Can I charge my Ecoflow Delta (First Gen) from both my alternator and roof top solar panel?

[bcolins]

Hey Guys, I use an Ecoflow Delta in my VW Eurovan to power my 12 volt fridge and recharge several USB devices. I currently only charge it from my alternator while driving via a cable routed from my fuse panel direct to my solar charge port, I want to add a roof top solar panel to charge the Ecoflow when I am not driving. I am wondering If this can be done with some kind of charge controller,...allowing both charging from the alternator and solar panel while driving,....then just the solar panel when not driving,......or will I only be able to use one or the other,....and manually switch between them by unplugging one, and then plugging in the other? The Ecoflow Delta will accept charging up to 65 volts and 10 amps.

Brian in Austin

 

[pollenface]

I'm assuming the Ecoflow has it's own built-in charge controller, given the 65v input rating.

I use solar to charge the vehicle batteries, then excess charges everything else while the vehicle batteries remain above 13.3v using a voltage sensing relay.

 

[highwaypirate]

We have a EcoFlow River 2 in the boss's motorhome and he wonders the same thing, too. On the River 2, though, it only has one XT60 behind it. He's thinking if he picks up an XT60 combiner (2 input plugs into one output) if that would allow it to charge from both the cig lighter and his 50w array. I assume his results might be similar to what you would run into since many EcoFlows use very similar firmware and tech. It looks like the Delta also uses the same XT60 connector... all I can say is giving it a try? Though, I wouldn't try pushing more power than what it's rated for. Sure, we've used two 200w arrays in parallel to chage it and it does limit charging to it's 110w limit, but I'm not sure how well it would like that for long-term use (unless it's cloudy, then over-panel like mad lol).

 

[Dave in AZ]

Hey Guys, I use an Ecoflow Delta in my VW Eurovan to power my 12 volt fridge and recharge several USB devices. I currently only charge it from my alternator while driving via a cable routed from my fuse panel direct to my solar charge port, I want to add a roof top solar panel to charge the Ecoflow when I am not driving. I am wondering If this can be done with some kind of charge controller,...allowing both charging from the alternator and solar panel while driving,....then just the solar panel when not driving,......or will I only be able to use one or the other,....and manually switch between them by unplugging one, and then plugging in the other? The Ecoflow Delta will accept charging up to 65 volts and 10 amps.

Brian in Austin

Honestly the best option is to get a better power station with two charge controllers, already designed to accept one from 12v car while driving, and another from a solar array. Many are like this. For example, my Pecron e1500LFP has 100w input 12-18v that I feed from cigarette port ( or an 18v 130W solar panel). It has ANOTHER, SEPARATE, mppt solar input for 32 to 95v, 700W max, that I feed from 2x 330W solar panels.

If you showed a picture of input ports, or were specific on what you have, it would help-- the ecoflow site has terrible specs and pictures and doesnt show it. However, it APPEARS that it has just a single xt60 input port, that you have to choose what to plug in?
IF it has two inputs, which I doubt as their marketing carefully never mentions charging with both at once, then problem solved.

Here are the listed specs for Delta 1300 and 1000 both:

Solar Charge Input​

400W 10-65V DC 10A max

Car Charger​

12V/24V DC 8A max

So, the most you can get is 400W, not 650w like their voltage and 10 amperage limit leads you to believe... Ecoflow is really deceptive in their marketing on their page too, how they phrase all their charging sentences.

ALSO, you need to look and see if their solar xt60 plug is really an xt60i, with an extra pin that tells the power station to accept higher voltage... I seem to recall people having charge problems with Ecoflow due to this xt60 vs xt60i plug issue.

You could try cobbling something together to get car and solar voltages exact same, then input both to the single port... but it's just not worth it for 400W. Better is to get a dc to dc 12 to 48v converter, hook it up to your alternator, and just run a wire from that to the solar input port at 10A to get the 400W while driving.

Really better, best, is to just go buy a better power station that already is designed to charge from 2 sources at once... watch some reviews from ReeWrayOutdoors or Hobotech youtubers so you get the right one..

Sorry, probably not the answer you want.

 

[Browneye]

Delta-Mini here…I do one or the other.
It’s very portable, so I set it outside with the portable solar panels when solar charging. Put it where I need it for powering things. If I need/want to charge it with the cigar lighter then just plug it in. I limit to 8A for this. Or I can charge it faster plugged into an inverter and limit to about 400W.

Built in LFP house bank in the RV has it’s own roof-top solar, and separate outlet circuit with 600W inverter.