Just purchased the AC500 and i have a question on solar panels for this unit

Product Discussion BLUETTI AC Series
1

I Have my AC500 on the way I’m going to label myself a newbie even tho I had a small 500w solar setup in my shop years ago ( i know just enough to break stuff really well) …but I would like some opinions on how to set my panels up for the AC500 …I have acess to 15 of these panels
optimum power 250w
optimum operating Volt 30.1v
Opt operating current 8.3 A
Open Circut voltage 37.3v
Short circut current 8.87A
Max system voltage 600v
Max series fuse rateing 15A

So whats the best way to get the most out of these and keep the AC500 safe and healthy…I have more than enough panels for 3000w input … Im guessing im going to need a bit of a mix of series and parallel to find the sweet spot … and my eyes glaze over when trying to figure out a mix series and parallel …I am sure I could just run 2x sets of 4 in series for a total of 2000w and stay under the 150v limit …but I know I can do better

So if anyone can map this out in a way for a noob to understand id greatly appreciate it .
Thanks

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@SOZO13 , You can certainly use your own 250W solar panel to charge the AC500. It just needs to meet the following conditions.

1）Total voltage: 12-150V (from the information you provided we know your solar panel OCV is 37.3V, so using 4 panels in series is enough. 37.3*4=149.2V)
2)Total power: 3000W max
3)MC4 interface

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Trouble is, voltage increases when temperature goes down. Typically open circuit voltage is rated at standard test conditions 25° C / 77° F and could increase significantly, depending on your module’s temperature coefficient (Voc) and in which climate zone you are living.

Thus to keep your AC500 safe from overvoltage, I’d rather go for 6 modules per string in a parallel configuration of 3 in series. That would total to 12 panels configured as 2 strings x 111.9 Voc x 17.74 A (Isc) = 3970.2 W

The AC500 can not draw more than 15 Amps or 3000 W, so your total solar input would theoretically max out at 3000 W.

If however you want to keep your unit safe at all costs, stick to the 15 A limit as spec’d by Bluetti. That would mean 6 panels total, configured as 3 modules in series per string for a theoretical max solar input of only 1985.1 W.

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Thaks this was ths sort of info i wanted …but just to clarify i was under the impression the Ac500 would draw up to 15 amps not 12?

It sounds like i may not have the best panels to really make use of the 3000w input potential

Thanks for the quick response

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You’re perfectly right, I edited my post.

And yes, the choice of solar panels and inverter / MPPT should ideally be closely matched.

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Ok thanks i guess ultimately i was trying to find out if the AC500 is going to safely take the just 15 amps even if i have over paneled a little bit but kept my voltage well below the 150 mark …the configuration you mentioned at 17.74 amps was what i was hopeing to achive safely

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