Does anyone have an EB150, 180 or 240 that accepts the higher 16-68V DC input range? If so, is 68V printed on the front or if not, how did you find out?
It’s in the manual and specs that state the input voltage range is 16-68 VDC. All models have an input voltage range they need to be in to work properly and avoid damage.
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My manual states:
PVInputVoltageRange: 16-60Vdc(OVP 73V±2V)
The printed text underneath my DC input port states:
DC 16-60V/10A
The sticker on the bottom of my EB150 states:
Input Solar Panel: 16-60Vdc, 10A, 500W Max
Through testing, my EB150 will accept a starting input Voc of 61.32 but anything over 61.50 is not accepted with an E017 being displayed until the cable is unplugged.
A user from the Bluetti FB group has had a combination of 6 different EB120/150/240 units and said they all accepted up to 68V even though the front label only said 16-60V.
Some of the later units accepted up to 68 volts. I don’t have any documentation on that other then remember hearing that a couple of years ago. The Bluetti stated input spec is 60 volts max.
Is a safety circuit for overvoltage installed at the EB150?
I have two panels with open circuit voltage 41.3V and max power voltage 34.2V. In series connection I would get 68,4 V and 82,6V respectively.
What can I do so that I can use both panels in series? Are there converters that can work with under and over voltage and stabilize it to 60V?
Hi @Micha, I’m actually experimenting with DC buck and boost converters. I have 4x 100W panels in 2s2p (2 series, 2 parallel) config with a Voc of 44V and Vmp of 40V connected to my EB150 but am maxing the MPPT amps at 8.71A with around 330W. There have been several challenges with a 4s config (Voc of 92V and Vmp of just over 80V) and stepping down the voltage to 60V because of how the MTTP controller and the DC step down converter work together. Now I’m just waiting for a sunny day here in NY to keep testing.
My hypothesis is that I’ll have a more stable set up with stepping up the 2s2p config to 60V to reach the 400W target rather than stepping down a 4s config.
Lastly, I can definitively say that the EB150 has overvoltage protection because I accidentally hooked up the 4s config at 92Voc for a few seconds and the unit didn’t blow up - it just showed E017 on the display which is the overvoltage error code and the unit still works!
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I got a new idea. I will use my two panels parallel (with diodes against reverse current) and using a step up converter. So, I don’t need an up/down converter, only an up converter.
I hope, if the sun is full shining, than I should get 60V/10A for quick loading and on rainy days the step-up converter could help to keep the EP150 loading.
Wouldn’t this something for you too? Four panels parallel? This setup would be more particular shadow safe or?
Yes, that’s exactly what I would do!
Each of my 100W panels has a short-circuit current of around 5.5A so four in parallel would max out at 22A @ ~18V which I’d step-up to 60V resulting in about a 6.6A output. The problem is that my 600W DC step-up converter has a max input rating of 15A and I want to leave at least a 20% buffer for safety so I’d have to get a bigger 30A converter.
Generally, higher volts and lower amps is preferable for larger solar setups even though paralleled solar panels perform better in shaded conditions. Lower amps allows you to use thinner gauge wires making it cheaper for long runs. Many entry-level MPPT controllers have a relatively low max amp input limit compared to voltage with all Bluetti MPPT controllers supporting 20A or less:
- EP500: 20A
- AC500: 15A
- AC300: 12A
- AC200Max: 15A
- EB150/240: 10A
- EB3A: 8.5A
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Did you have seen the tiny middle pin of the input connector of the EB150? Will it safe work for 10A?
My EB150 can’t pull more than 8.71A - at that current the cable only gets a little warm at the connector so I don’t think 10A will be an issue. Also, I don’t think Bluetti would provide this cable with your EB150 if it couldn’t support 10A.
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The whole inside of the connector is the positive connection (not just the pin). If you measure from the inside of the connector to the outside when connected to your panels, you can read the voltage that will be applied to your connector/EB150.
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I always measure the voltage from the inner to outer 7909 connector to make sure that the polarity is correct before connecting. I read posts where people had charging problems and it turned out to be reversed polarity on the connector.
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Good news, thank you Ben. Now I have good feeling for 10A. 