Charging AC180 from both car relay and solar

Product Discussion BLUETTI AC Series
1

Hello. I want to charge input from both an ignition relay switch, on my van, as well as a solar input when the car is turned off.
Is there a device which will accept both these inputs and then have a single output to the AC180?
I’m not extremely electrical savvy but any assistance would be extremely helpful.

2

@MarknOz
The AC180 has only one DC input port and cannot accept two DC inputs simultaneously.

3

Thanks, I understand that. Is there a device to which I can connect my solar input and my input from the car but have only one output from the device to the AC180?

4

I am not aware of such a device, although the concept would be similar to an automatic transfer switch. However, your solar panel can still charge the AC180 when the engine is running. Perhaps it would be more useful to have an appropriate sized inverter tied into the ignition switch such that it turns on when the engine is running and that powers the AC input of the AC180.

5

The only device I know of that will use the vehicle alternator and solar combined is a DC-DC charger with solar input. However, it produces a modified output to charge various battery chemistries, not raw power. Regardless of its output rating, you are still limited to the 10A AC180 DC input limit. That said, I would never use such a device to charge a Bluetti. As suggested above, if you want duel input in a vehicle, use the AC180 DC input for solar charging and a pure sinewave inverter powered by the vehicle alternator, when driving, to the AC input of the AC180. I use silent mode AC setting at approx 280W, a 375W Victron to keep the inverter size a modest size and a 110W on roof panel.

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6

Thanks for the advice. Much more helpful than Bluetti themselves!

7

That’s a good idea! Thanks very much!

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8

when we charge AC180 with grid (silent mode) and with PV (about 250w) simultaneously, at the moment when there is no energy in the grid, does the inverter continue working without disconnection or does the UPS intervene for 20ms? Is UPS offline or online?

9

I’m afraid that I’m not familiar enough with the AC180 to say how it would work. If it was purely in a pass-through mode with only AC input (inverter is not in use) then I would say it’s working in an offline manner and there would be the switch-over delay, but with the solar input and AC together I’m not sure. Does the user manual have any information? If the inverter is already supplying the AC output power I would be quite certain that there would be no delay if the AC input was shut off. The best option may well be to do some testing on it.

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10

I have the AC180, (Assuming the battery is fully charged) Looking at the VAC side only, you are connected to the grid and have a device connected to the AC180 VAC outlet and AC is switched on. Grid is running your device in pass thru mode. When grid power goes down UPS kicks in and the inverter provides power to your device. The 180 battery is then providing power to the inverter, powering your device.
Next, that you also have solar connected - If your solar input exceeds the load of your device, the battery will remain at 100%. When solar watts is less than load watts then the net difference are the watts depleting the battery.
My interpretation of UPS is the speed at which the inverter kicks in when grid goes down and solar is not a part of that happening. I stand corrected if my thought is wrong :slight_smile:

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