I tried to hook up ten PV 200 panels to one AC300 & got the error message saying I can’t do that. I’m fairly sure I hooked them together correctly, but since the Alarm said “PV VOLTAGE TOO HIGH”, & thinking they should put out the same voltage no matter how many I connect, I figured I should ask if there’s a 6-panel limit per AC 300.
I do have another AC 300 & I’d also like to know if I connected both AC300s together to the 10 panels if that would work? Thx!
I have the ac500, but I looked up the solar input for the ac300 and it’s 150volt 12 amp max limit.
So on the back of each panel there should be a placard listing Imp and Vmp.
.
If you wired all 10 panels in series, the voltage Vmp adds up to your total voltage. If that’s over 150 volts then that is what’s giving you that “Voltage too high” message. (Your total current remains the same in series, equals the Imp of what is on the placard of your panels.
.
If you wire them all in parallel, then the Vmp will be the same as listed on the placard, but the current Imp will add up, and likely exceed 12 amps.
.
So what to do? You’ll need to work out a configuration on paper, combining series and parallel wiring, until your Vmp and Imp will be below the max limit. You also need to allow some “headroom” to allow for voltage/current spikes. (Some clouds can cause this when the sun is at the edge of a cloud. Sort of like a magnifying glass.)
.
I should point out that those max limits are for each of the two inputs, DC1 and DC2 on your charging cable. So maybe start by planing to use 5 panels on each input. If 5 panels in series keeps you below the 150V limit then you’re done. 5 panels in parallel will likely put you over the 12A limit, unless each panel is less than 2.4A.
If 5 panels in series works out to less than the 150V limit, then you could wire up two sets of 5 panels, then parallel them into one input. The total voltage will stay the same, while the Imp will double, (so make sure your wiring is rated for that current.)
.
So to recap:
Series wiring, voltages add up. Current stays the same.
For Parallel, current adds up. Voltage stays the same.
@St8kout Please always remember that current is determined by load resistance and it’s not a value imposed by the source.
So, it doesn’t matter how many A your solar array is, you can connect a 100/500/1000 A solar array to your AC300 provided the total VoC is not exceeding the MPPT SCC maximum specification of 150 V. The solar controller of the AC300 will adjust its resistance to never exceed the 12 A max input current.
.
@Lockman If you got that error, you probably connected the ten PV200 in series by literally playing with them, without even looking at the specifications.
You should not do anything with electricity if you don’t know what you’re doing.
.
The PV200 have a VoC of 26.1 V that means 10*26.1=261 V. If you connected a solar array of 261 V open circuit to the AC300 that supports a maximum voltage of 150 V per channel and that is now still working, you’re lucky.
.
To understand how many PV200 you can connect in series to the AC300, you should divide maximum MPPT VoC by PV200 VoC and eventually floor the value. 150/26.1=5.74=5. You should not connect more than 5 PV200 in series to the AC300 per channel.
Your ten panels should be connected 5 to channel A and 5 to channel B.
.
And no, you should not connect more than 1 MPPT controller to a single solar array because the MPPT must be able to dinamically adjust resistance by itself while tracking the maximum power point. So, you should not connect two AC300 to the same solar array.
If you have two AC300 you should connect 5 panel to one and the other 5 panels to the other one.
.
@St8kout I literally stole your idea of putting points to render lines. Thank you.
@Lockman The maximum OCV of the AC300 solar input is 150V. 10 PV200s (10*26.1=261V) connected together must have exceeded the OCV rated by the AC300, causing the machine to burn out!
Please be sure not to do this.
Please refer to @ndwr for details.
Thx for the info. There’s evidently an overload protection circuit in the AC300 because it notified me of the error & it works fine with fewer panels, so I lucked out. Live & learn.
Thx for the explanation. As a newbie I really appreciate it. I have 8 B300s, 2 AC 300s, & 10 panels so I’ll just do half & half.
I totally missed that he had TWO ac300s, lol. I would have said to just put 5 panels on each ac300.
I also wasn’t sure about the max 12A current. I should have realized that it won’t draw more than it can handle.
I just checked Bluetti’s internet ads for the current Valentine’s Day sale & they have a solar generator kit with one AC300, four B300, and SIX PV 200 panels. So if the maximum # of PV200 that you can connect to an AC300 is FIVE, why are they selling a kit with SIX? Also, if you look at the maximum wattage output possible with an AC300 + PV200s, the company’s specs say 2400W. You can’t get 2400W out of five PV200, can you? Five PV200 × 200W = 1000W. So there has to be a way to connect way more than five PV200, right? I’m asking. I’m a newbie & the math just isn’t matching with what everyone is telling me.