Need help in Panel selection

[AJ123]

Hi,

Short background on my objective: I intend to create the ability to recharge an Anker F3800 Power Station with PV panels if needed during an extended grid outage. I will also be able to recharge the Power Station with a gas generator or the grid if it is up. The power station will plug into my generator panel instead of the gas generator, feeding selected circuits in my home.

The limitations of the Power Station for solar recharging are 2 inputs of 1200 watts each, for a total of 2400 watts. The two inputs are each limited to 25 amps with a voltage supply from 32 to 60 VDC.

My question: Would 3 panels with 390-watt Pmax, 39.64 Vmp, 9.84 Imp, and 48.6 Voc, wired in parallel, be a good selection for the limitations of the Power Station.
There would be a total of 6 panels feeding the Power Station, 3 for each of it’s two inputs.
If there is a better selection to be made, please share.
Thanks for your help.

[chrisski]

Seems good.

May want to be sure that the

-Anker power station connect to these panels. Does it have an MC4 or other unique apapter

-The VOC is at a comfortable temp like 72 and goes up when it’s cold. Find what the temp compensation is and use the record cold in your area.

[AJ123]

Thank you chrisski.

From a temperature dependance table provided by the manufacturer, it appears that worst case, the VOC is 120% of cell temperature of 25C, in ambient temperature of 20C. So, at -50C, 48.6 VOC X 120% equals 58.32 VOC, still below the 60 volt limit of the Anker power station.

Regarding the connections. The input is a XT60, which is readily available online. Should I consider a disconnect switch on the wall near the location of the power station to de-energize the power from the panels before unplugging the connectors from the power station? This would also be safer as the connectors will not be hanging around energized if not connected to the power station.

[Martymoe]

Hi, late to the show, but i have a similar situation.. one thing to keep in mind is that this thing doesnt like anything below about 33 volts.. i have the same f3800 with 3 older used panels 315w at about 41v, i have them just layed out on the ground to test with, the anker seems to like those fine.. as i was trying to get closer to 2400w with a permanent install, i bought 6 new canadian solar 395w panels to mount and run 2 sets of 3 in parallel to both xt60's on the anker.. problem is they run at about 31.5v and the anker will barely charge.
as an example, one leg hooked up (3 panels) with a solar output of around 800w/m2 the best i've seen is 285w.. to make that even more fun, when i play with the configuration it gets weirder.. removing one panel out of the set makes 270w and only having one panel in that configuration is worth 258w so a 13-14w difference from adding a whole panel? that doesnt make any sense unless the anker just wont activate at the lower voltage.. i opened a ticket with anker and they say it "should work"
to add to that.. right now as i type, the anker is connected to the old 315w panels, solar output is 866w/m2 and the dc input for the anker is just shy of 800.
in a perfect world i'd just series the panels and get the voltage up (which would also increase the wattage, but then i'd be seeing 62-63v and with a 60v upper limit, im not willing to risk this expensive device..
quite a quandry indeed.. but a good thing to know if you're wanting to do something like this.

[AJ123]

Hi,
Thanks for the update to your efforts. I am not yet to the point where I know what the output my three panels in parrallel will actually be. I am installing two arrays with room for four panels on each, incase I find I am short in the amperage department. Excavation for the array posts should be within a week. I am planning to use #6 wire from the array to the disconnect near the F3800 to minimise the voltage loss.
What is the design voltage of the panels you just purchased?
Let me know what Anker tells you.