of electrical based services which is an expectation for owners and charterers but at times can be difficult for electrical system designers and installers to achieve. For many years E-Tech has provided tried and tested power management solutions using existing technologies and products on the many projects we have been involved with for the past 15 years. In order to manage this on board there is generally a vast arrangement of buttons, switches, dials and meters requiring extensive system knowledge to operate and when there are problems with generators and load sharing it is normally a complex process to rectify and more often than not it is not easy to establish the cause.
Another issue is the amount of wiring and space required to house this control equipment on a vessel where space and weight is generally at a premium. There are products on the market that have tried to address this issue but having worked with many of these, E-Tech’s designers and project managers came to the conclusion that something extra was needed to really tackle this issue.
After 12 months of research and development E-Tech are now launching the E-Touch system. Using available PC and HDMI hardware as a means of handling this new software, this new innovative system provides ease of control never previously available. The problem has been approached from the perspective of the operator and engineer. It is simplistic in its operation but powerful in the way it controls generator synchronisation as well as any other electrically based machinery such as fans, lights, heating etc.
All of this functionality is made available through clear screen displays that provide detailed information and graphics designed to make operations as uncomplicated as possible. The system is also able to provide trending history on every piece of kit and system to ensure the operator has total control at all times.
The greatest achievement though is that it is the first system of its kind that is fully retrofitable to existing switchboards and can therefore be installed during a vessel refit. Hundreds of wires and much of the door mounted parts are replaced with the E-Touch HDMI screen which acts the interface for the power management system.
Having only recently launched this, E-Tech Group won four orders for the system. The versatility and ease of operation of this system will be demonstrated at the 2011 Monaco yacht show. E-Tech Group/E-Tech Yachting will once again be located in the Superyacht UK pavilion.
