Yes. MC4 is standard. You can check out this official video, it’s demonstrating this:
Sure; all units are capable of that. Just keep in mind that charging / discharging is never 100% efficient as per the first law of thermodynamics. General AC-DC and DC-AC conversion in power-efficient systems (like Bluetti generators) averages the following :
Charging Efficiency: When you charge a battery from AC power, there is typically an efficiency loss of about 10-15% (heat). This means that if you’re putting 100W into the battery, only 85-90W will actually be stored.
Discharging Efficiency: When you discharge the battery to use DC power, there’s another efficiency loss of around 5-10% (heat).
Inverting Efficiency: If you then invert the stored DC power back to AC, you encounter another efficiency loss of approximately 10-15% (heat + see below*).
(@BLUETTI - please review the percentages I shared here, let me know if these are diverging much from Bluetti units. I recently did the test on a Victron/Pylontech system and observed just that).
(*) Also, keep in mind that the larger the difference between your load (e.g., a small 100W load) and the maximum power of the inverter (e.g., 2000W), the less efficient the conversion will be. Even when on standby, an inverter consumes power. Think of it like a petrol engine idling – it’s using energy just to be ready. Imagine a crossfitter shaking ropes vigorously; that’s your inverter on standby, shaking DC to AC and ready to deliver its full 2000W power within 20 milliseconds:
After Discharging and Inverting: ~70-80W usable AC power
To justify this process economically, the cost savings on electricity need to offset these efficiency losses and the wear on your equipment. Here’s a simplified calculation:
Power Losses: Assume a 20-30% loss in efficiency.
So, the minimum percentage price difference required to justify this process economically should be at least 30-50%.
Interesting question. You need a grid-bound inverter, and that the business of an EP600 or EP760 unit. Based on your country, regulation and policies of your electric/hydro company, using this capability can vary a lot.
I don’t think any of us on the forum has shared an experience achieving this using the portable power stations (even largest AC300 & AC500) as they’re not internally designed to integrate with a house. US residents can have a “fusion box”, but I don’t have much knowledge of its internals, and grid injection capabilities as there is no equivalent in the EU. The best I managed to do in this regard was connecting the AC output of a Bluetti AC500 to the AC2 input of a Victorn Quattro II 48/5000 (it has AC1: grid and AC2 for backu gen), and (with conversion loss) recharge the Pylontech battery system. The Quattro was configured to pull 4500W max (shore assist) so it doesn’t overload the generator (AC500). That’s a lot of moving parts, requires manual work, and isn’t great in terms of efficiency, Really I don’t recommend it, unless like in my case, all the devices were readily available, as their purchase was justified by separate use cases.
Punchline: You would need a to pull power from the generator (up to its inverter’s max power) and “push” it in the grid. This is not a use case these portable stations were designed for.
Again, I would consider the price perspective before giving this more thoughts:
as 200Max has about 2kWh of storage (with 80% of that available for voltage/safety reasons).
selling at about 30cts / kWh will make maybe 50-60cts a day.
your call to choose whether this is relevant.
Then you should look for the “AC passthrough” feature. Lucky, Bluetti has a lot of units offering this.
AC200Max uses an AC-DC power brick. So, in “UPS” mode (and I use quotes), it actually converts grid AC to DC using its external power brick, then converts the DC back to AC via its internals to feed your loads. Refer to the power loss ballpark ranges above and you’ll understand why I recommend you look up AC200L instead of AC200Max.
Moreover, AC200L can be hooked up to B300 batteries (newer, more capacity). It works as a real UPS (passthrough: AC flows from the grid plug to the loads, passing through AC200L who just monitors input, and is ready to invert its battery contents to keep your AC loads happy).
Wow, what a great reply there Derceto. I learned a lot about Charging, Discharging and Inverting efficiencies, and the AC200MAx’s storage capabilities.
I run a few small loads on my MAX (plus B230) and have it hooked up for solar power most of the time. I can easily run a small load of about 75w for approx 20 min every hour, while on good days solar charging at the same time with 3 x PV200 panels, and if need be the MAX & the B230 can keep things going for up to about 60–70 hours, between charging if need be.
I also have the AC200L it is a great machine too, and it is definitely better equipped for UPS purposes.
It is a game changer with its multiple charging and discharging features, there is so much more you can do with it.
B
