Bluetti AC500 w/B300K battery for our home backup/supplement system install and review

I currently have 2 540w bifacial panels. Both mounted on angle mounts facing south. One is angled at 22º and the other is at 34º. I need to get both angled the same now that they are in series.

 

Boomer rolled through yesterday with crazy winds. Trees and wires down all over. Lost power for about an hour during the storm and 2 more times after it passed. Was nice not having to drag the genny out barely get it set up to have power return. And then go out again(2x more). Hardly knew we lost power except for a few things didn't work.

I'll be swapping a few more circuits over to it now that we've missed a few things while power was out. Had to grab an extension cord from a backed up circuit for the fish tank over to the microwave and Keurig coffee maker. Probably put the well pump on it too.

 

OK so far. Still need to put up a few more panels to catch more rays. Its the next thing on the todo list after I get the HHO tank pumped out and removed from the ground.

I think we saved close to $15 last month. even with all the rain the sun is stronger when it does come out.

 

Waiting on the Fedex truck today, Ordered another B300K battery!

Mainly because I've had to run at a lower state of charge than I'd like to capture the amount of solar with the panels I already have. It will only get worse once I put in the next 2 panels. It seems the 48V external batteries don't add their face value and you can only use approximately 1000 of the rated watts hours. Hard to explain, But adding 5120 51.2 volt battery doesn't actually add the face value of 5120 watt hours. Seems you need to run the voltage down lower than the Bluetti AC500/B300K cutoff voltage to get the added extra watt hours.

The only way I can get the added 5120wh from that extra battery pack is if I switch them over to the solar in port(PV). And I have to let them run to their own cutoff voltage(approx 40 volts). With the AC500 cutoff voltage of 48.6 volts, The extra battery packs are still 70% charged??? Something I can't wrap the noggin around!!

 

New setup pic! Rearranged it to be less top heavy!! Nearly tipped it over trying to move it. More weight on the bottom helped much! Going to run it down from 70% to 10% to see how much extra umph was gained!

 

Was hoping to test today, But of course clouds and rain!

The lower I run the power station, The more watt hours are gained from the EB's. From 1% to zero seemed to be where I gained the most. The Bluetti EB double the capacity I was getting from 70% to 10%. The the DIY EB's seemed to kick in. But only about a 1/3 face value. was going to do another charge and drain today, But mother nature said nope!

The AC500 doesn't have time remaining or time to recharge like the AC200L. But the last drain down on the AC200L with 1 DIY EB the time to recharge with both the internal and EB connected was double what the internal battery would say. I do think I need to drain to zero before the DIY EB's capacity is applied to the system firmware. The 2 tests I did with the AC200L gained more each time on run down to cutoff. I'm trying the same on the AC500 after the next recharge. Hoping the case is true and I get a bit more capacity.

Worse case is the DIY EB's stay in the system and then get connected to the PV on outages to extend the runtime. A good reserve in case of need I guess. At least they charge to full capacity when connected to the battery ports. No need for an auxiliary charger.

 

"Claimed" is 3500+ life cycles and 10 years. The ones I bought do have a 4 year warranty. Some of the other brands are claiming longer life cycles, I've seen 6K+. But they all seem to "claim" approx 10 years.

 

I'm OK with here. But it might be more beneficial for others with your own?? No worries if you decide here though.

They do make chargers that connect to the vehicle that charge the units. Check out Bluetti's Charger one

BLUETTI Charger 1

It connects to the same port as the solar panels and charges while you drive. Auto off when the vehicle is turned off. AFAIK you need to swap the connectors to solar while stationary and then back to the charger one while on the road. The selling point is it scales up the voltage for faster charging of the internal batteries while still using 12v power(mainly alternator excess not used by the vehicle).

Many go with the 12v fridge and just connect land power to the power station which will pass power through. But I really haven't a clue. Many many good forums within the power station brand you choose(ie Ecoflow-Anker-ect). This is one of the popular uses of these units. And like any other tips and trick vary per model/brand. There are also brand specific facebook groups where many tips about the said unit can be learned. I learned a bunch on Bluetti's FB group. and its also monitored by factory service reps that help out with issues. I joined these groups for Anker-Ecoflow-Bluetti ect) and research particular models I was interested in before I purchased trying to get the best bang for the buck.

In my case Ecoflow had the features, But was too pricey for the model I was interested in. So I researched the next which was Ankers F3800 unit. But learned it had faults or disadvantages to what I intended for use. So I searched a bit more and found that the Bluetti ac300 or ac500 was a slightly better fit for "my" needs. But this will vary on what the users needs are. Best to really research and decide for your specific needs. You may find that a Ecoflow unit is in your price range and is the best fit ect. Another budget brand is Pecron and I do see many travels using them. Oupes brand is also a budget brand with lots of features.

I will say that Ecoflow and Bluetti have the better phone apps. Anker's phone app was terrible IMHO. Pecrons app is basic but functions OK. Bluetti's has the history for tracking the Anker/pecron did not have. But again varies per model/unit/brand. Example: I know the app I use for the Bluetti AC500 and AC200L show history. But a friends AC180 does "not".

 

This test I ran the batteries down on the AC500 to 10%. then started tracking how much it going to take to fill to 100%. Basically trying to see how much I can actually store and use. And share the results. Test 2 I'll run it down to 0% or cutoff of the unit and then track the fill. 2 blah sun days as I usually see close to 4 KWH on a good sunny day. So off to a bumpy start.

Test #1 for capacity(storage).
2 B300K batteries(2764.8 x 2)= 5529.6 wh's
2 48V DIY ext batteries(5120 x 2)= 10240 wh's

15769.6 wh's total

PV solar in(capture watts) to fill batteries.
Day 1: 2.15 KWH or 2150 watts from 10% to 36% capacity
Day 2: 1.19 KWH or 1190 watts from 36% to 57% capacity
Day 3: 4.77 KWH or 1190 watts from 57% to 97% capacity
Day : 0.73 KWH or 430 watts from 97% to 100% capacity

Total of 8.84 KWH or 8840 watt hour's to 100%

 

Test one is complete. 8.8kwh total storage from the 15+ kwh batteries. Test 2 will be here when we get another batch of rain to come through. Hoping to gain a bit more storage when I do draw the batteries down to the 0% or cutoff of the power station.

 

So much rain this month not a lot of savings! I guess some is better than nada!

 

Even though its sunny out today, Ain't getting chit for solar. Between the pollen collection on the panels and smoke haze is my guess. Going to hit HD up for a long stick and a scrunge/squeegee thingy to clean the panels!!

High noon bright sun and not zilch for solar gathered!!