Hello— Thank you for having me.
I am wanting to put solar panels on my travel trailer to be permanently there.
Bouge RV panels were recommended to me.
I am purchasing a Bluetti AC200P, but I am concerned that I do’n’t know how to change cables, and that the permanent panels wo’nt plug in to the Bluetti Sogen.
Has anyone done this? What will I need to do? Is it so easy even a monkey can do it?
Thanks, Woops!
Should be no problem. Your unit should have come with a solar charging cable to connect the solar input to an MC4 connection, meaning most standard solar panels will just work as long as you don’t exceed the rated voltage.
Ok— thank you.
I don’t have either panels or the generator yet. So I wasn’t sure what would come with what.
But you think I can basically plug the Bouge RV panels right in to the AC200P? I will first have to connect all of he panels together with the MC4, right?
I do’nt think I will have enough wall space on the trailer to do 700W solar input, but I’m going to shoot for about 400…. ?? Does that sound OK?
I am totally new to this.
Thank you
Woops
The MC4 does not go directly into the AC200P (or any Bluetti unit). The units come with a “solar charging cable” that fits into the 8mm PV input on one side, and has an MC4 connection on the other side. So the 8mm side of that cable goes into the AC200P, and then the solar panels connect with the MC4 side of the cable. [edit: not 8mm on this model, but a solar charging cable IS included. The box will have what you need to connect to MC4.]
You need at least 35 volts VOC in this unit, but for 400 watts, two 200W panels in series should cover it except in low light conditions where it could be under voltage and fail to charge. Three panels would be better for this unit if you can swing it.
O! Ok! I get it. I appreciate your help so much!
So the cables should come with the Bluetti— and I wont need to buy another type of cable?
And then I just need to find 200W panels— Bouge RV only has 180 W panels.
I have been on their site looking— I can get 3 of them and the Y-connectors to group them together before plugging into the Bluetti …right?
If you run them in serial (and you need to in this case because of the 35V minimum input), you should not need any other cables. You may need an extension cable that runs between where the power station will be and where the panels are. Three BougeRV 180s in series would work perfectly fine as long as they will fit.
The AC200P does not utilize an 8mm connector for the solar. The AC200P would use the solar panel MC4 cables that would connect to the (provided with the AC200P) MC4 to XT90 cable and that cable would then connect to the (provided with the AC200P) XT90 to Aviation input cable.
It sounds much more complicated than it really is, but basically you connect all your solar panels on your roof together in series and that leaves you with two wires that you could feed inside your RV. Those two wires would then connect to the two cables mentioned above and then the end of the two cables connects to the AC200P. In practice you would only need to disconnect the single connector right at the AC200P if you wanted to move the AC200P to another location.
As ziggy29 says above you will need a minimum voltage of 35 volts VOC (full load) to allow charging. But…two panels should be fine for all conditions because the voltage will stay fairly constant with different lighting conditions and it is the amperage or watts that will change. Two panels will work, but three is even better.
OK. I am going to go ahead and just get 4 180W panels and put them in series…. The AC200P arrived and I can see the actual cables. I have no idea what other cables I need to order with the panels, though but I will get them in and make a stand for them. I would love to be able to call to order them and talk to a live person who can walk me through what cables I need and help me get the order placed, but no one at Bouge RV has returned my call… 
Thanks for your help.
The only other cable you might need is an extension cable to allow you to have the AC200 at whatever distance you want away from the panels. If you want the AC200 close to the panels you dont need any other cables. The extension cable is called an MC4 extension cable. If you search Amazon for MC4 extension cable you will see a variety. I would recommend a 12 or 10 ga cable thickness.
Update— I got the panels and I connected them to each other.
I got 20 feet of 10g extension MC4 cable and put the connectors on the ends. The wire that had the factory installed male connector got a female connector at the other end, and the wire that the factory had put a female connector on got a male plug at its end. I had issues crimping them, but succeeded and got the plastic bits on tight.
I connected the wires to the panels at either end, and ran them over to the Bluetti.
I plugged the XT90 cable in to the Aviation port, with the MC4 to XT90 cable attached.
I plugged it all in, with sunshine right on the panels and ______ Nothing_____.
What have I done wrong?
The Sogen was at 100% charged— does that make a difference?
Yea… haha if the AC200p is 100% charged, it’s not going to input any more. Use the unit and try it again when you need to charge back up. Sounds like the connectors are also all in perfect order so you’ll be good to go.
Cheers.
If a cup of water is 100% full, it will hold not more. When you plug in the panels, you should see an incoming charge voltage followed by charging in approx. 20 seconds. If no voltage appears then I would suspect you have a problem with the wiring or connectors. If voltage appears but no charging after the 20 seconds or so, make sure you have PV selected in the setting screen (Photo Voltaic) or the AC200P will think you are car charging and no charging will occur followed by an error code.
Thank you Both!
Ah ha— ok. I went home on my lunch break and tried again— still nothing- but that was before I read your responses here. I will go to settings and select PV.
It currently is at 98%, is that too much to charge?
Is 98% too much? If you want to keep your units charged to 100% for emergencies, no. If you want to test solar input, yeah, I think so. I probably wouldn’t try to do a solar charge test with more than 95% battery, maybe even 90%, because as you approach 100% the unit increasingly slows the charge to a trickle until it is full.
Expect what they said, when you just get the unit, please remember to charge it fully and drain it to zero to make it more accurate.
It should still take some charge, but if it was me, I would connect a high load device and drain it down to at least 75% before charging just to make sure that is not causing an issue.
Thanks everyone!
I have the 4 panels @ 180w each, which is 720 w total.
Is taht too much for the Bluetti AC200P? I know it has a 700w max via PV.
We haven’t been having much sun since I drained the battery down— I’ve had to bring it home twice to recharge it. It doesn’t appear to get anything at all via the solar panels.
Although it does have 6 pages of “faults” now.
Maybe I should just use 3 of the panels?
I thought that extra 20w would not interfere with the PV charging— like taking too much vitamin C….
What can I do?!
Your four 180 watt panels will work fine.
But…
They must be connected in series and not with parallel combiners. The AC200 series requires a minimum of 35 volts for charging to begin and to achieve the 35 volts, two or more panels are required to be connected in series to get above 35 volts. If you connect them with parallel combiners your voltage will be around the 19 to 20 volt range and charging will not be possible.
If you are certain you are connected in series configuration, make sure under the settings you have PV selected and not “Car”. If car is selected, no charging will occur with the solar panels.
Lastly, you do not have 6 pages of faults, you have 6 pages of the fault code definitions. Those are just showing you the possible fault codes and if you have an actual fault, it will be illuminated at the side,
O, good! I am glad I do not have 6 pages of faults! LOL
I believe I have them in Series only:
… I have all 4 panels plugged in to one-another via the wires that they came with on the back. (I did not use a special connector, although I ordered one, to run them in parallel. )
I just have the male outlet on one panel plugged into the female outlet on the panel beside (it x3), and then the extension cable at either end - the male plug off the panel on the far right and the female plug off the panel on the far left (or vice versa) going to the XT-aviation plug.
I did set the button to PV from car— thank you for that advice earlier. Does not seem to have made a difference. It still just reads nothing.
Today is another overcast day, but it’s 49 F (unseasonably) and bright with white clouds… seems like it should be registering something, yeah?
I owe you!
Woopsadaisy