Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

At 1,500 watts of power storage, the Maxoak Bluetti is a serious solar generator. But the power capacity is only the first thing that makes it stand out among today’s crop of competitors. What impresses me the most is its charging input. First of all, it’s an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) charge controller built-in. Second, someone finally made a unit like this that can take a string of solar panels in series to achieve its 500 watt maximum input. Everyone else keeps the input voltage spec so low that you are forced to tie your panels in parallel, resulting in a high current and all the heat problems that come with it. The Bluetti charging input allows up to 60 volts, or 10 amps, whichever limit you hit first. The maximum charging power is an impressive 500 watts, and it has a 1,000 watt inverter built in. There are two 110vac outputs which both draw from the same 1,000 watt inverter. If you max-out the Bluetti AC power by plugging in appliances that draw a total of 1,000 watts, they should run for about an hour and seven minutes. That’s because, like every solar generator system, the Bluetti will only allow you to use about 80% of its capacity, to prolong battery life. The real value of these units is when your power needs are about 1,200 watt-hours per event you plan to use it for. If your event is one hour and seven minutes long, then you can run something that needs about 1,000 watts continuously. If your event is 8 hours long, then you can run something that needs about 150 watts continuously. If your event is 24 hours long, then you can run something that needs about 50 watts continuously. Calculating your power needs when they are not continuous can get complex. And they get even more complex when you are able to charge the Bluetti with solar panels at the same time you are using power. In that case, how long the unit will work depends on lots of things, but the solar charging will lengthen the time your load will run. I tested the Bluetti’s inverter by running my table saw with it. It was always able to start the saw, even though the power requirements spiked well above the 1,000 watt continuous spec. The highest power I saw on the Bluetti’s screen was over 1,400 watts but because the update rate of the screen, I’m sure it went higher than that. I was able to make a few small cuts, but when I tried to cut the edge of a door to make it 3/16” narrower, the Bluetti gave up after about 10 seconds with an Inverter Overload Error. That’s not surprising at all considering that the table saw motor is way oversized for the Bluetti’s inverter (just it’s idle requirements were around 800 watts). It’s a good thing when your solar charger cuts you off from a power scenario that could cause it harm. It is still a little tricky to achieve the Bluettie’s charging power maximum of 500 watts with common panels. I was able to connect three of my 160 watt Eco-Worthy panels for a total theoretical wattage of 480 watts, but each panel has an open circuit voltage (Voc) rating of 21.6v. That means I theoretically exceeded the 60 volt limit of the Bluetti’s charging input, with 64.8 volts under open circuit conditions (3 x 21.6). The time your panels will experience the Voc is when there is full sun, but your solar generator’s battery is fully charged so it can’t take any more power. Its MPPT charge controller will shoot its resistance to its high limit which will approximate an open circuit. The output of your panels will approach their Voc. I didn’t have any problems with this setup but I did not leave it this way while the battery was full and I always had a load on the AC outputs. In full sunlight, while it was charging with these 3-160 watt panels connected in series, the maximum power the Bluetti indicated was 312 watts, far from their theoretical maximum of 480 watts. That’s not as bad as it sounds. I’m in the Chicago area and the day I did this test the sky was a little hazy. A crisp blue-sky day will certainly produce more power. But since I wasn’t close to the maximum solar power, I decided to see what would happen if I put a fourth 160 watt panel in series with the others. As soon as I plugged it in, the Bluetti shutdown with an Over Voltage Error on charging port. No surprise. At the instant I plugged the string in, all four panels would have been at their Voc. So I tried a different approach. I covered part of one panel and found that the voltage of the string was well below 60 volts (just about any shading causes a string of panels to disrupt their power production, and it didn’t take much shading to get a lot less than 60 volts). I plugged the string into the Bluetti’s charging port and then uncovered the panel. Because the Bluetti did not immediately see an over-voltage condition, it started drawing power. Then, when I uncovered the panel, the voltage did not go to its Voc value because the Bluetti was drawing power. I was able to get the Bluetti to indicate it was accepting as much as 409 watts. But if I had waited until the battery was full, all four panels would have gone to their Voc voltage and this time they would have totaled 86.4 volts (4 x 21.6)…way over the 60 volt limit of the Bluetti. I didn’t let it run very long that way because I was afraid the Bluetti might blow out its charger input. Ultimately I was successful getting the Bluetti to accept a high of 465 watts on its charging input without exceeding the maximum voltage or current, by connecting my four 160 watt panels in series and isolating them from the Bluetti through a Drok DC Buck Converter. I configured the Drok to output a maximum of 59.75 volts and a maximum current of 8.25 amps for a theoretical maximum of 493 watts. I’ve only run it for one day with this setup but so far it has worked well. The only problem still comes from the Voc on four panels because the maximum input voltage of the Drok DC Buck Converter is 75 volts. I’ve measured as high as 84 volts on its input from the panels when the Bluetti’s battery was full and there were no loads on its outputs. I will keep experimenting with the Bluetti connected in this way to see how long the Drok unit lasts. It may work fine for a long time considering that at Voc, the current from the panels is tiny. But because I am exceeding the specifications of the Drok unit I don’t recommend that anyone else take this approach. I’ve only had the Bluetti for a few days but now that I’m able to charge it with free solar energy at something close to the 500 watt specification, I am more than happy. My only wish is that the screen could be configured to stay on longer than 60 seconds when it is being charged. That wouldn’t take much power. And, yes, I suppose I wish it would accept 100 volts on the charging input, but if the Drok unit works long term, I am satisfied. If it doesn’t, I will be forced back to just 3 panels. I will still be happy that the Bluetti allows me to connect 480 watts-worth of solar panels in series. Either way, with the Bluetti, I plan to take some watt-hours back from the power company.