Hi There,
I’m thinking about connecting 4 renogy 320W panels in series. The open circuit voltage is 40V so four of these in series at open circuit will be ~160V, where the AC200P is rated for 150V Max input. Does anyone know if there is protection on this input? Under load, this should not be an issue but have concerns and I do not have the setup to test. Thanks for any feedback.
Hi David,
Yes, there is protection in this unit. But we don’t recommend you use four renogy 320W panels, and it would cause overvoltage protection.
2 Likes
You could connect (3) of the panels in series to the PV input and connect a single panel to the DO50S charging enhancer via the AC charging brick input to stay under the voltage limit and increase your maximum potential charging watts. This way you could have your cake and eat it too. DC Charging Enhancer (D050S) – BluettiPower
1 Like
There is overvoltage protection in these units, but better not to test it. For one thing, there is still some chance something goes wrong. For another, even if it works for a short time under load when connected, if it goes over voltage the protection will kick in and it will stop charging, producing nothing until you discover it and reset it. Best to just use three in series.
1 Like
I haven’t looked at the charging enhancer. Will research. For now I’ll may try 3 panels with the 4th as backup. Thanks for the response.
The charge enhancer allows you to utilize the input for the AC charging brick with items other than the AC charging brick. The enhancer boosts the input voltage up to 58 volts and can output up to 500 watts of input through the charging brick input port as well as the normal PV input port. In short, it would allow you to input higher charge wattages than you could otherwise. It has other input source choices as well, but in your case it would allow three panels connected via the PV input port while the fourth would independently charge through the charge enhancer and then connect to the AC power brick charger port.
Many thanks for the info Scott. I will look into that too.
or you could set up the 4 panels as 2 in series, and 2 series strings in parallel, to use all of them. 80 V and double the amps - within spec? the amps might be close but probably less than ideal conditions. and the ac200 will limit the amps.
Yes I worked that too, but the max current input is 12A. I’m rethinking this given the stated max solar input (user manual) is 700W. Thanks for the suggestion.
@chemosabe99, no need to have the amps limited if the third panel feeds the charging enhancer. This way all the available watts can be used.
1 Like
That’s true if they are 100% efficient.
I would have to disagree with that (statement above that three also are not okay) as the input watts are capped at 700 watts. The 960 “Potential” watts that the panels could produce is referred to as over paneling and is common practice since panels do not generate their maximum output values stated. In the real word, it would be pushing it to see those panels produce more than 750 watts in excellent conditions. If we were referring to being over voltage, then yes, I would agree that it would not work.
1 Like
Even if that is true, you can use three in series and overpanel to increase production in suboptimal conditions. You don’t have to limit yourself to the rated watts and amps of the charge controller; indeed, many people intentionally exceed those to help production in cloudier or shadier conditions, as long as one does not exceed on the voltage.
So IMO it is not correct to say it is “not OK”. Exceeding voltage is not OK. This IS OK as long as people understand they will won’t pull more than 700 usable watts into the unit in ideal conditions where the array can theoretically produce more.
1 Like
Yeah, it all depends. 960W is an ideal number, and it is hard to get the maximum in real life. If the conversion rate is 75% and the environment is perfect, it is possible to surpass the max power. Generally speaking, we don’t recommend it to our customers. As @ziggy29 29 mentioned, 3 of them might also work in a cloudier or shadier condition. If @david300m wants to try, you can connect 3 of them. Maybe you can get a good result. You can also take a conservative approach.
Looking great. Thank you for sharing with us your results.