Bluetti AC200P for Camping/Off Road Power

mikeav85

Planning to add a portable solar power supply to the back of the bed for onboard power while out in the mountain with the kids. I’ve been trying to find a practical way to get away from a gas generator and having to haul around gas can when out with the fam. Came across the Bluetti AC200P. So far its been easy to use and has held a charge well throughout the day when starting with a full charge. Screen is easy to read and use. I like that there is a separate AC and DC on/off switch and that there is a separate load indicator. Planning to find a place to mount it toward the front corner of the bed and try to find a way to setup a temporary mount for the flex panels onto the bakflip while slow wheeling on the trails.

Trying to find a portable solution to  a couple different scenarios. I understand each of these could probably use it’s own solution, but if I can us one item to work with all of them might be worth it. I’m trying to power to my workstation during summer outages, and have a portable power option when I want to use my laptop in the far end of the backyard where there is no power. Also now need a power source for a newly diagnosed need for a CPAP through out the night, no reasonable power without running a long extension. 

So far the AC 200P has been working great, the touch screen has been easy to use and understand. I’ve used gas generators of similar size for many years in outdoor settings and have been happy with the 2000W size. So far, this model has been able to power everything I’ve needed. I run it out in the mountains with my work laptop and mobile hotspot while charging my kid’s RC batteries all day and didn’t have any issues with the battery running low.

Can’t wait to get the panels in and try to mount them on the bed cover. I’ll keep everyone posted on the progress and welcome any input.

https://bit.ly/33Onq63

 

BB.

Sounds like it is working well for you with AC200P.

You can use the AC200P or a Kill-a-Watt type meter.

2,000 Watt*Hour capacity and a 2,000 Watt load:
2,000 WH / 2,000 W = 1 hour of run time
2,000 WH / 100 W = 20 hour of run time

Similar math for charging from solar--Using very rough numbers. Say 400 Watt of solar panels in 

http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

San Bernardino California
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a horizontal surface:

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
2.99	3.73	5.28	6.60	7.34	7.64
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
7.22	6.62	5.58	4.40	3.34	2.79

Say you run April through September, or 5.58 hours of sun per average day In September:

• 400 Watt array * 0.77 panel+controller derartings * 5.58 hours of sun = 1,719 WH of charge (Sept "break even")

Give you some idea of the "expectations" you can expect with a little modeling (there are a few extra losses--But a "close enough" for first pass estimate).

-Bill

mikeav85

Thank you for the info, I'm just getting into this and find is fascinating.
I just received the three panel kit a couple of weeks ago and have been using it around the house in the mountains, and so for me are pretty easy to use. At a weight of about 16 pounds and feel like they are sturdy enough to last a while. I do like that they're wrapped in a cloth material or on the backside which keeps them from feeling like cheap plastic. I do have some reservation about the small clips are used to keep it together when it is folded, but I'll see how long those last. In the mine has a similar but smaller kit from jackery and its panels had a small pouch on the back similar to these worthy wires could be stored, but I like that is have small USB plugs built-in to the backside of the panel. But when it comes to sheer size of the panels, this particular model has bigger panels which I definitely notice charged faster than my friends. I took them out to be mounted with the kids and noticed that even with a water heater/steamer, a Milwaukee tool battery charger, a portable speaker, a couple of phones on the wireless and wired charger ports the panels still managed to keep the battery percentage increasing.

Still looking for a good way to mount these on the back of the bed cover, thinking of using the built-in handles on the front of the back cover towards the cab and running a strap from one bullring to the other. The panels are long enough to run the length of the bed, some thinking that another strap at the end of the bed for one bullring to another should keep them in place during low-speed driving on the trails. Try to keep this thread going with any progress I make.