I saw this one pass by, it seems like something to me considering price and quality. I would like to buy 2 of them. For my purpose, this should be sufficient. I’m just not sure if it’s the right specifications for the AC180 A few other questions: Is it possible to place a solar panel horizontally (see screenshot) instead of vertically? Or does this also have disadvantages. That would be more favorable for me, I would only have 2 square aluminum tubes of 2.80 mtr. on the roof and bring it to height at both ends and then secure it. And then attach the solar panels to it with supplied mounting feeds (L-shape). If the panels have to be placed vertically, I have to build a more complicated construction! How big should the space between the solar panel and the roof actually be in connection with possibly refrigeration?
Flush mount to the roof with an air gap of around 4-6 inches for sufficient enough airflow. Panel orientation is best when the panels are parallel to the roof. Look up what the best weather sealing and hardware method is for your specific roof. Keep in mind since your panels are cheap, they are only optimized to retain 80% of their value for 5 years, and they have a higher temperature co-efficient meaning they will lose power the hotter it gets vs. other panels. Not by much, but heat is the enemy of panels and can prematurely kill them. But you also are paying cheaper so investment cost is worth it to you. This is very typical of these panels. Those two panels in series would be perfectly fine for your AC180.
@sealy1986 For the assembly, I meant whether the panels can be placed in this horizontal direction!
I’ll try to clarify how I would like to mount it based on this photo
But then flat on the roof with 2 aluminum profiles(black color) at custom height 4-6 inches and in the middle the roof duct for the cables.
I think this installation would also be better because of the rain drainage in the gutter
Could it be mounted this way?
@sealy1986 Thanks for this great tip! This changes things a bit!
I am far from sure what exactly I should buy for my purpose.
As you indicated before, with fixed solar panels on my garden shed, when the AC180 is fully charged, there is still enough energy coming from the solar panels that is then not stored anywhere and thus makes this fixed setup basically useless, if I understood correctly.
For the time being, I don’t want to invest in an extra battery etc. etc. to be able to charge my AC180 from here. I first just want to get to know more about incidental charging with solar panels. For my goal, as I have indicated before, is to be able to charge my AC180 with solar energy and to be able to do so every now and then as needed in the event of a power failure.
In hindsight, I might have to go for a portable solar panel first, if it weren’t for the fact that I actually find them too expensive and insufficient in terms of durability and use.
Especially with regard to permanent use in weather influences, such as rain, wind, dust, etc.
In the context of a mobile solar panel I came across this OKIO 200 Watt, I hope and suspect that this could be something given price-quality? It seems to me that it is given the Alu-frames.
And it is more flexible in use for finding the right sunlight around the house!
And in terms of handling for off-grid activities, you also need such a mobile solar panel.
And for my current goal, it may even be enough.
Is it suitable for my AC180?
Because if I go for such a foldable, mobile solar panel it must have a solid Alu-frame, maybe there are others, I haven’t seen them yet anyway.
How do you see that! I would like your advice. I hope I don’t bother you too much?
@sealy1986 As you can see i found the specifications!
IMP 11,11A and VMP 18 V For this panel is this 199 Watt, Correct me if i’m wrong!
Most reviews on Amazon and youtube are also very positive!
I would be sad if I couldn’t use it, personally for me it’s very important that it’s much sturdier than most portable solar panels I see passing by. And I also find the price acceptable € 170,-
Are there other Alu-panels like this one with better specifications that better fit the AC180 and my purpose?
@sealy1986 Thanks again for all your effort and honest judgment. I really appreciate this!
I think it is best to build a kind of transport cart myself with 2 good solar panels mounted (e.g. 2x 150W) that I can simply move in my garden according to needs and sun positions. And if I don’t use it anymore, e.g. in winter, then I just drive it inside my garage and cover it with a tarp, done! Approximately as shown in this image below and then tiltable with locking.
I would like to go for 2 of these panels:
Victron BlueSolar 150Wp mono (1485 x 668 x 30mm) price per piece €119,- (incl.)
This Victron BlueSolar Monocrystalline solar panel delivers a power of 150Wp at an open clamp voltage of 22.3V. For example, you can use it to charge and maintain a 12V battery. With multiple solar panels connected in series, you can also charge and maintain a 24V battery, or higher. The solar panel is wired with 80cm cables with MC4 plugs attached.
In an older topic on this forum I read the following:
“The solar input of the AC180 is 12v-60v at 10 amps. However, you will only get the full 10amp of solar power IF the volt is above 32v.”
When I connect both these panels series, I hope it won’t bother me?!
Open end voltage (Voc) is: 2x 22.5 Volt = 45 Volt. I must have that 10 amps if I understood correctly?
Details
Rated Power (Pmpp): 150 Watts
Open terminal voltage (Voc): 22.5 Volts
Max. power current (Impp): 8.25 Amps (only with sufficient solar output)
Solar panel type: Monocrystalline/ Monocrystal
Cell technology: Mono-Si
Workable temperature: -40 to +85 degrees Celsius
Panel dimensions: 1485 x 668 x 30mm
Weight: 11 kg
Guarantee
You have a 5-year limited warranty on materials and manufacturing of the solar panel itself and a 25-year limited warranty on power delivery and performance!
I think this is a pretty good choice and should be compatible with the AC180!? Otherwise I wouldn’t know anymore!
I am only starting with solar energy and am therefore a complete layman in that respect, but I find it very interesting and exciting and have been wildly enthusiastic so far. For now, I try to take in as much as possible and think logically about this matter. You should know that I have to have everything translated before I can post, which can sometimes come across as a bit flawed. I apologize for this. In any case, I am happy with so much expertise on this forum! Thank you!
Is there anything that can be changed technically or perhaps another solution?
If due to circumstances I want to put the AC180 indoors, in the garage or living room while charging with solar panels and therefore have to extend the cable of the solar panels, what is the maximum length and the possibly. thickness in mm2 of such a cable in terms of proper operation and safety?
I have looked at everything around the house again in terms of the sun positions throughout the day because of the best placement of the panels and have come to the conclusion that it is the roof of the garden shed which was actually the intention. The roof is completely south-facing. I have full sunlight from early in the morning until late at night.
You have also made me think with all the information about more storage potential of house batteries for the future. I can therefore better realize this in the garden shed.
My option to make the panels mobile is ultimately too much hassle with stability etc. When I have a little more experience with solar panels, I might still do that. Tomorrow the panels will arrive and I can finally get started. When I am done with the job I will post a picture of the result.
Thanks again for all your cooperation.
You’re welcome! I would say if you wanted to expand the house batteries, then a different charging setup other than the Bluetti AC180 is preferred, as the AC180 is not designed with expansion in mind like the ELITE or “200” series power stations are. In other words, the AC180 is just meant for mobile power. I live full time out of my vehicle so I utilize the portable folding Bluetti panels (I have two PV350s, a solar blanket, and a PV200), plus a backup LP generator, plus car charging.
One of the common misconceptions is you need solar for a house setup. Depends on if you are off grid or not. Depends how often you lose power. Sometimes you just need enough power for a brownout or blackout, which in case, just having enough house battery power to last you through downtime completely eliminates the need for solar.
hello guys there is someone that migrated the solar panels from tesla powerwall to bluetti?
i have the 10 kwh model
sorry if i don’t have the specs, i will check the panel information in the meanwhile
Hi. I’m interested in hooking up 2 of these solar panels to my Elite 200 V2. The solar input on the bluetti is rated for 1,000W Max., 12V to 60V, 20A Max.
Will 2 of these be fine on my bluetti?
Technical Specifications
Model EZ450W
Maximum Power at STC (Pmax) 450W
Maximum Power Voltage (Vmp) 38.3V
Maximum Power Current (Imp) 11.7A
Opencircuit Voltage (Voc) 45.9V
Shortcircuit Current (Isc) 12.4A
This youtuber hooked up one of them to his AC180P (which has the same solar input voltage of the elite 200 v2, but has half of the amperage
Elite 200 V2 1,000W Max., 12V to 60V, 20A Max.
AC180P 500W Max., VOC 12-60VDC, 10A
hello guys, i realized i have a solar controller between the powerwall 2 and the solar panels, the solar controller accept a solar input from 60 to 145 V but i don’t know the specs of the panels despite being 6 kw
i see the apex has 2 input for solar panels, do you think it’s better i split the panels into 2 group of 3 kw to connect directly, or is better to use a separate charge controller for the apex?
Yes they would be compatible with the Elite 200 but you would have to run them in “parallel” and not series. You will end up with around 766 watts max output (38.3X20) since your MPPT charge controller is limited to accepting 20 amps max. All you would need to buy is a parallel y splitter (1 to 2 connector). So XT60 to DC7909 splitter if you prefer the barrel plugs, or 1 XT60 Female to 2 XT60 Males which in turn would plug into the MC4 connectors on your solar panel cabling.
If the solar panel goes over 20 amps, does the bluetti stop at 20 amps, or does it reject the power all together?
And what if I put them in series, the voltage is too much. Does the bluetti cap the voltage, or will something bad happen, or will the bluetti outright reject the charge?
If the solar panel goes over 20 amps, does the bluetti stop at 20 amps, or does it reject the power all together?
The MPPT controller regulates what it will accept and so in your case anything past 20 amps +/- a very few milliamps will get rejected. Your power station will be perfectly happy and just simply not use the remaining current (amps). It won’t shut off or refuse to charge or anything like that, it’s just a hard limit. So whatever the volts and amps is coming in is what you get. Of the watts coming in, you won’t convert directly 100% of those watts into storage. Charging efficiency may only be say 90% of that. So if see 100 watts coming in, you are really “storing” 85-90 or so. Likewise with charging, you also don’t get 100% of your discharge performance due to losses. Say on the AC side you may only get 70% efficiency under a small load. It’s not exactly linear. If I consumed something on AC at 100 watts, it won’t take the same amount of time to recharge at 100 watts to get back all my power. It will take even longer. So say you had a power station that was 1000wh running at constant load of 100 watts with inverter losses. Your runtime would be 10 hours obviously (10X100), but recharging would take 1.1X that since its only 90% efficient meaning it would take 11 hours to recharge that same amount of power back. So to give you an example on my AC180 (1152Wh) if I run my dehumidifer at constant load of 285W, assuming its 85% efficient my runtime would be around 3.5 hours. If I was solar charging at 285W, it would take me 4.5 hours to recharge it. 1 more hour spent charging than consuming. So for every 25% of my power station, I’m spending 15 MORE minutes recharging to get back what I used.
The drawback of this is obviously don’t buy a panel that has too high of an amperage because its wasted money. Buy two 15’s and you will get 20 and lose 10!
And what if I put them in series, the voltage is too much. Does the Bluetti cap the voltage, or will something bad happen, or will the Bluetti outright reject the charge?
You would pray overvoltage kicks in and the power station even prevents you from using the panels together like that. If not, bye bye power station and warranty.
The two solar MPPT controller inputs in the Apex 300 have an input voltage range of 12 to 60 volts. Since your existing solar controller’s range is 60 to 145 volts, then it is safe to say that your solar array’s Voc is going to be somewhere over 60 volts. That means you will not be able to connect your array to the Apex 300 as it is currently.
It would appear that there are only two options for you. The first would be to rewire the array such that the Voc of the array (whether a single array or split into two arrays) is less than 60 volts, and if you get cold weather, ideally the target Voc should be close to 50 volts. This may be difficult to do, depending on the panels. For example, I have a 3000 watt array. The Voc is 111 volts, too much for the Apex 300 built-in MPPT controllers. My panels each have a Voc of 37 volts so I cannot put any in series as that would be 74 volts. With the 20 amp limit on the Apex 300 and using the panels in parallel only the Vmp (max power) will be 30.3 volts, the power could only get up to 606 watts. Now, I already have them split as two arrays, but I can only get to 1200 watts from my 3000 watt arrays by using the built-in MPPT controllers.
So, your second option is also mine, the SolarX 4K accessory. That allows up to 4000 watts, and also 500 Voc. Your having a 6000 watt array with a limit of 4000 watts isn’t a waste though, as it will give you extra solar charging on the morning and evening end of daylight, and better performance in cloudy weather. I prefer over paneling.
Anyway, those are my thoughts, mostly from myself thinking it through from a similar position. I hope this helps.
Quick edit as I forgot to mention, you cannot add an extra charge controller between the arrays you have and the built-in MPPT controllers on the Apex 300.
