Power System for the MARS Ocean Cabled Observatory

The development of power systems is one of the most challenging technical issues in the design of ocean cabled observatories. The Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) will be the first ocean cabled observatory capable of delivering significant power over significant distances; it is a test bed for future regional cabled ocean observatories. At a 900 m deep seafloor node, a dc-dc converter is used to reduce the backbone voltage of 10 kV to 400 V and 48 V needed by the science users, the total maximum power being 10 kW. MARS is scheduled for installation in late 2006. The design of the MARS power system is summarized in this paper.