I purchased the AC300 in September 2021, but due to battery shipping issues with the 1st generation, and then a hardware issue with the AC300 I did not have my full system until early February. Since then I have been nothing but pleased with the system.
Initially I used the 3 PV200 portable panels to get to know the system, while at the same time doing a lot of research about solar panels and how those work.
I eventually settled on buying used solar panels from SanTan solar, and purchased twelve of their 250 watt panels, allowing for some over paneling with 3000 watts of solar. I used 6 of them for a time, just lying on the ground, to understand how to properly connect them together and how well they worked.
I had determined that the best way to connect these panels was to have two arrays with 6 panels each. Each array would have 3 panels in series, and then paralleled to another set of 3 in series (3S2P). The next step was to create a mounting system. For this I brainstormed with my oldest son, who is also a welder. We came up with a post mounted system for each array that would allow the whole array to be tilted monthly to follow the sun’s height on the horizon. We had to build two such mounts, and they consisted of a 4x6 steel hollow post, a hinge and adjusting system at the top, with a series of 2x2 steel tubes to mount the panels to. My son came up with the idea of re-purposing trailer jacks for the tilting mechanism.
We ran two sets of 10 gauge wire, one for each array, out to the mounts. Both pairs were run through flexible conduit. Inside the house I wired each array to it’s own DC circuit breaker/disconnect. I have only used solar power to charge the system since the arrays were connected to the AC300.
Since that time I also added a 3rd battery to the setup.
I have this system running fulltime in my house for the past year, since August of 2022, connected through a transfer switch to my home wiring. I have it running the well pump for the house (this is a 120 volt shallow-well pump, runs at 1,100 watts with a 3,100 watt surge.), a small chest freezer and fridge down in the basement, four Ryobi 40 volt chargers for the outdoor tools, my home office, and some miscellaneous small items on connected circuits. A few weeks ago we had a power failure and I was able to run extension cords to our upright freezer, and the large fridge in the kitchen. Our home’s septic system also has a pump from the fluids tank to the septic mound. This pump runs at 1,800 watts (don’t know the surge), and it ran that pump just fine. Our home also has a backup wood furnace that has its own blower system and is tied into the ducting. The AC300 is connected to run those blowers as well. Our Bluetti AC300 system helps lower our electric bill on an ongoing basis, and we will be able to manage any power failures that come our way.
#MyAC300afterAyear
