In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

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

Discussion in 'Everything Else (off topic)' started by jtakeman, Feb 21, 2025.

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  1. bogieb

    bogieb

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    Smoke haze can definitely affect solar gathering. Yesterday, with not a cloud in the sky but visible smoke haze, my rooftop solar produced 43.3 kwh. The day before, with partly cloudy conditions, I pulled in 45.8 kwh. The difference would have been more except that in the afternoon, I'd say about 2-ish, the the majority of the smoke haze was pushed out.
     
    bogieb, Jun 5, 2025
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  2. Earl764

    Earl764

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    I’ve been looking at n-type panels that are meant to be better with shading and cloud conditions.

    Have been using the portable panels I initially bought. They work well enough but want to get a panel rated for permanent outdoor installations. Have been positioning my panels in different places in the yard to gauge performance.
     
    Earl764, Jun 7, 2025
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  3. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    June stats. Still haven't put up more panels. Taxes were more than expected this year and some of the kitty took a hit. Maybe next month??

    Screenshot_20250701-101643.png


    Screenshot_20250701-101752.png
     
    jtakeman, Jul 1, 2025
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  4. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Finally getting some early sun. Over a week with overcast in the am killed the solar. I could barely get 2kw gathered. Yesterday was the first day in more than a week I gained the 4kw+ I was used to getting. Gonna kill the total for July for sure!!
     
    jtakeman, Jul 16, 2025
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  5. bogieb

    bogieb

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    The struggle is real with consistently cloudy skies!
     
    bogieb, Jul 17, 2025
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  6. Earl764

    Earl764

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    how much have you played with the panels being in series vs. parallel?

    for my setup the docs read as if parallel was the better choice, but series increased my actual input and general production.
     
    Earl764, Jul 17, 2025
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  7. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    I have mine in series also. Higher voltage with lower amps than parallel. My wire to the house is long and the higher amps was causing to much heat and I was afraid I was going to burn up the connectors. Plus the MC4 connectors are only rated for 20 amps. Parallel the amps were getting pretty close to 25 amps. Series the amps have been cut in half. I've only seen 12 amps at the peek. A bit less worried about melting components now.
     
    jtakeman, Jul 17, 2025
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  8. T.Jeff Veal

    T.Jeff Veal

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    Nice engineering
     
    T.Jeff Veal, Jul 17, 2025
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  9. bogieb

    bogieb

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    Series is really dependent on circumstances: If one panel will get more shade than another, parallel will keep that shaded panel from dragging down the production. But, if they are next to each other, facing the same way and not over VOC, the series is generally thought of as better from what I've gathered.
     
    bogieb, Jul 18, 2025
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  10. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    The latest panels have better shade features. With built in diodes that keeps the back flow from the cell in shade from drawing down the others. They also have diodes that can be installed between the panels, Basically an MC4 inline connector with a diode in it.
     
    jtakeman, Jul 18, 2025
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  11. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    We decided it was better to get our new oil tank setup, So we opted to pass on adding more solar panels. But had a good solar month of August. Most likely wait to add more panels next year or try to at least get them purchased sometime after Christmas. Install next spring?

    Lost power twice after thunder storms. Pretty neat having most of the used things backed up and not needing the gas genny. The last outage was pretty close to dragging the gas unit out. I was down to 20% on the batteries and figured in about an hour I would need to get the gas gen connected. Priceless IMHO. We are pretty much sold on this and will be adding more battery storage and possible a larger battery gen too. Seems likely go with a 240V unit if the budget allows.

    Screenshot_20250903-114951.BLUETTI.png Screenshot_20250903-121141.BLUETTI.png
     
    jtakeman, Sep 3, 2025
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  12. bogieb

    bogieb

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    Looks like you are covering about 40% of your electrical needs with just a few panels and that is great. Even though you have the genny, the noise can wear on your nerves so havi9ng a silent power option is really awesome.
     
    bogieb, Sep 4, 2025
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  13. bogieb

    bogieb

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    Had a guy over yesterday to give me a quote for putting 4 x 320w panels on the roof of my shed. Not the best placement in the world as it is in shade from tress a portion of the day (except winter/spring). That's okay, I'm getting tired of moving those panels around in the garage, I had bought 6 panels but only use two in the yard for charging stations. At least the roof is facing pretty much south, maybe a tick or two towards SSW.

    The panels are not going to be used to power electrical in the shed (it has none, and doesn't need it), but will be another place I can charge stations. This will be especially useful in winter in case of power outage.

    Yes, it would be cheaper to do myself, but I don't do heights and as I've mentioned many times, I'm a whole lot better at taking apart than putting together :D.
     
    bogieb, Sep 13, 2025
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  14. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Me 2 bb, I rather keep my feet on the ground. I will job out the panels we might put up on the west side of the garage roof. That side is a big nope for me!!

    Sounds like a good plan!! :)
     
    jtakeman, Sep 13, 2025
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