Bluetti EP900 Energy Storage System Brings Whole-Home Power Outage Backup To The U.S.
This content was paid for by Bluetti and created by SlashGear.
With recurring power outages a fact of life for many U.S. homes, the idea of a backup system that can keep the lights on when the grid goes down is increasingly appealing. Bluetti may be best known for its portable power stations today, but the new EP900 and B500 Home Power system promises to scale up energy resilience considerably, when it arrives in the U.S. in May 2023.
Modular, flexible enough to work with solar panels or grid-only installations, and tapping the latest cell chemistry for extended lifespan, the EP900 and B500 pairing are not your typical batteries. Nothing illustrates that more than the system's power, with a single Bluetti EP900 capable of up to 9kW of continuous output, and natively supporting 240 volts so that it can power appliances like furnaces, water heaters, and ranges.
For more demanding homes and small businesses, two EP900 can be used in parallel, for as much as 18 kW output. Indeed, one of the EP900 Home Power system's strengths is its modularity. The Energy Storage System (ESS) starts out at 9.9 kWh, from a pair of 4.96 kWh Bluetti B500 batteries. That's sufficient to keep a typical refrigerator running for eight hours, an average TV turned on for more than 79 hours, or power a laptop for more than four days.
Up to 39 kWh of power from long-life batteries
Up to four B500 batteries can be connected to the same EP900 unit, however, and a system can support two EP900 units working in tandem. That expands total capacity to 39 kWh. With the average U.S. home consuming 1.2 kW per hour, Bluetti's system could run a household for more than a day. Focusing use on the essential appliances like lights and heating, meanwhile, would stretch that out even longer.
Clad in an aluminum shell, both the EP900 and the B500 expansion batteries are rated IP65 waterproof and dustproof. That means they can be installed both indoors or outdoors, while a freestanding design adds flexibility of positioning, unlike wall-mounted rival systems. Owners can remotely monitor state of charge, discharge, battery health, and other factors from the Bluetti smartphone app, either directly via Bluetooth, or from anywhere in the world thanks to the EP900's WiFi connection.
Like other recent Bluetti power solutions, the B500 relies on lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries rather than lithium-ion. LiFePO4 batteries, the company says, have an effective lifespan that's 4-6 times longer than Li-Ion, an obvious consideration for a home power backup system. Meanwhile, the EP900 has a 10 year warranty, the longest of any Bluetti product.
Solar storage and grid independence
Combined with a solar panel array, the EP900 Home Power system can take full advantage of green energy. It's rated for up to 9,000 watts of solar input — three times the amount that Bluetti's AC500 is capable of — with dual MPPT charge controllers.
Even homes and businesses without solar panels can make use of the EP900 Home Power system to potentially reduce their electricity bills, though. Peak Load Shifting allows the batteries to be charged with off-peak grid power, taking advantage of the lower tariffs some electricity providers offer. The EP900 is rated for up to 9,000 watts of AC input, almost twice what a Bluetti AC500 can accept.
During periods when the grid supply switches to peak rates, users can switch to the stored power in their Bluetti system to save money. Alternatively, with energy providers that support it, users can sell the stored power in their EP900 Home Power system back to the grid. With a single EP900 and three B500 batteries, Bluetti says, owners could potentially save $8,000 over the course of 10 years, by selling electricity back to their provider, location depending.
The promise of power independence could well be appealing enough, of course, even without treating the ESS as a money-maker. The EP900 Home Power system is expected to launch in the U.S. in late April or early May 2023. Pricing for the EP900 and the B500 will be confirmed closer to availability.