In our EcoFlow Delta 1300 review, we sang the praises of this highly efficient, light, and portable power station. In this article, we’ll look at how to charge the device with solar panels, what the ideal conditions for solar power are, and how the device compares to EcoFlow alternatives.
Solar panels are a great source of free, renewable, environmentally-friendly electricity. So if you’re buying yourself a portable power station, you want to make sure that it’s capable of fully charging through solar panels.
Solar charging capabilities are one of the key selling points of the EcoFlow Delta 1300. The portable power station is ready to be plugged into photovoltaic cells straight out the box, which makes it a great device for people wanting to invest in green energy.
The EcoFlow Delta 1300 power is rated at 1280W, all of which can be stored from solar power. The device is rated for 400W of solar power, but it can go as high as 600W without damaging the capacitors.
The EcoFlow Delta 1300 comes with two ports for solar panels. Panels can be plugged into the battery bank in parallel or daisy-chained together in series.
EcoFlow sells its own solar panels designed specifically to work with the EcoFlow Delta 1300. However, owing to the MPPT charge controller, the device is compatible with any solar panels.
Solar panels are available on EcoFlow’s website starting at $300. If you’re considering purchasing a Delta, have a look at some of EcoFlow’s bundle packages. Customers can score themselves a hefty discount by purchasing the battery pack and solar panels together.
The EcoFlow Delta 1300 comes with a built-in, smart Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) solar charge controller. This clever technological development vastly improves the charging efficiency of the battery through solar panels.
The voltage (V) and current (A) of solar panels change continuously throughout the day. Depending on the amount of light, the temperature, even the humidity, levels of voltage and current put out by the solar panels can differ wildly.
This has a negative effect on the charging time and lifespan of the power station the panels are connected to. MPPT charge controllers fix this issue by regulating the power that is output by the panels throughout the day.
MPPT charge controllers monitor the voltage and current of the solar panels and use a smart inverter to keep the voltage and current at consistent levels. This keeps the battery bank in good condition for longer and results in a faster charge time.
By keeping the power output of the solar panels consistent, the circuit becomes more efficient. Older devices that used PWR charge controllers could suffer as high as 40% inefficiency in poor weather conditions.
One of the biggest limiting factors to charging the EcoFlow Delta 1300 is the weather. The device is rated at 400W for solar panels, meaning anything more than that will be lost as heat.
Solar panels for the Delta 1300 are rated at 200W each, so you only need two arrays to get the maximum charge out of it. However, a solar panel rated at 200W will rarely, if ever, reach a 200W output.
Even on a warm, cloudless day, the solar panels in direct sunlight peaked at around 175W output. This doesn’t mean that the panels aren’t working correctly, just that the rated output and the actual output are always a bit different.
With that in mind, the best place for your solar panels for your Delta 1300 is somewhere where they will be exposed to direct sunlight for as long as possible.
We found that in ideal weather conditions, the EcoFlow Delta 1300 would charge from 0% to 100% in a little over 4 hours with two 200W solar panels.
The closest competitor to the EcoFlow Delta 1300 is the Jackery 1000. Like the Delta 1300, the Jackery 1000 comes with an MPPT charge controller to improve charging efficiency and energy loss.
However, the Jackery falls short in terms of charge time. The Jackery 1000 holds 300W less power than the EcoFlow Delta 1300, but in the same conditions with the same solar panels, it takes nearly 6 hours to charge fully.
This pales in comparison to the Delta’s impressive 4-hours charge time. 6 hours can be an issue outside of the summer months, where weather conditions are rarely stable enough to maintain maximum output for that long.
In comparison to any of its competitors, the EcoFlow Delta comes out way ahead in terms of charge time and efficiency. It may be slightly more expensive, but it’s worth every cent.
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