Apex300 setup <50% efficient?

[twrenn22]

James, I hope you receive this. At least YOUR Solar X appears to be working! Mine isn’t, having all sorts of troubles. Would you mind sharing with me the exact specs of your PV panels? I assume you are using a “solid set” rather than the folding Bluetti type? I’m interested obviously in the voltage rating, and especially the Current-Imp as well as the Short Circuit Current-Isc to compare with mine and my issues. You can email me directly at taholic006@gmail.com if you’d wish. I’d prefer that. I don’t get on this blog that often. I’m too busy, especially now trying to sort out my problems. Thanks

[NovaSoul]

@snowstorm

Looking back through my energy use history on the app (thank you Bluetti for providing that), I can see that my grid usage jumped quite a bit when I switched from 120V inverter mode to 240V inverter mode. Back when I was on 120V AC mode, the Grid pulled 2.4kWh a day and supplied 1.7kWh of AC. When I switched to 240AC output, the grid input jumped to 4.2kWh and AC output increased to 2.1kWh without any changes in the load. Perhaps this is much more efficient in 120V mode where it can do grid pass-through, but in 240V mode than both phase inverters need to be on since my input is only 120V, something has to make the 240V from the battery. Will do more testing and advise.

You’re absolutely right about the efficiency difference. When running in 120V mode, the system can often use grid pass-through, meaning it doesn’t have to convert as much power through the inverter, which keeps losses low.

But in 240V mode, since your input is only 120V, the inverter likely has to synthesize the second phase to create the 240V output. That means both inverters (or both sides of the split phase) are active, increasing power draw and conversion losses.