Bogart Engineering began in my solar powered offgrid home with battery storage in Boulder Creek, CA. I needed a way to check that the solar charger and generator were charging properly, and to measure how fast the loads were using energy—so I decided to put my engineering skills to use and make one. I gradually refined it to a production product with the introduction of the first TM1 battery monitor. Just like the meters today, it displayed volts, amps and the amount of charge left in the batteries by measuring the ampere hours going in and out of the batteries.

We have since made gradual improvements and in about 1993 released the TM-2, and TM-2B which was designed to fit in a double gang box. This was eventually improved again to make the TM-2020, and now the latest version is the TM-2025. Most of the circuit board assembly takes place at another small nearby business, “GAPAKO” in nearby Watsonville, California. We do some final assembly and ship our product throughout the US and also some internationally from Boulder Creek.

In 2006 we began selling the PentaMetric battery monitor system, which is a much more capable monitor which is capable of measuring up to three “amp” measurements—and which can be accessed by a computer if desired. You can read all about these in other sections of the web site. My customers have done great service by supporting my family in the Santa Cruz mountains in Boulder Creek, California without the daily commute to Silicon valley. But just as important for us is to return the favor by making useful, high quality products for our customers, and also to pay our employees fairly.

– Ralph Hiesey