So after watching a few reviews on this I have confirmed this myself. The solar input port of the AC180 is 12v-60v at 10 amps. However you will only get the full 10amp from solar IF the volts are above 32v. So if you have a 200w solar panel that operates at 20v and 10 amps you will never ever get the full output with the AC180. The maximum you will ever get from that panel is 160w ( in max conditions) This is a 20% loss and is not advertised anywhere and honestly is absolutely unacceptable. Bluetti’s own 200w folding panel will not work properly with the AC180 as it will always be limited to 160w max ( 8amp limit until the volts go above 32v). In fact I don’t think there is a portable solar panel on the market at 200w that has volts anywhere near 32v. It’s kind of false advertising to be honest. Surely this should be addressed in a firmware update somewhere.
So if everyone is wondering why you are only seeing around 150-155w from your 200w panel this is why. I can only pull a maximum of 154w from my 200w panel but my older EB150 will get 181 watts. Exact same conditions side by side with the same panel. This needs to be fixed
@DaMann Below 30V, AC180 limits the input current to 8A, and it will only be up to 10A when it is above 30V. The main reason is that the car battery may be damaged easily when operating car charging. It is recommended that you buy another solar panel and connect it in series.
Most models and makes of “solar generators” need to have the right combination of volts vs amps to reach their maximum input amperage limits. Voltage must be increased in order for the wiring and components to be able to handle the wattage. The reason your EB150 receives higher wattage is because it has a 10 amp limit with that voltage rather than 8. Sometimes one larger panel is not the highest wattage potential but rather several smaller panels connected in series which increases voltage.
As Bluetti states below, the reason for the 8 amp limit is because when connected to a car charging socket, anything higher than 8 amps has heat related socket and plug melting issues. On some older units, the end user would have to select “car” or “PV” charging which limited amps for car charging. This was confusing for low information customers who then complained that they their solar panels were not performing correctly when they had selected “Car” charging mode when using panel. The newer “improved” solution is to limit the amps to 8 when presented with a lower voltage and when a higher voltage is present the amperage automatically increases to 10 with no user intervention.
One suggestion I would make on Bluetti’s part would be to suggest the most effective panel combination for a given unit. Even this has issues since one person’s most effective would be the lowest cost while another may value absolute highest wattage input over cost. In this case, two Bluetti120 watt panels connected in series would generally outperform a single 200 watt panel and not just because of the higher watt rating.
No, I’m sorry, telling someone to go buy another $500 solar panel is NOT a solution. No where in specs does it mention this. Stated PV in is 12-60v at 10 Amps. It is misleading and false advertising. It is a “solar generator” and it is impossible to fully use a panel ( that is sold and recommended for this unit by Bluetti). If you are worried about car charging then put back the option where you can turn it off and on. I have zero need for charging at 100w from a car. Or at the very least make the 10 amp trigger point 19v. No car alternator puts out more than 14.5-15volts max! These are after all “solar generators”. There absolutely needs to be a firmware fix for this.
Or at the very least put the option back to disable car charging and have it buried under advanced settings. Default is to leave car charging on for the masses of people and give a user an ability to go into advanced settings to turn it off. That would be an easy logical solution. As it is right now it IS a problem.
The stated PV IN is for MAXIMUM limits not the expected input under all circumstance. Somehow you have it in your mind that you should be receiving the maximum possible input under all circumstances and that simply isn’t the case. It also appears that your perception is that solar panels (regardless of type or brand) output their maximum rated capacity. This is simply not the case and in the real world you will see approx. 75 to 80% of rated capacity available under great conditions. This is a well known and common fact for the technology. Car charging used to be an on / off (either or) and customers were unable as a collective group to not melt their car charging plugs. I would agree that you could somewhat lower the car charging trigger point but 19 volts would not be better as the panels reduce the voltage as the output increases and you would drop below 19 volts at times generating complaint of “I want my money back, my ***** stops charging when connected to solar in bright sunlight”
I’ve been dealing with solar for a while. I am well aware they will never put out their maximum. My point is that I am now only getting a maxmimum theoretical output of 160w from ANY 200w folding panel on the market. That is entirely the point. This power station effectively turns any 200w panel into a 160w panel. That is the point. At the very least give the option to disable car charging in advanced settings needing a password or something. Leave the default to car charging on then. Problem solved.
Actually, it took your 200 watt panel that would have on a good day in any circumstance output 160 watts regardless of what (make or model) it was connected to and gave you 160 watts. Not understanding how you lost 40 watts that you never could get anyway.
I agree with DaMann. The 32V threshold is just too high. I’ve seen this in practice as well. There needs to be a setting for this. The majority of people do not have 24V vehicles to charge from, if that is the rational. I can see an 8A limit for a 12V system. I have no problem with a default setting of 32V but please give us the option to lower that threshold. As you say, the solar panel voltage goes down as the output goes up. This has to be an issue for lots of people, they are just nor aware of it. There are losses everywhere in the system, why program in an artificial one?
Scott thank you for all your replies, but your last statement makes absolutely zero sense. That same panel into my older EB150 without the 8 amp cutoff gave my 181 ( it actually peaked at 186w) within 30 seconds of testing on the AC180, AC180 gave me 154. The older EB150 without the limitation allows me to at least have the full “possible” output of the panel. Thus I get 181 out of 200. The AC180 has a hard stop at 160w no matter what and out of that I can only get 154. I’m truly stunned at people not getting this is an issue
@JimF, absolutely spot on “why program in an artificial one?” this is exactly correct
You were the one stating you were receiving a 20% loss but that is not accurate if you could never get the 200 watts from any system. Of course it would be ideal to have 10 amps or more input from all voltage inputs but the system is designed to be a basic unit for basic users. All in all you are missing about 20 watts of actual potential from your 200 watt panel and in the case of the 180, two of the 120 watt panels would have been a better choice (or 2 100 watt third party panels) if getting absolute max wattage was the most important decision factor. That choice would have allowed you to received higher wattages. There are several other models that had this same issue…the 55 and 70 series a couple of years ago come to mind. The 32 volt threshold would have be lowered to about 17 volts to achieve what you are desiring and I am not sure of the reason it is set so high.
a 20% loss of possible output is indeed correct. Not sure how you are not getting this. My comparison with my older system states this with crystal clarity. There needs to be a switch to disable car charging. Their older AC200 indeed had this function. Why? cause it would limit the input! This is entirely the issue.
Again, thanks for your replies. But we are simply not going to agree on this it looks like. There needs to be a disable function. As for your suggestion on two panels. First off I don’t want two, it’s a pain to setup, two, this is not stated anywhere in the specs or documentation!!! How would anyone know they need to go this route before buying this station. This is the other point entirely. Not advertised that you need two separate panels for this power station to work properly.
I have 4 - 100W panels wired series parallel. I have this problem times two. The argument that some units have a limit and some don’t simply reinforces the need for a selection in the AC180. Frequency selection, Power Lifting, Grid Enhancement, even Charging Mode requires you to have some understanding of what you’re doing in this “basic” unit. And what exactly would be the problem with a 17V threshold? You admit you don’t understand why it’s so high. If this is possible in software please put in a request. Thank you.
The car charging mode is also meant for 24 volt vehicle systems and that is the reason for the higher threshold. Not sure why you have a problem getting over 32 volts if you are indeed connecting your two sets of 100 watt panels series / parallel. Unless you have some low performing panels, two connected in series should be above 32 volts and allow the full 10 amps charging.
You state you received 181 watts out of a your 200 watt panel which is a 5% loss in your way of thinking with no complaint on your end. If you compare your 181 watts result on your EB150 with the 154 watts from your 180 that is a difference of 13.5% loss. Your 20% complaint comes from a 200 watt panel that you admit will not output 200 watts in most conditions. Your EB150 will not allow car charging at all because the lower voltage threshold is above car output voltages yet no complaint on that blatant omission. You appear to be the type of customer that needs warning labels printed on the plastic bags to avoid suffocation and would not be satisfied unless a 1,000 page manual was offered with every conceivable scenario.
Dry true. Same thing is the case with other DC input from car alternator. 8 amps maximum. This is really disappointing.
Given that this limitation is not noted anywhere, Bluetti should, somehow, fix this problem.
I don’t know whether a software update can solve the problem or there is some sort of hardware limitation but this needs to be rectified. It’s not fair to be deceptive in this way.
So…Bluetti - what are you going to do?
@MarknOz This is actually pretty standard across all brands and power stations and they do this intentionally so that people dont burn out or pop their cig port fuses in their cars. If you want to use a “car charging method” and increase the incoming wattage, you should hardwire a line to your battery and install a boost converter. Theres lots of conversations within this forum on how to do so. Just make sure everything is properly sized and gauged in wire size or you’re going to have some issues. For the typical every-day customer, I believe both bluetti and these other companies have the “car charging” limits (8amp max) set at the proper rating.
@Scott-Benson
I honestly have no words anymore. I didn’t complain about the EB150 not having car charging, cause wait for it, I knew it never allowed car charging when I bought it! Was clearly stated in the specs. As for all your other stuff you wrote is not worth responding to. Seriously. If you can’t fathom the difference of getting 154 out of a max 160 and getting 181 out of a max 200w I can’t help you. You have CLEARLY taken the route of attacking the customer rather than understanding the limitation of the AC180. Everyone else here gets it, you for some odd reason don’t. You are not here to help, you are here to attack rather than understand the product has an issue. Not the customer.
You said "Your 20% complaint comes from a 200 watt panel that you admit will not output 200 watts in most conditions. "
I will explain this again in the best crayon eating way I can so you can maybe once and for all get it. I expect no solar panel on the market to get 200w out of a 200w panel. 180-190w will generally be a peak performance in ideal conditions. The AC180 limits the damn panel to a max POSSIBLE 160w!!! Not a POSSIBLE 200w. This isn’t rocket science.
I just finished chewing on a crayon while pondering if you realize that all portable power stations have amperage limits and that customers can purchase a variety of panels and singly or in combinations will not reach the full panel potential due to amperage input limits. The AC180 is not unique but you seem to unable to grasp that concept. Maybe you played with the plastic bags mentioned in my previous comment too long creating math confusion. By the way, I am not nor have I ever been a Bluetti employee. I do agree that the 180 input could have been designed a little better for optimum results. The issue you speak of is well known and mentioned in several review videos.
If you’re not an employee or in some other way benefiting from Bluetti why are you spending so much time and energy insulting the people here with a legitimate concern? Do you even own a AC180 which you paid for?
This 8A at 32V is an artificial limit with a poorly chosen threshold that hopefully can be fixed in software.
Bluetti I hope you are listening and maybe also have a chat with your moderator.