Ac1800 inverter

Product Discussion
1

Hi all from reading posts and various other articles I’m after advice.

I have bought an ac1800 and pv200s solar panel’s not used yet.
Living in Wales and spending our holidays in uk solar charging will be an issue a lot of the time due to rain etc.
I understand I can charge through the cigarette lighter at a slow rate limited by the wiring volts and fuse size etc.
I don’t really want to install an inverter connected to the battery and run through the fire wall, I know my limitations, I only change fuses, bulbs and tyres.
I understand an inverter would need to be pure sine wave is there one anyone knows of that I could plug into the cigarette socket just to increase the charge a bit while driving to or between sites.

Thanks

2

Yor cigarette socket is the limitation regardless of direct to the AC180 or to an inverter. It won’t increase the wattage capacity input.

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3

As @Mandp already mentioned. There is no difference between using the 12V Outlet directly or plug in a 12V DC to AC 110/120/230/240V Inverter into it. The maximum draw is about 120W to 130W. A Inverter might make things even worse, because while switching from DC to AC there is also a certain energy loss

greetings
Erik

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4

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. At least I can put that out of my mind now and just accept the charge I get.

Thank you for the advice

5

I appreciate your help I guess the option I have is buy an eb3a as an additional power supply if necessary.

Thanks for your help and quick reply.

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6

My bluetti pv200 is 26v so when I charge through it I will be limited to 8amp.

If I buy a 2nd identical pv200 I understand that I create what I think is called a daisy chain connection. Will that then give me the approx 52v to increase to 10amp etc.

Thanks

7

Thats correct. The Powerstation dont charge with full amps at any time. There is a range where it doesnt reach the full 10 amps while charging

8

“Daisy Chain” is not the best description. There are 3 ways to connect solar panels; (Example is for 2 or more panels of the same size)

  1. Parallel - This is where both Positive (+) and Negative (-) are connected together. The math for output is; Add the Amps output and use the lowest panel voltage if different sizes. i.e. 26V @ 20A.

  2. Series - Here you connect panel 1 + to panel 2 - and then panel 1 - and panel 2 + to the Bluetti. The math here is to Add the voltages and use the lowest of the rated Amps of the 2 panels. i.e. 52V @ 10A. This is the one you should use.

  3. Not applicable, but the 3rd option is a combination of options 1 & 2. Here you use 4 panels, 2 sets each connected in series and then connect the 2 sets together in parallel. Or 2 in parallel, then connected in series. The output in Watts is the same.

In series 2 x PV200 have a Vmp of 20.5V each and an Imp of 9.7A. So, 20.5 x 2 = 41V, then multiply by 9.7 = 397.7W. This is perfect conditions, On a summer day in the U.K. expect 70-80% of this and in overcast conditions, much less. More…

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9

I’m actually out prospecting in my caravan in Victoria, Australia and it’s winter here. I have 460W total solar, 2 x 150W angled solar matts and 1 x 160W on roof horizontal all in parallel as my caravan controller will take 30A.
When the winter sun shines, I get 23Amps on the display, around 400W. Yesterday was overcast and rainy and I was lucky to get 6A = around 100W.

We get a lot more Vitamin S in Oz than the U.K. gets. (Sunshine). I qualify that statement as I grew up in England and migrated here many years ago. :) So don’t expect any better and probably less…

PS. Just checked my display, it’s 0915 in the morning, sun is shining and getting 8Amps already.

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