Any issues you guys see in doing
this?
I just got into solar/power stations two weeks ago, so please forgive me if these are really stupid questions, I am trying to learn, but have already possibly made mistakes on my purchases. Trying to figure out the right course going forward from here.
I am going to be getting a Bluetti EB240 delivered next week, and I recently bought two Rich Solar panels. One is a 100 watt panel with :
Vmp: 18.60V
Imp: 5.38A
Voc: 22.80V
Isc: 5.78A
And the 200 watt:
Vmp: 20.40V
Imp: 9.80A
Voc: 24.30V
Isc: 10.20A
The reason I have the two solar panels is I originally bought the 100 watt panel and a small 280Wh solar generator and soon realized this was not going to cut it for my needs, so I decided to buy a 200 watt panel and a Bluetti eb240 instead. Already received the 200 watt panel. But I was thinking I could still use the 100 watt panel in parallel to get more power in the morning and evening and cloudy days (since I would be current limited by the Bluetti during peak sun). Upon more learning though, I realized the 100 watt panel does not match the voltage of the 200 watt panel all that well, 22.80 vs 24.30. And I have also since learned the EB240 will not be at its happiest at 24.30 input voltage either. It wants over 40 volts.
So here are my questions:
1. If I wanted to run these two panels in parallel, could I use this DC booster to raise the 18.60 working voltage of the 100 watt panel to better match the 20.40V working output of the 200 watt panel? At the expense of amps, which I would have more than I need anyway... And then wire both from there in parallel. It seems like this DC booster would make them batter matched on the volts side for wiring in parallel. Or is the relatively small difference in voltage not a big deal, and I could skip this step... which brings be to the second part:
2. And then after I boost the 100 watt panel voltage, could I take the combined parallel output from the two panels, and add another second DC booster to raise the voltage to 40 volts, at the expense of my excess amps, to better match what the Bluetti wants for efficient charging, according to Will Prowse in the comments section of the video above about not charging the Bluetti from less than 40V input? I didn't know when I bought my panels that the Bluetti wants at least 40 volts to be in the most efficient charging range. But by boosting the voltage with my excess amps, could I use all the power that my two panels can output more efficiently?
3. If I cannot do #1, should I boost the 200 watt panel to 40 volts (or maybe even higher?) alone to increase the efficiency of charging the Bluetti? Or:
4. Should I have bought the 24 volt version of the Rich Solar 200 watt panel instead of the 12 volt one for the Bluetti? I still have time, until April 15th, to return both panels if I messed up on my purchase.
I want to charge the Bluetti as efficiently as possible, and try to figure out how to use both panels to charge the Bluetti, if possible. Otherwise, if I cannot use these two mismatched panels to charge the Bluetti, I will just use the 100 watt panel exclusively for the small power station (which I am keeping), and the 200 watt panel for the Bluetti. Or I will return the 200 watt 12V panel for the 24 volt 200 watt version. Depending on what you guys think.
Thank you for any insights!!! I am pretty new to all this!