Something like this would be compatible with the DIN mounted system (but would have to get a larger box than what I ordered).
on your breaker & box listed above. Are you hooking both arrays into this breaker (4 wires) or are you having 2 of these breakers - one for each array?
I will be having 2 wires coming in from my 1000 watt array & 2 wires coming in from my 400 watt array.
Yes, I suppose that was not clear. I have 2 of the breakers, each of the arrays will have its own, and from there each will go to it’s own MPPT controller in the AC300.
I am guessing, the surge protector would go in line before breaker. I know in regular grid hook ups, the surge protector goes in the panel, tied to the main breaker.
I like the idea of your breaker & the box, will look into that more. I was thinking that maybe I would just mount the box & breaker in the house, right before they go into the MAX inputs. But the surge protector could be installed out by the panels or in the house. Am not sure which would be better. Possibly no difference at all. I guess at this stage, the main purpose would be to protect the MAX.
got it, I was figuring that, but wanted to make sure.
thanks
jeff
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Say I have a Bluetti Maxoak EB150.
Max watt input is 500 watts
The max voltage input is 60V & the max amp input is 10a on the Bluetti.
I am looking at two solar panels that are 210 watts each.
Each panel is 19.83 volts and 12.48 amps.
I will be wiring them in series, so the voltage will be 39.66 which is way under the maximum of 60 volts.
But even though the amps won’t change, the amps will be 12.48
Can I hook these two panels to the EB150?
thanks
jeff
Yes, you can. The EB150 will limit the input to its rated 10A, but can take in the two panels in series. You will probably get about 390 watts maximum input power.
Hello:
I am thinking about also getting the AC300. I am working out what panels I will be putting onto the PV input.
What I am wondering though is:
Can you also connect solar panels into the AC input like you can with the AC200MAX?
And if so, how is that done & what is the watt / volt & amp limits?
thanks
Hi Raymondjram,
I am a woman with no electrical experience. I purchased the AC2000 with one solar panel. My intent is to power up two refrigerators and one freezer, maybe the hot water heater if I can, plus the panel to connect to my electrical box if it ever comes back in stock. I am thinking I will need more than the AC2000. Can you guide me or shall I call customer service? I will hire an electrician to install. Plus my generator will be inside and the panels are placed up to 30 feet away. What kind of connection cable shall I buy to daisy chain any additional panels that I need to buy. Thanks Betsy.
The AC300 has two PV (solar panel) inputs. To connect solar panels into the AC input you will need more hardware such as a DC to AC inverter which adds cost. The PV inputs are rated at 150 VDC maximum and up to 12 A, but the documented maximum input is 1200 watts per port.
I believe you mean the AC200 which has a 2,000 watt rating. Since it is a 120 VAC power station, you have to add the power rating of each refrigerator and freezer to know if the AC200 can power them. I doubt you can add the water heater as it is very power consuming, unless you shut down the other appliance to use the water heater,
If adding up the power ratings of each appliances adds up over 80% (about 1,600 watts) of the AC200 rating, then you need a bigger power station. The electrician can easily install the AC200 and any electrical extensions you may need to reach every appliance.
You should ask about a transfer switch if you wish to add the generator to the circuit, such that the AC200 can continue to supply power to your appliances when a utility blackout happens, then the transfer switch can connect the generator to the AC200 and resupply power until the utility power returns. The electrician can also do this for you.
To daisy chain (connect in series) your solar panels, check the DC cables your panels have now. All known panel manufacturers use the MC4 connector, so you can order the MC4 cables online or have the electrician buy and fabricate the cables to the predetermined lengths, then attach the needed MC4 connectors to the ends.
I hope this information is what you need and you can complete your project successfully.
@ eli1,
I would also add that running things like freezers and fridges, which are ‘on’ all the time, can be quite energy intensive for the smaller to medium sized battery packs, ideally you need to know the power draw from each unit to be able to do the math to ensure you have enough power in the batteries for it to work, e.g. the basic formulae is:
Battery Pack Wh*0.85/Power of the device/s = duration of use (Hrs).
So in the case of the AC200P which has 2000Wh battery, you would use 2000*0.85/Power of devices used.
I agree with Raymondjram, that probably your water heater would be too much, but you need to know the power draw of that at start up (like is it more than the AC200P’s Surge capacity) and it’s overall power draw in use.
For general hardware performance reviews i would recommend the Hobotech youtube channel, as he gives a very complete breakdown of most of Bluetti’s Solar Battery packs, and you can get a good idea on what is possible with them.
I have noticed in testing videos that equipment will exceed their rated limits for periods of time before actually shutting down. Could you be exceeding the 12A limit to get your 1219 watts? I’m curious to know if you are getting 1219 watts continuously under these conditions or is it intermittent. You say you’ve seen 1219 watts. Have you confirmed that input persists for an extended period of time?
I’m also curious to know if this stresses the equipment and affects the life of the product. I’m looking at getting 7 210 watt panels, connected in series, that will produce nearly 15 Amps at 50 degrees if I’ve done the ISC coefficient calculation correctly. They are rated at 13.09 A Isc
Am putting together another array for my AC200Max.
I will only be installing (2) 200-watt panels in this set up.
I am about 200 foot from the house & will be using 8 AWG wire.
Am wondering if I should go with 12- or 24-volt panels?
Research tells me that I should go with 24 volts.
Does the MAX work with 24-volt panels?
What do you “overamp” your system by? I currently have an AC200 max with three 320w panels at 9.6a. I got a good deal on a bunch of these panels, but doesn’t look like I’d be able to run two strings of these without maxing out the amperage. Would the AC300 be able to limit the amps if I did “overamp” it? I think the AC300 limit is 12a and putting those two strings in parallel would put it at 18.5a. Did you overamp without any enhancer and just go straight into the Bluetti?
Absolutely, you can string several together and you are not restricted to 24V. I use 30.5V panels, 3 in series. If you put them in series you just need to ensure you do not exceed a total open circuit voltage (OCV) of 145V.
The shut-off limit for the PV inputs on the AC300 would be the voltage limit of 150 volts. The current is limited by the MPPT controller. I think the situation is that the documentation is rounding the MPPT input to 1200 watts, it’s not a hard number, and 1219 is less than 2% above that. The MPPT controller would be able to handle that 1219 watt input continuously since itself is what limits the PV input (ie: it would be a design flaw to take in more current than it could handle). Having said that, the day I had that level of solar input was variably cloudy, so the PV input was fluctuating periodically whenever a cloud reduced the light level.
Hello again:
say, I am expanding on my AC300 to the 2nd string of panels for PV2 input.
The panels I am looking at come in at 148.05 volts and 1365 watts for 3 panels.
What I am worried about is the 148 volts comes in dangerously close to the 150 limit.
I live in Minnesota & it gets cold here, so the volts will go up.
I need to use these panels as I am hooking up a large 240v system & these large panels only come as a 10 panel minimum order. So instead of having 3 different brands / sizes up there, figured I would stick with these.
If the 148 volts is too much, then I will have to go with 2 panels, which does not take as much advantage of PV2 as I would like. Two panels would be 98.7 volts & 910 watts.
But I don’t want to have overvoltage errors either.
What do you think?
What is the Vmp and the Imp? I’m thinking that using 4 per MPPT input might work. You’d have to have 2S2P setup, and it would require the extra panel (which it sounds like you’d have to buy anyway), but you’d be well over-paneled without going over the max input voltage.
Vmp is 41.32
Imp is 10.89
Voc is 49.35
Isc is 11.44
Watts = 455
Right now, I have 1200 watts on PV1 of the AC300 & things are good, but I need more power.
So, it is time to use PV2
Don’t want to underpower it, but don’t want to go over the voltage either. I know I can ramp up the amps a bit.
Thanks for getting back to me, appreciate.
am not sure what you mean by a 2S2P setup
thanks