Hello,
A solar newbie here and wanting to get some input from those with more knowledge than myself, which is everyone here.
I live in a total electric house without any other options, propane tank for example, in a power outage. So far I have purchased a Champion 3400 duel fuel inverter generator with plans to use 20lb propane tanks. The nearest propane refill is about 15-20 miles away. Last power outage we experienced, lasted seven days, prior to having the generator, the roads were impassable, so no refills would have been possible. I don’t want to store/use gas in the generator to avoid carburetor problems. I want to supplement my emergency preparedness with a power station. I have a Bluetti eb70S ordered from Amazon with delivery scheduled for tomorrow. Wanted to order directly from Bluetti but didn’t see where the eb70S was available on their site. The eb70S, Sapphire, is 800w as opposed to the 700w version. I also have coming tomorrow XTAR SP100 panels (2) with a Y-cable.
Now for my question… I want to get another power station, with LiFePo4 battery, that will run a refrigerator and freezer along with coffee maker, food prep, etc. The AC200 Max looks interesting and would probably meet my needs with expansion later if I wanted. If I got the power station without extra battery would you consider this to meet my needs? I know I would need more panels. Please, chime in with any guidance you can give.
Has anyone received their AC200 Max order? Am I understanding right that if I placed an order today for AC200 Max that it would ship by the end of this month?
The AC200 Max would be a great step up and power what you described as well as having the capability of adding additional capacity later if needed. My advice on adding capacity later would be to take a good look at your current and future needs and if you feel you will need more battery capacity, but it now. With rapid changing technology I think you have the best opportunity to enjoy the purchase at the same time to insure compatibility and future availability. Your mention of the 800 watt vs the 700 watt EB70 is a great example of how fast things change. You could also consider purchasing a smaller propane (alps) generator that you could use for charging the AC200 Max / bateries which would be more fuel efficient that running the larger champion. The solar panels will work well, but if you want any kind of serious wattage, the price goes up quickly to get usuable wattage.
My personal unit is an AC200 and I have a pair of Honda Gasoline generators to re-charge the AC200 and various smaller units. I also have 8 portable panels but consider them to be convenience or emergency use if needed when the gasoline (or propane) ran out.
That all makes sense. Hobotech has a new video up on YouTube where he said Bluetti will have a sale that starts at 7pm PT tonight. Waiting for the sale to go live. Hopefully something I can’t say no to.
Thank you for your response to my questions. Appreciate all the help/info I can get.
I recently bought a tri-fuel generator. No to using gas as gas won’t store safetly. Propane tanks run out. I have a pipe for Natural gas at our house so I bought that in case the Natural gas lines don’t break in a disaster. Run off the house gas first and then propane. These tri-fuel are on sale at Costco. Always have a back up. I also have a duel fuel Champion generator for backup. Be Prepared I learned in the Scouts
Hi Scott,
Can your verify the battery type in the AC200P? For some reason I thought it had a lithium ion battery, but now seeing that it has the LiFePO4. Is this correct?
Thanks,
You are correct. The Bluetti AC200P utilizes LiFeP04 batteries. The original “AC200” model had lithium ion. Shortly after the AC200 model was delivered, the AC200P was announced with the new LiFEP04 battery chemistry and the battery wattage capacity increased from 1700 (AC200) to 2000 (AC200P).
Thank you so much for your quick response. Think I have decided to get the AC200P rather than wait for the AC200Max with the iffy delivery times. Bluetti and Amazon has the same price with the sale. In case of problems would you have a preference where to order or does it not matter. Have you had need to contact Bluetti with an issue?
Hi shawnnn99,
Wish we had natural gas. Our area had a questionnaire, asking who would be interested in having natural gas, the lines would need to be run as we are rural. That was probably 30 years ago. I said yes, I would be interested. Well, it never happened. My backup options are propane, small, what used to be 20lb tank, as larger tanks in short supply, or solar power station.
Hi Scott,
Ordered the AC200P on Amazon. Thought that if there was any shipping issues that maybe it would be easier to resolve through Amazon.
I received the XTAR SP100 panels (2) today. Can’t do a test yet as my Bluetti eb70S shipment has been delayed. I will need to get more panels. Would you have any recommendations? XTAR doesn’t have panels bigger than 100w.
I’ve ordered most of my Bluetti items through Amazon mainly because of the 5% cash back using my Amazon card plus thinking if I had any issues they may try to to help resolve it. So far zero issues with seven Bluetti sogens and five solar panels.
I’ve used Bluetti SP200 200 watt portable and Renogy 200 watt solid panels with my AC200P and they both work fine. The Renogy panels produce a bit more wattage but its hard to beat the Bluetti’s for ease of storage and portability. I typically get about 140-150 watts out of each Bluetti and 150-160 watts out of a Renogy. Here’s 3 Bluetti’s and two Renogy’s on a portable rack I built this summer.
Just to let you know I have 500 lbs of propane in tanks 3 100 tank and the rest 20 to 40. Not taking any chances when the big one hits here in Southern California and the society possibly goes to hell. So many signs that everything could collapse. I could name 10 but I am sure you could too. Good luck. 20 lbs is good for a few burgers nothing else.
My panel recommedations are dependant on if you want portable soft panels or hard fixed panels. If soft and portable, I like the Bluetti Panels. If hard and fixed or semi fixed, I like the renogy panels but I have limited personal experience with hard panels as most of what I have are soft-portable products. I have Bluetti, Acopower, Aiper and Jackery portable and all work well and I have had zero issues. I have Renogy hard panels and they were the first panels I bought. They are great quality, reliable and consistent performers but a little more money than others.
I just purchased the AC200P for emergency use when the power goes out. I want to use a transfer station to switch some circuits between line power and solar power. However, from what I can find all the transfer switches assume an input of split 120VAC but the AC200P doesn’t do that. Any suggestions?
I use an interlock switch and connect my AC200 to my home at the entry point the same as a gas generator. I only have 120 volt AC available, but the only item in my home that uses 220 is my central AC. Works well for me.
How do you do that? As far as I know 220/240 coming into the house is split into two 110/120 sides that are 180 degrees apart in phase. Does your interlock switch bypass that? What interlock switch do you use? And how do you run an entire house on 1800Watts?
There is something you are not saying.
For my transfer switch I got a heavy duty 115v 20 amp cord and stuck a L14-30R plug on it with a jumper wire between the 2 hot prongs. Works great with my AC200P when I don’t want the gas gen running.
