Hey Guys, I use an Ecoflow Delta in my VW Eurovan to power my 12 volt fridge and recharge several USB devices. I currently only charge it from my alternator while driving via a cable routed from my fuse panel direct to my solar charge port, I want to add a roof top solar panel to charge the Ecoflow when I am not driving. I am wondering If this can be done with some kind of charge controller,...allowing both charging from the alternator and solar panel while driving,....then just the solar panel when not driving,......or will I only be able to use one or the other,....and manually switch between them by unplugging one, and then plugging in the other? The Ecoflow Delta will accept charging up to 65 volts and 10 amps.
Brian in Austin
Honestly the best option is to get a better power station with two charge controllers, already designed to accept one from 12v car while driving, and another from a solar array. Many are like this. For example, my Pecron e1500LFP has 100w input 12-18v that I feed from cigarette port ( or an 18v 130W solar panel). It has ANOTHER, SEPARATE, mppt solar input for 32 to 95v, 700W max, that I feed from 2x 330W solar panels.
If you showed a picture of input ports, or were specific on what you have, it would help-- the ecoflow site has terrible specs and pictures and doesnt show it. However, it APPEARS that it has just a single xt60 input port, that you have to choose what to plug in?
IF it has two inputs, which I doubt as their marketing carefully never mentions charging with both at once, then problem solved.
Here are the listed specs for Delta 1300 and 1000 both:
Solar Charge Input
400W 10-65V DC 10A max
Car Charger
12V/24V DC 8A max
So, the most you can get is 400W, not 650w like their voltage and 10 amperage limit leads you to believe... Ecoflow is really deceptive in their marketing on their page too, how they phrase all their charging sentences.
ALSO, you need to look and see if their solar xt60 plug is really an xt60i, with an extra pin that tells the power station to accept higher voltage... I seem to recall people having charge problems with Ecoflow due to this xt60 vs xt60i plug issue.
You could try cobbling something together to get car and solar voltages exact same, then input both to the single port... but it's just not worth it for 400W. Better is to get a dc to dc 12 to 48v converter, hook it up to your alternator, and just run a wire from that to the solar input port at 10A to get the 400W while driving.
Really better, best, is to just go buy a better power station that already is designed to charge from 2 sources at once... watch some reviews from ReeWrayOutdoors or Hobotech youtubers so you get the right one..
Sorry, probably not the answer you want.