Looking at setup options before I purchase. If the PV input has a voltage of 48V, what is the resulting amperage & wattage? If the PV receives 73V, what is the A&W (or I&P)? If the PV receives 96V, what is the A&W? Likewise, if the auto-charging input receives 24V, what is the A&W? Finally, the manual states passthrough charging is ok. If I am using the AC200P to watch TV and work in my office, can I use both charging inputs at the same time, or are there restrictions?
Thanks, DD
To answer that question you would have to give the supplied input amperage.
Yes, you can use both charging inputs while using the AC and DC power.
Greetings, thanks for the quick response.
. I am a retired physics teacher, and for the purpose of this question, the input amperage is assumed to be surplus with respect to the internal resistance of the receiving device (AC200). Generators of all types produce voltage. They have amperage maximums, but in most situations the generating amperage is significantly higher than the receiving device’s internal resistance. The limiting factor is usually the resistance of the receiving device.
. If the input voltage is 50 V, the AC200 may only allow 2A, or 4A, while the solar panel may be capable of 12A. In this situation, the AC200 will be the limiting factor. Similarly, a solar panel of 100V may be able to get the AC200 to allow 8A, thereby reducing the charging time and increasing the effectiveness of the passthrough features. The literature suggests a maximum 150V, 12A, and 720W, which is an impossible combination. This suggests the system will be optimized at around 100-120V, which means four-or-five 24V panels, or four-or-five 24V wind generators. I could experiment, but there should be an engineer who knows the answers to my original questions.
. Thanks, Duane D.
Hello D,
Dale here.
With my solar explorations, I am currently trying to power my living room using 4 BourgeRv 180 watt panels wired in series/parallel to mitigate my shading issues, which feed an ac200.
I power a medium large 65” TV with sound bar, 4 Alexa Echo pluses, 2 led WIFI lights, a 5 input USB charging station for lap top, phone and other low draw ancillary devices and 6 small fans to move warm air from my bio fueled fire place insert stove to other parts of my house. The total draw of this configuration is 400 ish watts. Today, a nice sunny New England winter day, I ran everything from 9:00 am to 4:00 PM while also keeping the ac200 at between 98%and 100% charged all day. After the sun set, I ran this configuration for another 2.5 hrs which totally depleted the ac200. So with this set up, I was able to run my living room via solar with the ac200 and a 4, 180 watt panel array for almost 10 hrs. before having to hook up to house power.
PS…
Scott is a wonderful person and a valuable resource for the nuts and bolts details about solar technology. We are all very lucky and fortunate that he is here helping us all to learn.
Best,
D
The 150 volt and 12 amp incoming limit are not meant to be used in pairs. They are seperate limits. Max of 150 volts incoming at any time or combination. Max of 12 amps incoming in any combination at any time.
You mention “24” volt solar panels but in in reality they will not produce 24 volts under load. Your 24 volt solar panel will more likely operate at around 19 volts. In that scenario you would max out at 6 of the 120 watt panels connected in series for a theoretical 720 watts max. If you receive more than the 720 watts, the AC200 will throttle the input and cap it at 700. In the real world on a perfect sun day you will more likely see 500 to 600 watts max out of that combination.
There are a huge variety of solar panels each with its own specs. What is required is simply do not go over the voltage limit or amperage limit. You can over panel the AC200 by exceeding the watt limit (panel spec) to get up to the full potential. This may mean you have to come up with a combination of series and parallel connections to achieve based on the panel choice.
I am not an engineer but perhaps you could ask your question in a simpler way that I understand what you are asking. It apears to be that you are asking "What is “C” in the equation A * B = C while having no information on the value of either A or B. I have no idea what you are referring to when you ask what the internal resistance of the AC200 is. I can state that at 24 volts input the AC200 accepts 8.2 amps for 197 watt of charge. At 12 volts the watts would br 98. The 8.2 amps is limited by the charger controller. With regards to 48, 73 or 96 volts the incoming wattage would be totally dependant on the amount of incoming amperate being received up to a maximum limit of 12 amps.
Being a teacher and retired, I am sure you have have sufficient opportunity to be able to simplify concepts to an understandable level for your students. Like Forest Gump showed us…“I’m not a smart man, but I know what Lectricity is”
Greetings,
Thanks again for your quick response. The complexity appears to surround the fact that the AC200 functions as both an electric supplier and an electric user. Consider the AC200 connected to a TV. In this case the AC200 has the ability to generate 20A, at 110V but the TV’s internal resistance limits the current to 2A. In this case the system only uses 2A, 220W. Here, the TV is the item which determines both the amps and watts.
Point here, is that in all systems, generators produce voltage, and receivers determine the amps and watts used.
When charging, the panels are the generator, and the AC200 is the receiver. If a 50V panel is connected to the AC200, the AC200’s internal resistance will limit the amperage to some unknown figure, say 4A. In this case, the system will utilize only use 4A and 100W. That means, you would want to purchase a 50V, 120W solar panel. Purchasing a 50V, 300W solar panel would be a waste of money, because the AC200 may not be able to utilize the extra wattage. (But the 50V, 300W panel would be wonderful if the AC200 allows 12A at 50V.)
In most situations, the ratio of volts-to-amps is fixed, so understanding that ratio would be very useful when buying solar panels. It is possible, that the AC200 has a computer that is able to alter the volts-to-amps ratio, which is why I asked for data for 50V, 75V, 100V. (By the way, the volts-to-amps ratio is called “resistance” and it is measured in a unit called “ohms.”)
The fact that Bluetti sells a 35V, 120W panel suggests the volts to amps ratio is around 10V to 1A. This matches my estimate the the sweet spot is 100-120V.
Sorry this is a bit heavy, but I’m trying not to purchase excess wattage. Thanks for your help.
Yours, Duane
The AC does have a unit (Charge controller) that varies the incoming volts and amps. It is called the MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking). It basically controls incoming charge to maximize the wattage in variable charge situations
Not sure where you are seeing Bluetti as having a 35V solar panel. The 120 watt solar panel specs are:
The AC200 if fully capable of a 12 amp input in which a 60 volt input at 12 amps would approx. max out the incoming wattage max. The 50 volt 300 watt panel example would not be a waste as it would produce approx 6 amps to get the 300 watts input. Two of the panels could be connected together in series of parallel in that example without exceeding the voltage, amperage or wattage limits.
Greetings,
You’ve supplied a lot of great data. The 720W, 12A info suggested a possible target of 60V, and this post confirmed that. Since most devices are rated higher than they actually operate, I figured shooting for 75 to 100V, 800W. Then cloud cover would not drop the voltage below the 35V minimum. I live in Central Texas, on top of a hill, so I may experiment with wind generators as well solar. I’m trying to take my office, garage, barn, and security lighting off the grid, and the AC200P will also come in handy during winter power outages.
Thanks for everything, you’ve been a great help,
Yours, Duane
Wind generated power in Texas. Now there’s a controversial topic right now.
My take is that if you over-build your solar generating capacity, you can always split the DC solar output to charge multiple SoGens, battery banks, etc. No need to waste that extra capacity.