Maxoak 120w panels for Bluetti AC200P?

[Roxie60]

Just purchased Bluetti AC200P (waiting for delivery...I know). Was considering buying the 120w panels since on sale currently but I realize VoC will require me to order 2.

I was wondering how long does it take to charge the AC200p with just 240w? I was estimating about 10 hours (given all the variables are optimal). In the winter I'm lucky to get 4 hours of sun. For those who have these 120w panels is my estimate correct? TIA

 

[snoobler]

Depends on sun. Watts change throughout the day.

Link #5 in my signature for your location, panel orientation and tilt. That determines the # of solar hours you get per day by month.

Multiply those hours by 240W, and that's the daily Wh you can harvest assuming full sun exposure all day. Since solar irradiance isn't consistent, estimating the # of hours of charging is far more difficult unless you plot it out over the course of a day.

If you only get 4 hours, you only get 4*240W = 960Wh, which is less than half the capacity of the AC200P, so you'd need two whole days of full solar (dawn to dusk) and a smidge the 3rd day.

 

[Roxie60]

Depends on sun. Watts change throughout the day.

Link #5 in my signature for your location, panel orientation and tilt. That determines the # of solar hours you get per day by month.

Multiply those hours by 240W, and that's the daily Wh you can harvest assuming full sun exposure all day. Since solar irradiance isn't consistent, estimating the # of hours of charging is far more difficult unless you plot it out over the course of a day.

If you only get 4 hours, you only get 4*240W = 960Wh, which is less than half the capacity of the AC200P, so you'd need two whole days of full solar (dawn to dusk) and a smidge the 3rd day.

Thank you so much. Man IL sunshine is not very good. Even at optimal I can't get 6hrs....argh

 

[DJAY]

You can't go wrong with more panels, I currently have 470W worth of panels and I am looking to get more. At best I may get 430W on a good day for maybe 90 minutes. On average I probably get around 250W per hour over an 9 hour period so I could go from zero to full charge in about 7 hours. Problem is I also power loads while charging and I suspect you would be doing likewise. So the closer you can get to 700W which is the maximum for the AC200, the better it is for you.

You could just get cheaper panels from other sources, put them in series, (must be between 35V and 150V) and you are good to go. They all work more or less the same.

 

[Roxie60]

You can't go wrong with more panels, I currently have 470W worth of panels and I am looking to get more. At best I may get 430W on a good day for maybe 90 minutes. On average I probably get around 250W per hour over an 9 hour period so I could go from zero to full charge in about 7 hours. Problem is I also power loads while charging and I suspect you would be doing likewise. So the closer you can get to 700W which is the maximum for the AC200, the better it is for you.

You could just get cheaper panels from other sources, put them in series, (must be between 35V and 150V) and you are good to go. They all work more or less the same.

Probably what I'll do, now need to research best panels, price. Buying the ac200 was steep so have to figure it out.

 

[DJAY]

Well you could probably buy used panels. Will had recommended this site some time ago.

Solar Panels | SanTan Solar

store.santansolar.com

 

[CMac]

So would 3 200watt 24volt panels be a good solar array for this AC200p?
If not, what would be best combination of panels be to hookup?

 

[snoobler]

So would 3 200watt 24volt panels be a good solar array for this AC200p?
If not, what would be best combination of panels be to hookup?

Depends. Sum the Voc of the panels. They must be under the PV input voltage limit.

 

[JEH]

The AC200P can be over paneled. I think it up to 1200W.

 

[reflxshn]

Similar question...Looking at using the HQST 100W panels. Here are the spec.

• Module Type: HQST-100D-SS
• Max Power at STC ( P max ): 100W
• Open-Circuit Voltage ( Voc ): 24.6V
• Optimum Operating Voltage ( Vmp ): 20.6V
• Optimum Operating Current ( Imp ): 4.85A
• Short-Circuit Current ( Isc ): 5.28A
• Max System Voltage: 600VDC ( UL )
• Max Series Fuse Rating: 15A

Seems like you could do a set of 6 panels in series or...
two parallel set of 3 panels in a series (amps double) or....
Could you do a series of 3 and a series of 4 with the two sets in parallel? I would think this is possible since parallel components do not need to be matched (like series do).

 

[snoobler]

Similar question...Looking at using the HQST 100W panels. Here are the spec.

• Module Type: HQST-100D-SS
• Max Power at STC ( P max ): 100W
• Open-Circuit Voltage ( Voc ): 24.6V
• Optimum Operating Voltage ( Vmp ): 20.6V
• Optimum Operating Current ( Imp ): 4.85A
• Short-Circuit Current ( Isc ): 5.28A
• Max System Voltage: 600VDC ( UL )
• Max Series Fuse Rating: 15A

Seems like you could do a set of 6 panels in series or...

Voc is used to determine limit.

6S would be 147.6V - way too high unless you're well above 77°F, and there's no risk of dropping below it.

two parallel set of 3 panels in a series (amps double) or....

3S2P would be good.

Could you do a series of 3 and a series of 4 with the two sets in parallel? I would think this is possible since parallel components do not need to be matched (like series do).

Absolutely not. Parallel strings must have highly similar Vmp/Voc ratings. The 4S and 3S strings would operate very near the 3S strings Voc upper limit. The 3S string would put out very little current, and the 4S string would be operating well below optimal. Now if you used different brands/sizes of panels where 4S and 3S produced highly similar Vmp/Voc values, it would work fine, e.g., 4S 12V panels in parallel with 2S 24V panels would likely perform pretty well. Probably only about a 5% hit due to a small mis-match.

 

[reflxshn]

Voc is used to determine limit.

6S would be 147.6V - way too high unless you're well above 77°F, and there's no risk of dropping below it.



3S2P would be good.



Absolutely not. Parallel strings must have highly similar Vmp/Voc ratings. The 4S and 3S strings would operate very near the 3S strings Voc upper limit. The 3S string would put out very little current, and the 4S string would be operating well below optimal. Now if you used different brands/sizes of panels where 4S and 3S produced highly similar Vmp/Voc values, it would work fine, e.g., 4S 12V panels in parallel with 2S 24V panels would likely perform pretty well. Probably only about a 5% hit due to a small mis-match.

thank you for clarifying...
What about 4s2p technically its over the theoretical 700w max.

 

[snoobler]

I would expect that's fine since you're inside both the PV voltage and current input limits.

 

[Forbisher]

thank you for clarifying...
What about 4s2p technically its over the theoretical 700w max.

700 watts is Max Production not some kind of Max that does damage.
Bluetti does not publish true max over paneling wattages.
I think about 1000 watts of panels should be ok and close to 12A.

However exceeding the 150V max input will stop charging and give an error code that will have to be reset.

 

[s35215c]

You can't go wrong with more panels, I currently have 470W worth of panels and I am looking to get more. At best I may get 430W on a good day for maybe 90 minutes. On average I probably get around 250W per hour over an 9 hour period so I could go from zero to full charge in about 7 hours. Problem is I also power loads while charging and I suspect you would be doing likewise. So the closer you can get to 700W which is the maximum for the AC200, the better it is for you.

You could just get cheaper panels from other sources, put them in series, (must be between 35V and 150V) and you are good to go. They all work more or less the same.

Hi, if i plug 2 solars panels of 370 watts each, on the Bluetti AC200P, even if max 700 watts, is it dangerous, bad idea ? or it will shut off if it reach 700 watts, what do you think ? or what would be the best solar panel setup for it ? thanks very much

 

[snoobler]

Hi, if i plug 2 solars panels of 370 watts each, on the Bluetti AC200P, even if max 700 watts, is it dangerous, bad idea ? or it will shut off if it reach 700 watts, what do you think ? or what would be the best solar panel setup for it ? thanks very much

Put them in series, and you should be fine. It's the 150V PV voltage limit that is the most important. There's also a 12A PV input current limit as well, but as long as you're within both of those, you're good. You can exceed the current limit as the unit will just ignore the extra.

As an example, lets say you could build an array with 110Vmp and 12A PV output. That's 110V * 12A = 1320W. The until would just not use anything above 700W, but it would maintain 700W for a long time.

 

[s35215c]

Mettez-les en série, et ça devrait aller. C'est la limite de tension PV 150V qui est la plus importante. Il existe également une limite de courant d'entrée PV de 12 A, mais tant que vous êtes dans les deux, vous êtes bon. Vous pouvez dépasser la limite de courant car l'appareil ignorera simplement le supplément.

À titre d'exemple, disons que vous pouvez construire un tableau avec une sortie PV 110Vmp et 12A. C'est 110V * 12A = 1320W. Le till n'utiliserait tout simplement rien au-dessus de 700W, mais il maintiendrait 700W pendant longtemps.

So this would be those 2 panels ... looks ok ?
370W for 260 $ CAD
Thank you very much for youre advice i very appréciate it

 

[snoobler]

Voc 48.4.

2S = 96.8V - well under 150V with lots of cold temp margin.

Isc = 9.64A - under the 12A limit meaning you won't waste any of the current the panels can provide.

Looks good.

 

[nifty-stuff.com]

First off, wanted to say that @snoobler's posts in this thread have been SUPER helpful!

I'm figuring out how to charge my AC200P with some old panels I got cheap from a friend. Stats on the back:


3S2P will give me 130.5 VOC and 900 "peak" watts

That said, these panels are old, so those stats are clearly going to be off by a bit.

I read how some people "over-panel" these so even though the bluetti can only take 700 watts, they will setup for much more than that so they can charge longer / more throughout the day.

... but I can't do that unless I move to a 3S3P config to get 130.5 VOC and 1,350 "peak" watts (again, not really gonna ever get that much juice out of these old panels).

So, would that be a decent setup using 9 panels to get the best potential input?

Thanks!

 

[snoobler]

First off, wanted to say that @snoobler's posts in this thread have been SUPER helpful!

I'm figuring out how to charge my AC200P with some old panels I got cheap from a friend. Stats on the back:
View attachment 53634

3S2P will give me 130.5 VOC and 900 "peak" watts

That said, these panels are old, so those stats are clearly going to be off by a bit.

I read how some people "over-panel" these so even though the bluetti can only take 700 watts, they will setup for much more than that so they can charge longer / more throughout the day.

... but I can't do that unless I move to a 3S3P config to get 130.5 VOC and 1,350 "peak" watts (again, not really gonna ever get that much juice out of these old panels).

So, would that be a decent setup using 9 panels to get the best potential input?

Yep.