Bluetti Solar Generator

Ed on Toast

Ed on Toast

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So, with my little Doblo micro-camper project in mind, I am thinking along the lines of a Bluetti, with fold away solar panels.

Have any of you learned folk any advice? Makes, Size etc...

I was also looking around the

BLUETTI EB70 + PV200 Solar Generator Kit​

but I am also thinking, what are the thoughts around connecting it to a regular lithium battery, say 200ah to provide extra depth of power?

Space is a premium in my little Doblo but also is usage.

Thoughts?
 
Ecoflow delta 2 expected January worth a look , I am told you can connect it to your hook up socket to supply the van at 240 v ,not all lightweight solar folding are waterproof
 
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I have a doblo xl. It has 160 watt on the roof . One day I intend to add semiflexible panels 2 off to lean against the windscreen or the side of the car, hinged together maybe store under the bonnet.
 
Derekoak said:
I have a doblo xl. It has 160 watt on the roof . One day I intend to add semiflexible panels 2 off to lean against the windscreen or the side of the car, hinged together maybe store under the bonnet.
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Sounds interesting, any pictures?
 
What would be the plan for setting up a portable folding solar panel during the day when charging?

Campsite fine otherwise problematic unless you stay with the van. You also need space alongside van if ground based but maybe possible to position on roof.

If your normal routine park up style can accommodate portable solar panels fine. It does offer the flexibility of using cheap greenfield sites without hook up as long as you use a gas fridge. 12v coolers would drain an EB70 if intended to be powered 24/7 although a 200w panel daytime charge will keep it going.
 
We was on the aire at Aigueperse ( fantastic 5G signal ) to watch Her Majestey`s funeral and the German motorhome at the side of us was also watching it.

They had 2 X100W solar panels hinged together with very fancy adjustable brackets to optomise the angle out at the front of their motorhome connected with an Anderson plug into a locker to complement his roof panels because he only had 1 battery and it was very very low.

They were tight up to the front of their motorhome so hardly took any extra room but, a Frenchman came into the aire and managed to reverese straight over them o_O

I saw the line he was taking because he was reversing across the front of us so i shot forwards into our cab and started blasting our horn but it made no difference he just carried on going and backed over them, they were on his drivers side so it`s not like they were on his off side in a blind spot.

It destroyed both of them and after the German had finished sorting it out with the Frenchman who paid up in cash after going to an ATM over the road he and his wife came into our motorhome to watch the rest of the funeral.

There is absolutely no way on earth i`d ever put poratable solar panel outside on the ground.
 
Moped said:
What would be the plan for setting up a portable folding solar panel during the day when charging?

Campsite fine otherwise problematic unless you stay with the van. You also need space alongside van if ground based but maybe possible to position on roof.

If your normal routine park up style can accommodate portable solar panels fine. It does offer the flexibility of using cheap greenfield sites without hook up as long as you use a gas fridge. 12v coolers would drain an EB70 if intended to be powered 24/7 although a 200w panel daytime charge will keep it going.
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Very good points, in my case, OK but very valid points, thank you.
 
Why not total up your daily watt hours electric power consumption?

Then you can work out how much battery capacity you require.

Knowing that solar in the U.K. for the bleaker 6 months of the year can be a bit hit and miss it could be useful to double your daily requirement to give you a 2 day total reserve.

A 200w portable solar panel will probably generate a peak in ideal conditions facing the sun of 140wh of power. Summer no problem.

On a cloudy day this could drop to 20-40wh. So in a U.K. winter you might generate over say 6 hours 500wh at best and 150wh at worst.

Really it depends on how the van is used but the calculations you make will give you a starting point regarding your requirements.
 
Moped said:
Why not total up your daily watt hours electric power consumption?

Then you can work out how much battery capacity you require.

Knowing that solar in the U.K. for the bleaker 6 months of the year can be a bit hit and miss it could be useful to double your daily requirement to give you a 2 day total reserve.

A 200w portable solar panel will probably generate a peak in ideal conditions facing the sun of 140wh of power. Summer no problem.

On a cloudy day this could drop to 20-40wh. So in a U.K. winter you might generate over say 6 hours 500wh at best and 150wh at worst.

Really it depends on how the van is used but the calculations you make will give you a starting point regarding your requirements.
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Yeah, I generally use this kind of calculations, from the Phil School of Solar. I was just really, also looking for feedback of folks experiences of these devices but I certainly will factor in your sound advice, thank you.
 
There are two types of portable solar panels. Monocrystalline and polycrystalline.

Mono types are more expensive but are more efficient and better on cloudy days.

Experimenting we have a monocrystallline fixed panel on the roof and a polycrystalline portable panel purchased recently at a bargain price from a charity shop. Too good to miss. It is an Allpowers 200w.

Even on cloudy autumn days when the sun is hidden, the fixed roof 100w mono panel will generate some power all be it at low levels, maybe 3w to 6w. It is flat so cannot face the sun. Sun out and it gets up to 25w but remember it is flat and not directly facing the sun. More in summer or in winter Spain when the sun is higher in the sky but as a like for like comparison I am considering the current time of year as the Allpowers is a recent purchase.

The portable 200w poly panel won’t generate anything if the sun is hidden behind cloud and gets up to 20w to 40w when the sun is partly visible but that is when it is at an angle facing the sun. Clear blue sky and it generates 120w to 130w around the middle of the day given that the sun is lower in the sky this time of the year. Reports suggest up to 170w in high summer but we are not there yet (sadly).

Monocrystalline panels are more expensive but clearly perform better with latent dispersed light when the sun is hidden behind cloud.

Really it depends on your travel plans but if you are mainly a U.K. all season traveller you need a more expensive better quality (higher efficiency) Monocrystalline portable panel. And one that is waterproof.

That’s my suggestion anyway but I may be right or wrong.

The Bluetti PV200 panel is Monocrystalline so should generate some power in cloudy overcast U.K. conditions. It may well be worth paying the premium for it but check out YouTube reviews. Just to add I don’t think it’s waterproof but I may be wrong.
 
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Moped said:
There are two types of portable solar panels. Monocrystalline and polycrystalline.

Mono types are more expensive but are more efficient and better on cloudy days.

Experimenting we have a monocrystallline fixed panel on the roof and a polycrystalline portable panel purchased recently at a bargain price from a charity shop. Too good to miss. It is an Allpowers 200w.

Even on cloudy autumn days when the sun is hidden, the fixed roof 100w mono panel will generate some power all be it at low levels, maybe 3w to 6w. It is flat so cannot face the sun. Sun out and it gets up to 25w but remember it is flat and not directly facing the sun. More in summer or in winter Spain when the sun is higher in the sky but as a like for like comparison I am considering the current time of year as the Allpowers is a recent purchase.

The portable 200w poly panel won’t generate anything if the sun is hidden behind cloud and gets up to 20w to 40w when the sun is partly visible but that is when it is at an angle facing the sun. Clear blue sky and it generates 120w to 130w around the middle of the day given that the sun is lower in the sky this time of the year. Reports suggest up to 170w in high summer but we are not there yet (sadly).

Monocrystalline panels are more expensive but clearly perform better with latent dispersed light when the sun is hidden behind cloud.

Really it depends on your travel plans but if you are mainly a U.K. all season traveller you need a more expensive better quality (higher efficiency) Monocrystalline portable panel. And one that is waterproof.

That’s my suggestion anyway but I may be right or wrong.

The Bluetti PV200 panel is Monocrystalline so should generate some power in cloudy overcast U.K. conditions. It may well be worth paying the premium for it but check out YouTube reviews. Just to add I don’t think it’s waterproof but I may be wrong.
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Excellent feedback, thank you 👏

I power my Narrowboat (63ft in the dark of the North) using monocrystalline (Canadian) panels and my system provided 240v on demand 265 days (I use alot, dishwasher, air fryer, microwave and lots, lots more...)

The Doblo does not have the luxury of such space and so I look for a totally different set up.

The great advantage of the Solar Generator system is I can fully charge it from the boat and keep top upped via a mix of solar and road move (alternator)

I will be doing some specialist work over the winter, 12 on 12 off (approx 12 road miles per day and 12 hours static. So the hybrid of solar and alternator seems good to back up the Powerbank (charged on days off, via 240v from the boat)

I was thinking the

BLUETTI EB70 + PV200 Solar Generator Kit​

But maybe using any surplus, via the Bluetti to maybe (if possibly) charge an axillary lithium battery, to provide additional depth of power.

I use, from time to time, a roof box to provide additional storage. So, the fixed roof panel is not a favoured option, in this case. Although, I totally accept it is more efficient element to the system.

Micro- campers (I am new to this) do seem to throw up a good few problems but with the support of the good folk here, ideal solutions can be found and shared, of that I am sure.

Thanks again 👏
 
Just checked now midday central England with sun beaming through slightly hazy cloud:-

Flat roof mounted Mono 100w panel offering 22w

Portable poly 200w panel angled at sun offering 127w

A more efficient costlier mono would probably offer up in the range 140w to 145w in the same conditions.

Just to add that a gent I was speaking to in southern Spain last January ar around 6 weeks after Xmas (we are currently 6 weeks before Xmas) so sun about the same height in the sky time wise had 550w of solar panels on his roof and he was generating about 270w of power or about 50% of the panel rating. In the U.K. currently I am getting 22% of the roof panel rating so you can see what a difference going further south to Spain makes.

The very clear advantage of a portable panel in the U.K. is that you can harvest more autumn, winter and spring power as you can angle it at the sun. You can see I’m only getting 22% of my roof capacity but around 62.5% of my portable capacity which can make a big difference when off grid in the 6 month off peak U.K. season. These are peak midday figures though remember.

PS I’ve only recently purchased the Allpower 200w panel so I am experimenting to see what I can achieve with the roof panel and the portable combined. Once I have worked things out I can plan future travel and park up arrangements with potentially never requiring hook up but we shall see. I accept the fridge will be running on LPG but there are inverter requirements also. It may be I require hook up every 5-7 days to charge things back up fully.
 
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...and further to my last...

I was also wondering:

The large Bluetti units, have the option of an additional batter pack being added (lithium)

So, I was wondering, for other, smaller units, cab a lithium battery not simply be added, some how, in some wiring configuration to add additional depth of power (bigger tank, so to speak) ?

Or would this open a tin of worms?
 
Ed on Toast said:
...and further to my last...

I was also wondering:

The large Bluetti units, have the option of an additional batter pack being added (lithium)

So, I was wondering, for other, smaller units, cab a lithium battery not simply be added, some how, in some wiring configuration to add additional depth of power (bigger tank, so to speak) ?

Or would this open a tin of worms?
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If the Bluetti power box hasn’t got the means to connect to a Bluetti booster battery, then only by using an inverter connected to the lithium battery and then plugging the Bluetti charging lead into this. A form of battery to battery charging.

You have pass through power so you can draw from the Bluetti whilst at the same time the lithium battery is being used to charge the Bluetti unit. So you could potentially buy a lower cost smaller Bluetti unit, although having a smaller inverter power rating, and buy a 200ah lithium battery with its own separate inverter, with a higher rating for use with equipment beyond the scope of the Bluetti inverter maybe.

But why not them simply connect gear directly to the lithium battery inverter being used?

The answer is you cannot see draw rates or battery power levels or hours of use available or any of the data that the Bluetti screen offers so you are using equipment entirely blind.

There are lithium batteries that have apps so you can view how discharged they are so st least you know when the support battery is fully discharged and you then are reliant solely on what’s left in the Bluetti unit. Maybe the apps do show all the information that the Bluetti display screen shows so you then would know the draw on the battery that the Bluetti is making.

You can pick up 200ah lithium batteries from around £700. And then you need the inverter. You also need a transformer to charge the lithium battery.

So potentially you could have a 225ah Bluetti and lithium battery set up for say £1200 (assuming inverter and charger £100 each and £300 for the smallest Bluetti unit) plus the cost of solar panels.

As against the £1600 for a 200ah Bluetti unit.

You can then of course connect any number of 200ah lithium batteries in parallel to further boost your capacity. As against £1400 for each Bluetti 200ah battery expansion pack.
 
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Moped said:
If the Bluetti power box hasn’t got the means to connect to a Bluetti booster battery, then only by using an inverter connected to the lithium battery and then plugging the Bluetti charging lead into this. A form of battery to battery charging.

You have pass through power so you can draw from the Bluetti whilst at the same time the lithium battery is being used to charge the Bluetti unit. So you could potentially buy a lower cost smaller Bluetti unit, although having a smaller inverter power rating, and buy a 200ah lithium battery with its own separate inverter, with a higher rating for use with equipment beyond the scope of the Bluetti inverter maybe.

But why not them simply connect gear directly to the lithium battery inverter being used?

The answer is you cannot see draw rates or battery power levels or hours of use available or any of the data that the Bluetti screen offers so you are using equipment entirely blind.

There are lithium batteries that have apps so you can view how discharged they are so st least you know when the support battery is fully discharged and you then are reliant solely on what’s left in the Bluetti unit. Maybe the apps do show all the information that the Bluetti display screen shows so you then would know the draw on the battery that the Bluetti is making.

You can pick up 200ah lithium batteries from around £700. And then you need the inverter. You also need a transformer to charge the lithium battery.

So potentially you could have a 225ah Bluetti and lithium battery set up for say £1200 (assuming inverter and charger £100 each and £300 for the smallest Bluetti unit) plus the cost of solar panels.

As against the £1600 for a 200ah Bluetti unit.

You can then of course connect any number of 200ah lithium batteries in parallel to further boost your capacity. As against £1400 for each Bluetti 200ah battery expansion pack.
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You need to check the individual Lifepo4 battery to see what connections can be made, some can only be two connected in parallel but more serial.
To me though a solar generator is for portable power and YouTubers, why would you connect a Lifepo4 4 battery, cant easily nip in Costa and recharge that
 
I looked at one but decided to just fit a couple of extra solar panels making 360w instead. What swung it was having to leave it for so long to charge up. You only get between 50 / 70 % of panel rateing so can take a while to recharge. Someone on another forum has bought one and was saying they will be able to use it for toaster, electric kettle, hair dryer, Romoska and air fryer etc 🤣🤣 Just endless power.
 
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