New Accessory Idea Solar-4K Mini

Product Discussion Accessories
1

Problem -

  • The Apex 300 and many smaller power stations are voltage limited by their charge controllers.

  • It is difficult to charge multiple Bluetti power stations efficiently from a single solar array.

  • The SolarX-4K is not practical for small homes or motor homes, and too expensive for small setups with panels 60 Volts to 150 Volts, or parallel setups. It is designed for high voltage roof setups.

  • There is a gap from the 60 Volts maximum where the Apex300 and Elite 200 V2 operate, and the 150 Start-up Voltage of the Solar X 4K.

  • Existing AC300 and AC500 users have arrays that are not suitable for the Apex300 or SolarX-4K so they are finding it difficult to swap over to the newer Apex.


Solution -
Solar-4K Mini

  • Designed for all Bluetti Power stations that except 60V 20A XT60 inputs ( Elite 100 V2, Elite 200 V2, Apex 300 + many older power stations). There is a large cross market for this product.

  • Takes what is great from the Solar X 4K but with scaled back functionality, price, and size.

  • Solar Input: 3,000W Max, VOC 12-150VDC, 20A. Or dual MPPT design with PV Parallel support. You could pretty much just take the AC500 dual MPPT 12-150V 15A per input and use that.

  • Output Voltage 35V to 58 Volts.

  • Output cables same as SolarX-4K, DC Output Cable with P090A plug, and DC Output Cable with triple XT60-F connectors.

Why you should do it

  • I think it’s a product that most small setup owners want and not just for Bluetti power stations. You could sell lots of units to users of all power station brands.

  • You already have the output cables designed and being manufactured.

  • You already designed the output voltage controller for the Solar X 4K, and you have something similar in the Charger 1.

  • You already have a good 12-150VDC dual MPPT working on the AC300 and AC500.

  • The cost of the Solar-4K Mini as an accessory would be offset by the cheaper solar panel options available to customers. So even Elite 100 V2 users would benefit financially.

@BLUETTI
#Solar-4K Mini :innocent:

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Maybe they shouldn’t release gimped products with 60v max MPPT’s?? That would for sure solve the issue for most everyone and cost everyone exactly $0!

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I understand why you might say that, but all products have limitations due to pricing or size. The addon idea allows people to overcome those initial limitations and gives options for specific use cases.


If they had made the Apex300 larger to house a bigger MPPT or DC outputs others might complain it’s too big or too expensive.

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I could be wrong, but I’m under the impression after investigating that the 60v limit was artificial, and possibly put in place to get quicker regulatory stamps. It wasn’t engineering driven at all.

5

It’s possible, there has been a big push to make portable power stations safer by limiting the voltage to below 60 volts in Europe.

I heard in a review it was for size reasons though and that Bluetti didn’t have room to fit a larger MPPT. This MPPT looks like the same as the one for Elite 100 V2, Elite 200 V2 so must be very small.


Perhaps they could have fit one larger MPPT instead of 2 smaller ones but that would have limited options for multiple inputs so I am not sure that would be better.


I am running the Apex300 and AC300 side by side and it is quite impressive how much smaller the Apex is even with the built in battery. The weight of the Apex is about as much as a single person can carry at 38KG.

In many ways the AC300 is a better it has quieter fans which don’t spin as much, more heatsinks, better MPPT etc. In many ways the Apex is better because of self consumption and portability. The Apex also properly grounds itself when connected to the grid. I really like both units so I am using them side by side on rotation.