Perry Mack
We can stay cool in the roof top tent watching a movie while charging all our devices. The nightlight is an extra bonus.
Words and photos by Perry Mack
Harnessing the power of the sun is currently an inescapable topic in the news. From battery powered vehicles to solar systems for your home. On a smaller, and more affordable scale, are solar systems that allow us to enjoy essential devices while off-grid.
Solar panels continue to improve in efficiency, but that energy needs to be stored, as when the sun goes down, so does their power output. Recent advances in batteries have made them capable of increased storage, and faster charge times, all in a lower weight, more portable package.
The Bluetti EB3A is a small power station which benefits from these improved batteries along with the technology to format that power for the needs of your various devices. Smaller portable solar panels output their energy in the 12 to 28 volt (V) range with a max of less than 10 watts (W). Useless for powering AC devices like fan or heater, and most often the wrong voltage and wattage for your DC portable devices like phones, tablets, GPS and GoPro style cameras.
Perry Mack
Our vintage '76 FJ40 now has an entertainment system, wireless charging, and electric heat
The EB3A has seven DC and two AC output ports. These include a wireless pad (to a max of 15A), two DC5521 12VDC/9A, USB-A 5VDC/3A, USB-C 100 W and 12V auto output plus two 120 V AC/600W.
We plugged in a few devices that we might typically use on a hot night camping, including a fan, charging our iPad Pro while watching a movie, a phone, a small tablet, and our Garmin watch. Just because we could, we also turned on the built-in LED light as well. The display provides us with our usage (output) and most importantly, how long we’ll have power. At 60% battery level, it shows we have 2.8 hours if everything continues to run and charge. Enough for a cool evening of entertainment.
We would start the next day with zero Watt-hours left (a drained battery) and would have to connect the power station to a solar panel for charging. Using a good 200W Yuma CIGS solar panel it would require roughly 2.2 peak sun hours, to get to 80%. Peak sun hours means a clear, sunny summer day. Charge time depends on where you are located. For example, the sun intensity in Nevada is higher than in British Columbia, so a solar panel will charge the power station more quickly in Nevada.
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Perry Mack
The app displays status information in real time.
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Perry Mack
The Setting page gives full control of the EB3A.
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Perry Mack
Three charging modes go from slow to fast, silent to 67dB in Turbo mode.
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Perry Mack
Turbo is not as fast as others we've tested.
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Power lifting can only be initiated on the app.
One welcome feature is UPS mode. Most power stations don’t recommend charging the power station while it is also charging devices. This Bluetti EB3A disables its AC inverter with the UPS Bypass Mode, allowing you to safely charge the EB3A while you simultaneously charge or run both your AC and DC devices.
To get the most out your EB3A you’ll need to install the Bluetti app on your phone. The app has a 2.3 star rating in the App Store but don’t let that deter you. It was an easy install and our EB3A paired quickly and functioned perfectly. Controlling/monitoring the power station through the app is much more convenient than pushing buttons on the unit and offers extra features.
It also allows you to enable Power Lifting mode, which adjusts voltage and current to a higher level for appliances like space heaters and irons – but they specifically say not use it for air conditioners and washing machines. It does this by boosting the typical 600W limit to 1200W. We connected our 250W space heater and it ran for just over an hour until the power station was depleted. What’s interesting is that our other power station wouldn’t even allow the heater to turn on, tripping its internal protection circuit.
Perry Mack
Our solar panels adding 62watts per hour on a hazy, winter day.
It will also allow you turn the light on/off, and select from medium, high and SOS settings. Crawl into bed and turn the light off or turn it on if you hear something or need that midnight bathroom break. Better than a Clapper.
There are also three charge modes, which determine how fast you need your power station charged. The station needs to be cooled and the fan runs louder if you need the fastest charge rate. However, the fastest Turbo rate came with a warning that battery life will be degraded with constant use. At Turbo, the EB3A went from 0 to 80% full charge in 40 minutes, and 0 to 99% in 62 minutes.
Standard packaging includes instructions, the EB3A, and a residential AC charge cable. Optional cables are car charging, solar charging, and a USB-C to USB-C. It’s important to get a solar charge cable to match your power station. Most solar panels we’ve had use an MC4 connector for output but the connecting cable to the power stations have been different.
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More from Bluetti - https://www.bluettipower.ca/