So here we are, a week away from celebrating our 2nd year with AC300 & B300!
Two major events in the recent years led us to Bluetti:
-
2020: Obviously, COVID hit.
- With frequent power cuts in summer 2020, we realised solar power had a flip side: home working during peak solar production meant suffering from grid mishaps as our ageing grid cannot gracefully handle the surplus.
- Later that year, we experienced 3 long blackouts during the Xmas week and cooked the family dinner on camping gas. Good memories in our case, but eye opening considering we had to wear jackets (house is heated on electricity, and a 6h blackout is a kind reminder of the freezing temperatures outside).
- 2022 : The war in Ukraine made us experience unprecedented rises in energy prices. Our natural gas vehicle cost us up to 5x more, and the price of electricity soared like never before.
With a DIY husband at home who experimented with solar using small AGM batteries, a 20€ charge controller and flexible panels from AliExpress, it was time to up our game. Our previous posts showcase me enjoying our very first cup of “coffee on yesterday’s sun” as some might recall:
Makeshift, DIY but that was our first step into serious solar energy as we purchased AC300, B300 and 6x 400W Trina panels.
That was precisely 2 years ago… time flies:
Until that moment, I had absolutely no idea what a kWh was, and had no idea of the power consumption of a light bulb, a computer, the energy needed for a shower, to keep a room heated during the night, etc.
Fast forward, two years later (aka today). We’ve increased the power of our installation, and are now off-grid 9 month a year. While the main house (and office) has an ESS-compliant installation (EP600 & co were not available when we decided to take the plunge), our Bluettis fill multiple roles on a daily basis:
- Buffer larger loads to reduce the pressure on the main installation.
- Provide power on the go.
- Power smaller loads (<1000W) to monitor & keep our energy consumption under control.
- Lend a helping hand to family and friends - see below!
My two favourite devices are AC70 and AC300. As #LifeWithBLUETTI implies, I’ll focus on AC300.
I was absolutely not knowledgeable of electricity in general. In a matter of two years, I learned to solder, I started repairing small appliances (airfrier, hand-held vacuum cleaner, etc.) and that’s probably (certainly) thanks to Bluetti introducing me to electricity like never before.
The two crises in 2020 and 2022 let me realise how dependent we are on the grid, and more generally, on centralized services: water, food, medicine and more. In the meantime, our off-grid project is growing - pun intended, as our first crops are growing nicely, and we’re about to recruit our first bee in the hives. They need heating in winter, and thansk to AC300 we’re covered: DC12V is needed for our hive heater, and maybe a standalone B300 could do the trick in winter - it has its own MPPT and takes a rooftop panel of 400W to stay powered… We’ll post more on that topic as winter approaches, but something tells me we might be better of using one of the B300S as it has a built-in heating element (we still need to research, and test it before confirming anything):
That’s a 20W heating element that keeps the colony warm in winter.
Speaking of bees, and thus working… we’ve been helping my brother for the past few weeks with his house. Construction is on hold due to shortages in materials, but that doesn’t prevent us from giving some help.
The grid company has still not connected them to the mains, and on Sundays, it’s forbidden to use petrol generators. Thankfully, AC300 & B300 fit my car nicely, and we can lend a helping hand!
Morning:
Electric saw, vacuum cleaner (and lamp) on AC300!
Afternoon:
In the meantime, Hubby & my brother playing downstairs with the powertools:
Hubby recently got an AC200L and claims it’s superior to AC300. But for some reason, I prefer AC300 to AC200L for a simple reason: 600W extra, and more modularity. I can’t move AC200L by myself and depend on my husband as the device is heavier than my 7 year old son. Moreover, I have a tendency to trust separate devices with their own function more than all-in-ones and prefer the 20kg of an AC300 knowing it’s 100% an portable generator, and delegating the battery function to a specialized B300.
And on top of all, I associate AC300 & B300 to me discovering an entire new world, and it engaged a shift in mindset, and responsibility towards energy. That’s quite priceless and it makes AC300 my favorite device.
NB. We’re known as the solar geeks among family and friends. We’ve lent some of our units for all sorts of uses, and our AC300 has seen multiple adventures in the family, from my in-laws using it for 3 months to assess their solar energy needs to powering the scout camp of our nephews for 2 weeks, including the operation of water pumps to empty flooded basements during the heavy rains earlier this year.
So like me, with the help of a serious solar generator like AC300+B300, you can go from 0 to 100 in no time, and get used to the basics so quickly that you find yourself explaining the pros & cons of parallel vs series to your neighbours, as well as the notions of Voc, max current and hot spots in panels… it started with COVID, but now, I can tell Solar (& Bluetti) is a virus in itself… and a good one!
