#LifeWithBLUETTI
- My journey with solar and battery powered started a long time ago. But only came into a solid plan last summer when I discovered the Bluetti AC300 as the best solution.
- I have been converting tools from NiCad, NIMH and gas to lithium for a variety of tools. Although there are lots of benefits to a lithium powered chainsaw or weed eater (ie lighter, easier to start and stop, etc). But it doesn’t save money if I am use grip power to charge dozens of batteries. Today, most batteries are charge well away from the house in a shed powered by the Bluetti Solar Generator
- In June of 2023, a freak storm blew through with straight line winds that knocked out power to thousands of homes for days. I had two generators on hand…a 7500w tied into the house grid with a transfer switch, and a 2000w for our RV. I broke the pull string trying to get the 7500w unit going, and had no hope, even if I could fix the cord quickly, of getting it going. And the 2000w couldn’t do the fridges, freezers, fans…and RV AC. So, we focused on saving the many items multiple freezers. The ambient temp was nearing 100 in what would become one of the hottest summers on record.
- After the “storm” of no power passed, I got to work on a power plan. I had wanted to go solar for some time, but it was unrealistic 10 years ago. I contacted one of the solar contractors that had grabbed my attention on an internet ad. I knew I wanted to do a DIY system, but didn’t think I was capable. So I sat through a presentation that introduced a system that came in at $120,000!!! You are not reading that wrong. Over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND. When I clearly balked at that price (my wife and I are public school teachers), the sales person walked back the system…took away all three of the Tesla Battery Walls…and got the price down to…get this…$78,000!!! With ZERO batteries. IOW…no power when the sun wasn’t shinning!! ZERO.
- I said, “no thank you", and then turned my attention to finding the best DIY portable solar power system. I am quite a shopper, and will spare you all the details of my efforts of shopping (with spreadsheet comparison of weighing various specs) and settled on the AC300 with one B300…and then a second B300, along with 6x 440w panels.
- I’ll skip some more minor details, and get to the bottom line.
- For well under $10k, I was able to install and rely daily on the system I put together. It has been a fun learning process. For the most part, the system has more than exceeded expectations. The biggest pleasant surprise has been a small mini split window unit I put in the kitchen, which is in the central part of the house. Every day, during this past Fall and Spring and now this summer, the AC300 power system runs an AC that keeps the house much cooler than we would on grid power. I didn’t install this system to save money specifically, and it’s impossible to put a price tag on how much we are saving because we wouldn’t cool (or heat) the house like we are with the solar generator. It does do best when the sun is shining. And on most days, the batteries are fully charged before noon…even in the winter. In fact, due to southern track of the sun during the winter, solar production in the winter is equal to summer time despite less ours of the day. In the winter, the sun is low in the sky in the AM and PM, but still producing some power until the sun sets. During the summer, as we have just passed Summer Solstice, the sun is far to the north and barely hits the panels late in the afternoon. I anticipated this a little, but don’t realize quite the impact. As a result, I make sure charging of golf cart and other systems are done before 5pm in the summer…same as winter.
- There have only been a few setbacks. I think it is important to share those as well, because this has been an educational process…and I have learned a lot. I would do it all again…in fact I plan to for an upcoming pool house.
- The first challenge, I had to scale back some of my original expectations of being able to power a greenhouse heater. It would be doable with additional barriers, but I decided it was not cost effective. The heater was needed at night time, and would 100% require enough battery storage.
- Second, two of my window unit ACs take a lot of power to start up. Specifically, the RV AC, which really needs a SoftStart system even for its own shore power, is a little try to get powered up…have to power up the fan first, then the compressor. After that, the AC300 will power the RV AC and out Main House Kitchen AC Mini Split AC unit it. Not that we would do this, but the genius part of the AC300 is that I can remove it from its normal storage location, put it in the RV and leave. Fortunately, as mentioned above, the 3 AC unit, the mini=split, works great with the AC300.
- Third, in the 10 months I have been tinkering with this project, there have only been 2-3 series of 3+ days with cloudy skies where I had to be creative with power usage. But mainly because of the way I rigged everything up, it really didn’t matter that the sun didn’t shine for a week. The solar generator was still ready for action in the event of a power outage, as well as power numerous low draw items, I just didn’t use the space heater or AC like I wanted. For example, we just went through hurricane. The day before, it was cloudy…so I opted to not run some non-essential items to keep the batteries charged through the hurricane…which we gratefully escaped this time with no damage…and no power outage. A trip to Lowes showed a line people waiting for generators that I wish I could share my success.
So, in summary, the system is in use every day, offsetting daily power demands…with an AC in the summer, and a heater in the winter, for usage that we just would not have spared the expense…and instead just been less comfortable, plus lots of other daily power needs. The AC300 has served well in one power outage…exactly as planned…providing daily cooling, refrigerators and deep freeze, until the power was restored.
I will eventually prepare a more thorough video, but I did post this Short with a little insight.
As well as a couple of pictures.
