Bluetti AC60&B80 - You will have electricity far away from the world!
The Bluetti AC60&B80 pair form a flexibly expandable system that allows you to go days without an outlet. They are relatively small, relatively light, drop-resistant and durable, so they are excellent solutions for camping, boating, motorhomes, but you can also take them with you when you go fishing.
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I've been blueetting since last year. Then I managed to get hold of a Bluetti EB3A unit, which at first I only took with me on camping trips, but now I also use it at home as an uninterruptible power supply. I should note that the beginning of our relationship was not smooth because the original firmware specifically made the UPS service on it unusable. Fortunately, this has now been fixed with the new software. The fan still runs a bit too much (it's quite loud), but this is no longer a crazy problem for me, because the machine is not next to me, but in the rack next to the other gadgets.
So I've been a Bluettis for a while, I love my machine, so it was a great pleasure when the manufacturer contacted me to ask if I would like to try their new devices, the AC60 type inverter battery pack and the B80 additional battery pack.
I was very happy about it because I secretly cherish RV projects, and if I can make it happen, these units will be a big help!
But what exactly is it about? Well, before we get into the specifics, I'll tell you (describe) why this package is so good!
The fact is that Bluetti manufactures systems that are able to meet the energy needs of the entire household as an isolated system. These packages consist of a central unit and battery packs that can be flexibly expanded as needed. The more battery packs we have, the greater the capacity of the entire system.
The parts of the package can therefore be purchased separately, and can be expanded on the fly or even afterwards, so we are guaranteed not to buy more batteries or spend more money than we need. So these are insanely scalable systems that, by the way, also look pretty good. I know it's not that important, but if e.g. I want to build one in the garage, then I'd rather look at designer boxes than bare batteries. I think you are the same way!
The point is that until now, there has not been a smaller package, typically used for hobby purposes, camping, etc., that could be scaled like large systems. Now, however, there is the AC60 and the B80 pair next to it. 2000 Wh capacity.
Looking at it in detail, it looks like the central unit, i.e. AC60, is 403Wh, plus one B80 is 1209Wh, and plus two B80s is 2015Wh.
It's time to break apart the imaginary package and examine the ingredients separately!
The central unit is the Bluetti AC60. This is a box weighing 9 kilograms, on which we find two AC outlets (220 volts, standard color), two 2-watt USB-A connectors, one USB-C connector with PD fast charging and 15-watt output, and a 100-volt cigarette lighter connector.
I have already described the capacity of the battery, but not the type. The battery pack features a highly stable LiFePO4 battery chemistry capable of 2500+ charge cycles. The unit is capable of delivering 600 watts, but as an emergency solution, it can also deliver 1200 watts for a short time using the boost mode.
We can charge the unit from 12 volts, 230 volts or from a solar cell, for the latter the maximum 200 watt units can be considered (that is, it can be bigger, but you can only charge the AC200 with 60 watts), which are between 12 and 28 volts.
What is also worth mentioning is that the device has IP65 water resistance, which I think is a great thing for such a portable, camping mini power plant. IP65 roughly means that it is resistant to quieter rain, weaker water jets, and of course it is adequately protected against dust.
And what's even more interesting is that of course this unit can also be connected to our phone via Bluetooth, so we can remotely switch the outputs, see the charge level, and turn on the big light on the back. So we can reach the most important things from the phone.
On the front we find a rather large display, it is very similar to the display on my own EB3A unit. The important things can be seen on it, i.e. the charge level, the output power, the currently recorded power, if it is charging, as well as the operating mode (e.g. ECO).
Next to the display, there are the physical buttons for the outputs and the device's power button, and, what's more important, the top of the box hides a wireless charger, if our phone supports wireless charging, we can free up a USB port.
Next is the B80, which is a slightly simpler structure, being "just" an expansion pack.
Although the purpose is only to expand, the B80 can even be used by itself, of course, if you do not need a 220 output, because it does not have one. On the other hand, we get a USB-A (15 watts), a USB-C (100 watts) and a 12-volt cigarette lighter charger. The capacity of the package is exactly double that of the central unit, i.e. 80 Wh.
The battery type is of course the same as the one in the main unit. These LiFePO4 cells are the top these days, they charge relatively quickly and withstand quite a lot of discharges without quality degradation or loss of capacity. Experience shows that it takes up to 3000+ discharge cycles to reduce the capacity to 80 percent of its original capacity.
This doesn't seem like a lot, but do the math, a year consists of 365 days, that is, a full discharge every day for roughly 7-8 years, that's 3000 cycles. I don't think this is bad, especially since most of us only use a fraction of it.
It is also important that, although this is still "only" the auxiliary package, it can be charged separately, although only from a solar panel or DC 12 volts, so charging with a socket is missing here.
If we want to connect the units, all we have to do is stack them on top of each other and connect the two boxes with a relatively thick cable. There are two connectors on the side of the B60, so the two AC80s must be connected to them if we want to use the full capacity.
I have described the essence, some experience and opinions are welcome!
Let's perhaps start with how much difference there is between the actual output and the specification. Here it is important to note that the fact that there is a difference is not the Bluetti sara, it is the technology, that is, for each manufacturer approx. you will experience this or worse.
The point is that on the charging side, in the case of the solar panel, and on the output side, we have to reckon with quite a substantial loss.
For example, the batteries can deliver roughly 80-85 percent of the nominal power, that is, in our case, we can calculate roughly 60 Wh in the case of the AC340, while in the case of the B80 expanders, it comes out to roughly 690 Wh. In other words, in practice, if we buy the AC60 and two B80s next to it, we can count on a capacity of 1760 Wh.
When charging with solar panels, we can calculate that AC60 and B80 can be charged separately, namely with 200 watt solar panels. The math says that according to the paper form, this means 200 Wh, that is, we can charge the B60 in two hours, while the AC80 can be charged in four hours. The problem is that you won't get more than 200-140 watts out of a 150 watt solar panel, even under the most ideal conditions, and there are some losses, so you can count on 4 hours for the B60 and 8 hours for the AC80.
This seems like a lot, but it is not impossible. Let's say I would have been happier with a 300-watt charging option, that would have meant an immediate 50 percent increase.
The question is, what can such a package be used for, and who might it be worth buying it for?
Well, I would say that even though the 1200 watt boost mode is there, stick to the 600 watt max. That's not enough either, it already takes a small refrigerator, a hair dryer on the lowest setting, TV, radio, lighting, charging phones, so 600 watts will be enough for a lot of things.
If you want to use the full 600 watt output, you get about 40 minutes of operating time with the central unit. I would like to note that a smaller, say 40-inch LED TV is barely 100 watts, so you can watch approx. 4 hours of movies. If you just want to charge a phone or other things, perhaps lighting or a small beer cooler with a few cans of beer, you can get 6-7 hours, which is not bad.
But this is where the AC80 units come into play, with double the capacity of the B60.
In other words, if you use an AC80 next to the B60, you can watch TV for 10-12 hours, or even light up for a whole day, charge your devices and cool your beer in your small fridge. That way, it would be a lot of fun!
By connecting the second AC80 to the system, you get another 7-8 hours of TV power (so 18-20 hours), I won't tell you the rest.
My experience during the test was that the above calculation is roughly correct. In other words, the loss also remained at the level that could be calculated in advance, and the output also produced as much power as I had calculated in advance. I note that I only had one AC80 extension at my disposal.
What is obvious (in my opinion) is that you should not plan to use a consumer larger than 600 watts!
Unfortunately, I couldn't test the maximum of the solar charge, since I only have a 100 watt solar cell, it would have taken me a while to charge the full capacity. I didn't even bother with it, it's obvious that it would be worth getting at least one more 100 watt one in addition to the 200 watt one.
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Who do I recommend the package to?
Well, the basic machine, the B60, for those who sometimes need the 220 output, but basically prefer to use USB, 12 volts. Maybe a very small consumer of up to 200 watts on the 100 volt output. Nothing else makes much sense, on paper 403, but in reality 340 Wh can run out pretty quickly.
If you buy one of the AC80s, then the situation changes immediately, then you can even use medium 200-watt consumers up to 220 watts (of course, according to the paper form, a maximum of 600 watts is still coming out of it), if not all day, but at least a few for an hour. And if you buy 2 AC80, you can last a whole day with smaller consumers.
Actually, as I wrote above, this is the beauty of the thing, since a fisherman will be fine with the basic package, but with the extra batteries, even boating, RVing or camping in the primeval forest is unacceptable. So the biggest advantage is that you can have a system that can scale when the time comes, but you can also use it as a very compact system if you don't need full capacity all the time. So you can go fishing with the AC60, if you connect the additional packs (B80), the world can be yours, you can go wherever you want, you can camp wherever you want (and where you won't be punished).
What you might want to think about is that by purchasing this capacity of around 2000 Wh together, you will get it cheaper. So in the event that you know for sure that you will need the 2000 Wh, you may be better off with one larger unit instead of two or three small ones. Of course, in this case, you also have to take into account that portability will be very heavy, because the battery, which accounts for most of the weight, needs as much in one large as in three small ones. It will be closer to 30 kilos.
Ok, the prices are at the end. The price of the AC60 when ordered from an EU warehouse is 600 euros, while for the B80 units we also have to shell out 700 euros per piece. Converted to HUF, this means HUF 268 per box.
This is not a small amount of money, but the fact is that you will hardly find another pack under 1000 watts on the market that can be varied at this level, that can be expanded so flexibly. Especially not at this price, so something for something. Expensiveness is only relative. At the same time, it is a question of how many people in our country can afford this expenditure of around half a million. If you are one of them and need such a portable power plant, then feel free to buy it, you will not be disappointed.
To purchase, please click on the links below. You can buy the units from the manufacturer's EU warehouse, so the units come with a 6-year manufacturer's warranty!
