The Bluetti AC200P has made quite the splash in the solar generator/power station world. With it being one of the top-rated solar generators, on paper, people have been wondering what the differences are between the AC200 and the AC200P are.

The Bluetti AC200P sits very comfortably at the #2 position for one of the best solar generators available. It has one very distinct advantage over the #3 solar generator, the ElecHive by Zero Breeze. The Bluetti AC200P has 3,500 cycles which is very impressive since it has a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) battery.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

It is #2 only to the Titan solar generator. But we’ll get more into how it differs from both the Titan and the ElecHive later.

The basic difference between the Bluetti AC200 and the Bluetti AC200P is that the AC200 has a slightly smaller battery. The AC200 has a 1,700wh battery. The AC200 was available on pre-order on the IndieGoGo and the AC200P is available much faster on Amazon.

The Bluetti AC200 was also about 57lbs and the AC200P is 61lbs. The AC200 used Lithium NMC (Lithium Ion) batteries and the AC200P uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries.

Battery

The Maxoak Bluetti AC200P has one of the largest battery capacities of all solar generators at 2,000wh. It is a 50v and 40ah battery (50v x 40ah = 2,000wh | volts x amps = watts). 2,000wh has been shown to be a pretty good size battery for emergencies, RVs, camping, and blackouts.

For emergencies, natural disasters, and blackouts the most common things that people run are a fridge, a freezer, a couple of LED lights, and possibly a fan. At least those are the constantly running items.

It’s very common to run other items such as toasters, microwaves, coffee machines, blenders, TVs, CPAP machines, radios, water pumps, etc…

In RVs and Vans it’s common to run the fridge, possibly a DC fridge/freezer, A/C, LED TV, DC fans, DC lights, and small kitchen appliances.

This is why it’s important for a solar generator to be able to have a large enough battery to run the essentials during the night when there is no sun. As well as have a large enough inverter to run those items when needed. And then of course the system must be able to be fully recharged during the day while running equipment, so the solar input has to be large enough to handle that.

The Maxoak Bluetti AC200P is one of those units! For basic emergency power, it has all the right specs. The battery is large enough to get through a night while running a fridge (80wh), or freezer (80wh) and a fan (70wh) or heated blanket (120w).

The math is quite simple. You start with 2,000wh and you have to last about 12 hours without using more than 2,000wh. A fridge, freezer, and fan will use a combined value of 230wh/hr. That means we take 12hrs of darkness x 230wh = 2,730wh. So that may not work.

The easiest way to figure this out is to take 2,000wh ÷ 12hrs = 167wh/hr on average. We can run up to 160wh per hour and get through the night without draining the battery to 0%. That means a fridge and freezer. Or a fridge and a fan. Or whatever combination of equipment to run all night.

This is where I find having the outlet timers is very useful. The outlet timers allow me to use my fridge and freezer, or whatever device is plugged into it, whenever I decide. I can have them run for 15 minutes of every hour or 30 minutes of every hour or whatever I want. This reduces power usage and keeps the fridge and freezer cold without having to worry about using up more of my battery.

For the Bluetti AC200P, I would definitely keep a couple of those outlet timers around for the purpose of getting through the night easier and not draining the battery as far during emergencies. Especially if it’s not perfectly clear skies every day.

As previously mentioned, the AC200P’s battery is rated to 3,500 lifecycles which is an exceptionally long time. That means if I did one cycle, going from 100% down to 0% and back to 100%, per day it would last 3,500 days. That is until the battery became 80% efficient. That’s nearly 10 years of daily use before the battery reaches 80% efficiency. At that point, I can still use the battery, but it would be equal to a 1,600wh battery, not a 2,000wh battery.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

Inverter

The Maxoak Bluetti AC200P has one of the highest outputting inverters on the market. It has a pure sine wave inverter that can push out 2,000 watts continuously and up to 2,500w for 2 mins. The standard used to be 1,500w out of an inverter but the AC200P beats that.

It makes a big difference when you are running lots of equipment to have the extra-sized inverter. Or even if I’m just running a toaster oven for a few minutes while running the fridge. I don’t have to unplug the fridge just to run the toaster.

Since it’s a pure sine wave it will easily run anything safely. Modified sine wave inverters are truly a thing of the past just like lead-acid batteries.

The Bluetti AC200P’s inverter can peak up to 4,800w. That is almost 2.5x the continuous output rating. The norm is to have the peak output be twice as much as the continuous output, and the AC200P beats that again.

But there is some conflicting information about the true peak capability of the AC200P because in the user manual it clearly says “Overload Capacity = 2,000w <load<2,500w 2 min. & 2,500w<load immediately.

From my understanding, that means it can run 2,000w nonstop until there’s no more power. Or it can run about 2,500w for up to two minutes. But anything over 2,500w it will shut off immediately.

When testing this I didn’t have anything that could go up to 4,800 peak but I did go over 3,000w and it shut down immediately.

I feel like the peak is truly 2,500w not 4,800w as advertised since that is what my testing has roughly shown.

Solar, Car, and Wall Charging

In any solar generator, there are three important factors. Large battery, powerful inverter, and high solar input. Most systems out on the market can allow up to 400w of solar input, some others are starting to get higher up to 600 watts of solar input like the Goal Zero systems.

The Bluetti AC200P has all of those beat with a 700w solar input. But what’s even better about the 700w input is that it can be “over-paneled.” Since the solar input charge parameter is 35-150v and 12a I can very easily install 1,400w of solar panels on the system and safely charge it.

That being said, even if I’m making 1,400w of power, only 700w of it will be allowed to go into the MPPT charge controller. But the advantage of doing that is I can greatly increase my “peak solar hours” per day from 5 hours to much more.

For example, if I have 700w of solar panels installed on the Bluetti AC200P, I will not be making 700w of power until the brightest part of the day, which is usually about 5 hours. So, at 8 am, I could be making roughly 350w instead of 700w. Then by 10 am I could be making 700w. Then by 4 pm making 500w, and at sundown be down to 0w solar input.

If I have double the amount of solar panels then I can make 700w sooner and later in the day. So rather than only making 350w at 8 am, I would actually be making 700w and not have to wait until 10 am to start making 700w. The same would go for later in the evening. Since I have more panels making more power, I will be able to get a full 700w charge later in the evening.

This means I can realistically increase my daily peak solar hours from 5 hours to 7 or 8 hours. This means instead of only being able to make 3,500wh (700w x 5 peak hours = 3,500wh) per day, I can make much more like 5,600wh (700w 8hrs = 5,600wh).

Being able to make that much power in a day makes it a lot easier to keep running equipment like my fridge, freezer, fans, and so on all day long. Then at night, I can go into “eco mode” and only run the bare essentials.

The solar panels go through the AC200P’s SA20 Aviation plug which has an adapter that converts it from SA20 to XT90. And then from there it also includes an XT90 to PV Connector adapter. I’m not huge on the SA20 plug, but it gets the job done. I feel that Maxoak was just trying to be different and should’ve used more common connectors.

My biggest issue with proprietary or uncommon connectors is if I lose my adapter, I have to wait on them to get a new one after buying it from them. I would much rather have the option to go to a local store and make them or order one quickly on Amazon. Even better would be to have extras, because I have lost my adapters before and that means I can’t recharge at all from solar.

With the battery being 2,000wh and the solar input is 700w, I can recharge my Maxoak Bluetti AC200P in just under three hours (2,000wh ÷ 700w = 2.85hrs). That’s great news because that would mean that even on semi-cloudy days, with 1,400w of panels connected, I should still be able to get a full charge each day.

One feature some people care about is being able to charge from the wall charger and solar at the same time. The AC200P can do that. For me, the only time I see that as being relevant is when it’s cloudy, and I’m unable to make 700w of power from solar, but at least a little bit of power is being made from the solar panels. I can use my gas generator to help recharge the Bluetti AC200P faster along with the solar panels.

The reason that is a good backup plan is if the Bluetti AC200P allows me to have at least 12 hours of running my appliances, and it only takes me 3 hours to charge it up, then it saves me a lot of gas. Essentially, instead of running my appliances off of my gas generator for 12 hours and using up all the gas, I can recharge the AC200P in 3 hours and save 9 hours’ worth of gas while running the appliances off the AC200P.

It does have a car charger as well, but it takes about 20 hours to charge it up from 0%. It is not surprising it takes that long because a car battery is 12v and the Bluetti AC200P is 50v. That means when I plug in the car charger on it that it’s converting the energy from 12v to 50v. The average car cigarette lighter plug is rated to about 10amps. 12v x 10a = 120watts. After the voltage gets converted from 12v to 50v there’s likely a power efficiency loss there which means it is probably charging at about 100w therefore 100w into 2,000wh equals 20hrs charge time.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

Outlets

I like how many outlets are on the Maxoak Bluetti AC200P. It has six 120v AC plugs (wall outlet plugs). It’s capable of running about 16amps through those plugs. Not out of each plug, but total.

For DC ports it has 4 USB-A ports and 1 USB-C fast-charging port. Along with a standard 12v/10a DC cigarette lighter port and two 5521 barrel ports rated to 3a. Then it has one huge SA20 12v/25a port that is awesome for high amperage 12v devices. The only issue is it doesn’t come with an SA20 adapter plug to use with that 25a port. They should have included that. The only other unit out there to include a 25a DC port is the Lion Energy Safari ME. The Titan solar generator has 20a output out of the 12v DC plugs.

One cool feature is that it does have two 15w wireless phone charger pads on top of the unit. If I were using this in my RV and had the unit next to the bed, I could easily use it to charge my phone at night just by placing my phone on top of it. Of course that only works with phones that have wireless charging though.

Sadly, I think Maxoak dropped the ball on not including an RV plug on it. I really love being able to grab a solar generator, grab my RV, and head out to go boondocking and enjoy nature. But because it doesn’t have a dedicated 30amp RV plug I just use this simple RV adapter. It takes up a lot of real estate on the AC plugs, but it allows me to run my RV much easier.

Shelf Life & Warranty

One thing that struck me as odd was that the system has a 3,500-lifecycle rating but can only sit for 6 months before it needs to be recharged. According to the user manual and their website, it says that the Bluetti AC200P should be recharged every 6 months to ensure the battery remains healthy.

I understand that the battery needs to remain healthy, but it seems like every 6 months is a bit of a hassle.

So, if I don’t use it all during the spring and summer, after 6 to 12 months what can I expect? Supposedly the battery will be run down. Would the screen even read out properly? If you watch my video on my Bluetti AC200P review you’ll see that I had issues with my screen reading the battery percentage properly. How will I know if it’s actually at 100% if the screen doesn’t even tell me properly after sitting for a long time?

I assume that the unit I purchased was sitting in a warehouse in China, and then in a shipping container en-route to the USA, and then in a warehouse again for many months before it got delivered to me. So, is it safe to assume that it did not get charged up soon enough and the screen got uncalibrated? Who knows?

The Titan is able to hold a charge on their batteries for up to 5 years. It is recommended that the Titan batteries be slightly used and recharged once per year to keep them healthy. It would be nice for the Bluetti AC200P to have at least a 12-month shelf life since it is a LiFePo4 battery.

They include a two-year warranty which is longer than what most manufacturers have. Maxoak has grown a lot with the launch of their EB150 and EB240 solar generators which were much smaller in output capacity and solar input. They seem to be on the rise so they should be around for quite some time. They’ve been around for about 10 years now.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

Expandability

It would’ve been nice for Maxoak to include an optional battery expansion port for the Bluetti AC200P. I think that would’ve been a great up-sell product that allows users to double their battery capacity.

I know in my off-grid cabin we like to keep at least 6,000wh of battery capacity on our Titan that runs the cabin 100% of the year. The Bluetti AC200P works for small trips to the cabin, but for long-term stays it’s much harder to make it work especially when weather systems come in.

Because the battery is not expandable on the AC200P I don’t think it needs expandable solar. The 700w solar input is plenty for it since the battery size is 2,000wh. But it is safe to over-panel the system and get up to 1,400w of solar connected. That’s a huge bonus.

If the Bluetti AC200P had the option to expand its battery capacity, I would think it would also need the ability to expand its solar input. Very similar to the Titan, since the Titan can have as many batteries as I want, I am able to expand my solar up to 2,000w of solar input on it.

Either way, the Bluetti AC200P still has decent capacity and great solar input for its size.

X-Factors

The one big thing that makes the Maxoak Bluetti AC200P special is its intelligent screen. It’s very user friendly and I love being able to see how much power is coming in from the solar panels.

I would’ve thought that having such a smart screen would’ve also included some type of Bluetooth of WiFi option to connect my phone to the system wirelessly to monitor it. But that’s not a deal-breaker in any way, it just would’ve made a lot of sense to include that. The screen on the Bluetti AC200P is one of the nicest ones out there in my opinion when it reads out properly.

The other x-factor it has is the 12v/25a DC output. Again, they should include some sort of adapter with it but it’s incredible that they have added a 25a output DC plug. People with lots of DC equipment will love that.

It’s also very nice that it has LiFePo4 batteries which gives it an incredible lifespan of 3,500 cycles.

Weaknesses

It’s heavy. It’s very heavy. Right at 61lbs, it’s a lot to move around. I highly recommend that people get something like a furniture dolly to rest the AC200P on and make it easier to move around. That’s of course if it is staying on the same level/floor and not going up or downstairs. Otherwise, you’ll just have to carry it.

As much as the screen is its x-factor it’s also one of its weaknesses. When I first opened up my Bluetti AC200P I immediately started charging it from the wall so I could start testing and playing with it. The wall charger would not charge the system at all!

I turned it off and on again multiple times. I eventually changed the charge mode from car to solar and for some reason that allowed the wall charger to work. It’s a completely different plug being used to charge from so I don’t know how that affected it at all, but for some reason, it started working after that.

But what I found while turning the system off and on again was that the screen was changing what it said the battery percentage was at. When I first turned it on it was around 30% full. Then every time I turned it off and back on again, it would increase the percentage by 5%. I did that enough times that it said it was 100% full when the charger still wasn’t even working on it.

Either there is an issue with the shunt in the system or the screen got uncalibrated or something along those lines.

Pros

Good-sized battery.

Good-sized inverter continuous output.

A good amount of solar input.

Affordable.

A high number of lifecycles.

Cons

Very heavy.

Semi-proprietary adapters/plugs.

No expandability.

No RV plug.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

Conclusion

I like it. It’s definitely a solid #2 for the best solar generator available. It beats the ElecHive in lifecycles, the number of outlets, warranty protection, inverter peak, and DC output capability.

It loses to the Titan, which is in the first place position, because the Bluetti AC200P has a smaller inverter, no battery expandability, lower solar input, uses uncommon adapters, slower car charging, shorter shelf life, and no RV outlet.

I feel like it is a great system for people who need basic emergency power such as running a fridge, freezer, CPAP machine, light, and fan.

Is it something that can be used for off-grid locations? Perhaps, all depending on the power needs of the off-grid location. It is definitely well-sized for basic boondocking in an RV or Van.