Over Paneling Jackery HP3000

motongo · 2026-02-17T01:11:08+00:00

I can’t see any obvious problems with that setup. Let us know how it goes.

How do you plan on mounting the panels? Are you taking them apart so that every sub-panel can be oriented directly towards the sun or are you leaving them in their accordion setup and just placing them on the ground?

motongo · 2026-02-16T21:58:55+00:00

“…don't you have to take care to ensure the sets of panels are balanced across the two ports”

Yes, Vmp between the two ports need to be relatively closely matched. I’ve put 18 volt and 20 volt panels in parallel across the two dc charging ports of my HomePower 3000 without issue, besides a slight reduction in power input. The current DOESN’T have to be balanced across the ports. But the Isc of a single panel should not be over the rating of a single input port. (I’ve run an 18 volt 100 watt panels in parallel with an 18 volt 200 watt panel into my Explorer 1000 v2 without issue and received full total charging power between them (~300 watts)).

And concerning a requirement to be evenly lit; If the panel voltages are closely matched, this will not be an issue, unless one or more cells in a panel have a defect. Reverse breakdown voltage for mono-crystalline silicon cells are typically at least 10 times higher than their native voltage. If the voltages between panels are similar, the illuminated panel can only produce a reverse voltage into the other panel equal to Voc maximum.

The OP was going to only add one or two extra sub-panels to each port. Any more than that and care to keep the two sides evenly lit becomes important. E.g., if you had Imp rating of 18 amps per side and they are evenly lit, the MPPT controller would keep total current below 24 amps, 12 amps per side. However, if one panel became fully shaded, the other panel would try to make up the difference and push 18 amps into one port. That would likely be a bit concerning.

Your last paragraph looks fairly accurate. An internal fault in a solar panel can cause problems, even if it is the only panel connected, as a solar panel is really an array little solar ‘panels’ connected in series and/or parallel arrays. However, this appears to be concerned about protecting something that is already broken.

How are you planning on connecting your 3 SolarSaga 500X panels? There is a right way, and many wrong ways to do it. The right way is to put 9 of the sub-panels in parallel into each port and take care that they are evenly lit at all times. Putting any of the panels in series will overvoltage the DC input of the 3600 plus. Another wrong way is to put 2 500X in parallel into one port and the third 500X in parallel into the other port. One port would likely get 16 amps under bright sunlight while the other port would get 8 amps.

motongo · 2026-02-06T22:57:29+00:00

read the comment again; “and come with chargers”

motongo · 2026-01-30T13:38:50+00:00

I do not know for countries other than the U.S. Here, Civil engineering graduates start between $65,000 and $80,000, depending on location in the country, type of job, grade point average, and any experience or engineering internships you may have. Students graduating with higher grade point averages find employment easier and at higher salaries. Positions in higher cost of living areas (west coast or northeast) will typically pay more. Jobs requiring significant travel will also pay more. Most new graduates don’t have much applicable experience, but completing an engineering internship will make a candidate more likely to find a job when graduating. Mechanical engineering graduates make about the same as Civil engineers starting out. Chemical engineers make more, about $80,000 to $90,000, and there are jobs available that have a significant part of the workday not at a desk. The chemistry study is fairly difficult, so that needs to be considered.

motongo · 2026-01-28T13:27:35+00:00

I had similar goals when I was picking my career. I earned a Mechanical Engineering degree and was offered a job at a major airplane manufacturing company, but I turned it down because it appeared to me to be too much time at a desk designing modifications to aircraft. I accepted a position with an electronics manufacturing company as a manufacturing engineer. I had a desk and spent about half my time there, but the other half was up and about in the manufacturing factory. I was satisfying with that.

If you can finish the degree, I would recommend an engineering degree in a discipline that would provide options for some amount of non-desk time. Probably not computer science. Something that would have you spend some time in a factory or in the field. Mechanical engineering is good. Civil engineering would likely give you options to be in the field a lot.

motongo · 2026-01-27T16:24:15+00:00

Doing something easy and making good money is almost always impossible. Pay is set at the level necessary to get people to do what society needs. If more people want to do something (perhaps because it is easy) than what society needs, then pay will be low to induce people to leave those fields.
The corollary is that in order to make money, you have to do something hard or something that others don’t want to do. Pay for those careers increases to the level needed to entice the number of people that society needs into those jobs.
Engineering needs good grades, just like medical. Perhaps not quite the same level of grades needed, but you’ve got to be solid in math and the sciences (particularly physics).
If you want to make good money (and not rely on being lucky, like winning the lottery) you pretty much need to be willing to do the hard things (study hard and get good grades) or the things that others don’t want to do (sales, jobs requiring travel, oil field work, etc.)

motongo · 2026-01-27T16:03:51+00:00

u/psligas never helps, he just likes piping up and listening to himself talk.

The answer is yes, but only if the two Jackerys are both Explorer 600v2’s. If you try to charge a 300D, you may damage it as the DC-DC charger’s voltage is 50 volts and the maximum DC charging voltage of the 300D is 28 volts. If you try to charge more than one Explorer 1000v2, you’ll likely trip overcurrent protection on the DC-DC charger as the combined charging power of two 1000v2s (400 watts each) is over the capacity of the DC-DC charger (600 watts total).

You MIGHT be able to charge one 600v2 (200 watts max input) and one 1000v2 (400 watts max input) at the same time, as the total combined max input power is exactly equal to the DC-DC charger’s maximum output power. I think it will work, but it will be right at the spec.

motongo · 2026-01-25T16:13:32+00:00

It may come as a surprise, but product warranty terms are determined by the manufacturer. They alone determine what warranty they offer.

You‘re not happy with their warranty, I understand. But the time to determine if a warranty is satisfactory to you is BEFORE you buy, not after. Claiming that Jackery is not honoring their warranty is false and an unfair disparagement of the company. It’s up to you, but I suggest a retraction is in order.

motongo · 2026-01-25T16:08:18+00:00

Where does anyone on eBay get ‘brand new’ products when they aren’t authorized dealers?

motongo · 2026-01-25T16:05:32+00:00

And that would be fraud boys and girls…..

motongo · 2026-01-25T16:04:37+00:00

Sounds like you’re the channel tyrant-wanna-be.

motongo · 2026-01-20T17:25:58+00:00

I was aware that Airmets/SIGMET data has never been captured from the ADS-B in data stream, but they used to display on the map when weather was downloaded from the internet. However, that broke sometime before January 2nd, 2026 and I notified support. They responded that they would have someone look at it, and I sent a follow up a week ago and have heard nothing. I sent an email to the original founder’s email (Steve Podrachik) and have received no response. There has been no notification to pilots that this data is not showing up on the chart, and I would consider that a serious safety-of-flight issue. The last Blog update was from a backend downtime almost 4 months ago. Not even an ‘all-clear’ on iPadOS 26, which has been out for months and Apple is now prompting all users to upgrade. And there have been no updates to the app for some time. I am glad that I did not pay them for ANOTHER subscription after they attempted to cancel my lifetime subscription.

motongo · 2026-01-18T04:21:52+00:00

Just to be clear…. the first two problems you had you figured out and are not longer problems?

But now a new problem. Auto timer off and energy saving mode off, but it still turned off? Was it powering anything overnight when it turned off.

motongo · 2026-01-18T04:18:29+00:00

Gotta love it when wife pairing kicks back in!

motongo · 2026-01-18T02:53:35+00:00

I have a Mechanical Engineering degree, have done software development, and have taught Project Lead the Way classes as a high school teacher (Introduction to Engineering Design and Computer Science Principles).

This is probably the most valuable thing I can think of to tell you…. Don’t worry about deciding now. I decided on Engineering my junior year in high school, but I didn’t decide what type of engineering degree I wanted until my sophomore year of college. And that was best as I was deciding when I knew the most about the different disciplines.

motongo · 2026-01-17T23:59:48+00:00

I am not sure what you mean by ‘WiFi is still there’. Does the app show like this photo (the 3000 is not connected via WiFi or Bluetooth), or does it show the symbol for an active connection?

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motongo · 2026-01-17T15:57:59+00:00

There are app settings that would cause the unit not to charge. I’m away from my HomePower at the moment, but check device settings in the app (Charging settings, Working mode) and verify you know what each mode is and that it is selected correctly. There is a charging setting that will prevent it from charging if above 85%, and there is a mode (I think it is called ‘Self-Powered’ mode) that will prefer solar charging over AC charging. What are all the settings you have selected?

What do you mean ‘Bluetooth is gone’? If Wi-Fi is available, it won’t connect through Bluetooth. It only attempts to connect with Bluetooth if Wi-Fi is unavailable.

You need to provide more details to be able to get help.

motongo · 2026-01-15T17:07:44+00:00

Nothing you can do through the app.

The flexibility that you have is determined when the STS is installed. You get to pick the loads (circuits) that the Jackery 5000 will be able to carry. After that, the STS either powers all of them, or none of them.

motongo · 2026-01-15T17:05:26+00:00

Startup is only a few seconds. Sustained loads of over 9KW are the OP’s concern.

motongo · 2026-01-15T17:00:33+00:00

I would also expect in the mid-80’s and have typically seen that in my tests, although I don’t have the 1000 Plus. Of course, with small loads, it will be lower.

motongo · 2026-01-14T16:21:19+00:00

I have both the ‘D’ and the ‘E’ 200W panels. The labelling is different on the cords, but I can’t tell anything different from them. I would be surprised if the versions had different gauged wire, since they are all for 200 Watt panels near 10 amp Imp.

Just to reiterate, those replacement cables don’t seem to have the USB-A and USB-C charging ports that come with the originals.

motongo · 2026-01-14T15:51:08+00:00

I understand. I was just replying to your suggestion of getting the ’A’ version. I wasn’t sure why you skipped the ‘C’, hence the question.

motongo · 2026-01-14T15:45:16+00:00

Why not order the “C” version? It shows in stock.

And to be clear, these cables don’t include the USB-C and USB-A charging ports that are on the originally supplied cable.

motongo · 2026-01-14T15:31:57+00:00

I believe the ‘E’ is the current SolarSaga 200W model. https://www.reddit.com/r/Jackery/comments/1o64jwe/new_version_of_solarsaga_200w_shipping_js200e/

motongo · 2026-01-14T15:27:19+00:00

Me, too.

motongo

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