Question about Jackery 500 and solar panels

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m3lover1

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Hello gents,

My uncle has a Jackery 500, the one with the PWM controller. He bought me a EcoFlow 160W solar panel for my EcoFlow power station, but I am planning on getting a third party so I can mount it on top of my RTT. Would he be able to use that EcoFlow solar panel on his Jackery with an adapter? I don’t see why not but just wanted to get you guys thoughts. Thanks

 

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Hello gents,

My uncle has a Jackery 500, the one with the PWM controller. He bought me a EcoFlow 160W solar panel for my EcoFlow power station, but I am planning on getting a third party so I can mount it on top of my RTT. Would he be able to use that EcoFlow solar panel on his Jackery with an adapter? I don’t see why not but just wanted to get you guys thoughts. Thanks

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Don’t see why not seen several videos on YouTube about it.


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I like his vids on solar: DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse; he is knowledgeable, thorough, and has a wealth of personal experience and background on which to draw. I'm a subscriber to his channel. He knows how to edit his vids, too, and though he is fast talking, it's not full of uhhs and uhhms. You are not left wondering if this or that will work in your application.

The thing you Uncle may want to explore, @m3lover1--because "solar generators" and Jackery power stations are relatively new to the market and have advanced so rapidly in quality and capability, that things like their charge controllers have changed a lot with different models--is if the 160w panel is too much for what his older model of 500's PWM charge controller can efficiently handle.

See this chart for limitations on various Jackery models, from Which Solar Panels Are Compatible With the Jackery Explorer:

jackery-solar-input-limits_2021-06-08 at 23.04.29.png

It shows the limits of solar input for the Jackery 500 is 65w. No idea which model or vintage of 500 or which charge controller model they are referring to, but you and your uncle may want to dig deeper for compatibility.

The vid provided above by @MiamiC70 is a good one, though shows hooking a 50w panel to a Jackery 240. Doesn't mean it's good to connect any panel to any Jackery.

Charge controllers are usually amp-rated. So, connecting a panel with higher amp potential than the controller may be rated for may either be problematic or less efficient than desired.

Might be worth sending an email to Jackery Support at hello@jackery.com to see what they say.

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I like his vids on solar: DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse; he is knowledgeable, thorough, and has a wealth of personal experience and background on which to draw. I'm a subscriber to his channel. He knows how to edit his vids, too, and though he is fast talking, it's not full of uhhs and uhhms. You are not left wondering if this or that will work in your application.

The thing you Uncle may want to explore, @m3lover1--because "solar generators" and Jackery power stations are relatively new to the market and have advanced so rapidly in quality and capability, that things like their charge controllers have changed a lot with different models--is if the 160w panel is too much for what his older model of 500's PWM charge controller can efficiently handle.

See this chart for limitations on various Jackery models, from Which Solar Panels Are Compatible With the Jackery Explorer:

View attachment 201076

It shows the limits of solar input for the Jackery 500 is 65w. No idea which model or vintage of 500 or which charge controller model they are referring to, but you and your uncle may want to dig deeper for compatibility.
I would take the max solar input numbers there with a grain of salt, they don't match Jackery's specs at all. Some are close, but by and large the numbers are simply false. The 500 supports up to 100w, the 1000 supports up to 163w, and the 1500 actually supports up to 500w (2x 250w inputs) and not 600w like shown above. The input voltages are correct, so for the OP the 500 will work with any solar panel that puts out between 12-30v and will handle up to 100w when connected to the 8mm input port.
 

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I would take the max solar input numbers there with a grain of salt, they don't match Jackery's specs at all. Some are close, but by and large the numbers are simply false. The 500 supports up to 100w, the 1000 supports up to 163w, and the 1500 actually supports up to 500w (2x 250w inputs) and not 600w like shown above. The input voltages are correct, so for the OP the 500 will work with any solar panel that puts out between 12-30v and will handle up to 100w when connected to the 8mm input port.
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As I wrote, it is not clear which model or vintage of 500, or which charge controller model (the older PWM or the newer MPPT) the chart refers to, so he and his uncle may want to dig deeper for compatibility.

His initial wondering was about using a 160w panel with an older Jackery 500 with a PWM charge controller. By all accounts--your figures on newer units and what is perhaps a referral to older Jackerys and type of charge controller--using a 160w panel with the older Jackery 500 and PWM is not a good idea.

Getting that info from the horse's mouth via Jackery Support for his particular older model seems like a smart move.
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DRAX

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Monticello, IL
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As I wrote, it is not clear which model or vintage of 500, or which charge controller model (the older PWM or the newer MPPT) the chart refers to, so he and his uncle may want to dig deeper for compatibility.

His initial wondering was about using a 160w panel with an older Jackery 500 with a PWM charge controller. By all accounts--your figures on newer units and what is perhaps a referral to older Jackerys and type of charge controller--using a 160w panel with the older Jackery 500 and PWM is not a good idea.

Getting that info from the horse's mouth via Jackery Support for his particular older model seems like a smart move.
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The Jackery 500 pictured has always been MPPT, the smaller 240 was originally PWM but has since been upgraded with an MPPT controller. The wonky looking Explorer 500 that I've only found one reference to from a review back in 2018 has who knows what, I'm not even sure that model made it into production and may have been a pre-production unit or for a different market. The production Explorer 500 came out in 2020 and was always MPPT, so I'm not sure why the OP thinks theirs is PWM?

Here's a copy of Jackery's page once it was officially launched. No more "TBD" specs and shows MPPT from the start.

 

Road

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Road
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The Jackery 500 pictured has always been MPPT, the smaller 240 was originally PWM but has since been upgraded with an MPPT controller. The wonky looking Explorer 500 that I've only found one reference to from a review back in 2018 has who knows what, I'm not even sure that model made it into production and may have been a pre-production unit or for a different market. The production Explorer 500 came out in 2020 and was always MPPT, so I'm not sure why the OP thinks theirs is PWM?

Here's a copy of Jackery's page once it was officially launched. No more "TBD" specs and shows MPPT from the start.

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You would have to ask him. I'm sure he appreciates your added info.
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