My EcoFlow Delta 3 system

We were looking for an affordable way to have some backup electrical power without having to install a big system and settled on the EcoFlow Delta 3 with some portable panels, and a manual transfer switch that would handle 240V and six 20 amp circuits.
I got this set up today and am currently running the following equipment/outlets:
Freezer (also runs the Starlink), three duplex receptacles in the kitchen (includes the refrigerator), the water heater, and the HVAC.

Two 250W bifacial panels out behind the back deck facing east. They are connected in series.



The Delta 3 unit under the back deck charging from the panels. I built a rain cover from an aluminum sheet and attached it to the underside of the deck joists.



The power cable runs into the crawlspace and up through the wall to a 4-prong twist lock outlet. A short cord connects the outlet to the transfer switch.
I checked the outlet to make sure all the voltages were correct.



Connected the panel and put the circuits into generator mode and everything is running normally.



I had pre-charged the Delta 3 from a regular wall outlet earlier. After connecting the panels to it, the phone app said it had about 33 minutes to fully charge and 306W of input power from the panels.



After turning my critical circuits over to the Delta 3, it showed discharging and the wattage output, wattage input, and expected time left at that rate of input/output.



The HVAC isn't running as it's only 76 degrees indoors, so the power usage is going to be higher when that kicks in.
If we can manage this effectively, we should be able to run this system 24/7 and stay off-grid and constant for food storage and necessary power, even when the power fails.

I am really impressed with the ecoflow solar generators. I started off with the cheapest one and have been slowly upgrading. I was looking to upgrade to the delta 3 lineup, because I saw that I can run potentially run an inverter mig welder or high consumption power tools.

Cool. I have a smaller version of your setup. Much smaller, it only charges phones. However, one thing I've learned over 3 years is to cover unused ports or you'll get a bunch of dust in them eventually and they'll fail.

Update, and it's not good.
When the AC kicked on, the Delta 3 shut down. After asking Q's on the EcoFlow site, apparently the surge from the compressor was too much for the inverter and it basically tripped the internal breaker.
I do not see how this unit could run an entire house of any substantial size. Our place is about 1400 Sq. Ft and the HVAC unit is small. It runs on a 2-pole 220V circuit.
The Delta 3 did run the other loads almost all night long, but in the morning, the charge was depleted, and I discovered the solar panels are also insufficient to recharge the unit in a timely manner.
The array I have will put about 25%-30% charge in a day of sunshine. Relocating the panels to a spot with longer sun exposure would certainly help, but that would require a lot more cabling.
I would also need a larger array, and the Delta 3 has a max input amperage of 20 A. Not much room for growth there. Wiring the panels in parallel would make them more efficient, but it would exceed the 20A max input.
It looks like I will just be using this for emergency backup power until I figure out a solution.

Hey Josh
You need a large battery bank and a good-sized pure-sine wave inverter to run any A/C unit for very long successfully.
The foldout power centers are just not heavy-duty enough.

I run a mini-split AC fairly comfortably off one 5kwh lithium battery and a good standalone Outback inverter. The unit only draws a few hundred watts in operation for cooling, which a few panels will easily provide during daylight (and peak cooling demand). However the draw goes up significantly for heat production, which generally negates this usage in cold season unless I 2-3X my array and storage.

Joshua States wrote:Update, and it's not good.
When the AC kicked on, the Delta 3 shut down. After asking Q's on the EcoFlow site, apparently the surge from the compressor was too much for the inverter and it basically tripped the internal breaker.

You could look into a "soft start" device for your HVAC, which will ramp up the current instead of the huge inrush.  Compressors are some of the most notorious inverter-breakers.

I purchased 2 of the Ecoflow  Delta 2 Max but haven't used them yet. I also got a hold of a much older model of a Humless generator that was never even opened and must be at least 10 years old. I hope it charges and runs too.