DJI Portable Power Stations: Connect Any Solar Panel

Can I Connect Any Solar Panel To A DJI Power station?

DJI is a company mostly known for its drones, but recently they have entered the power station market with two models: the Power 500 and the Power 1000.

In this article, I am going to tell you everything you need to know about connecting solar panels to the DJI solar generators. Their power stations do not include panels unless you buy a bundle.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will help you as soon as possible.

Table of Contents show

DJI Power Stations: Models and Specifications

In the table below, I have listed every power station currently being made by DJI. If yours is missing, let me know by leaving a comment.

For a solar panel to be compatible with a power station, it must have a compatible voltage. That means the working voltage of the panel must be within the input limits of the power station. You can learn how to find the input limits of your power station here, or see the table below.

The solar panel voltage is a bit easier to find, and you can learn how to do it here.

Power Station Model	Input Limits
Power 500 (512Wh)	SDC Lite: 22.4-29.2V, 10A (300W max). USB C: 100W x2
Power 1000 (1024Wh)	SDC and SDC lite: 32-58.4V, 8A (400W max) x2

The voltage limit should never be exceeded. If you already have a panel with a voltage too high for the specific model, you can use a DC buck converter like this (click to view on Amazon). It’s an adjustable power supply module that lets you reduce the voltage from 10-65V to 0-60V, and up to 12A. It requires some tinkering, and I don’t have any experience with them, so if this is something you would like to do I am going to have to refer you to the product manual.

However, the max input wattage can be exceeded with most power stations. The charge controller will not send more than the amperage limit to the battery, but it’s able to regulate it. Note that you should always check with the manufacturer of your power station whether it is ok or not. You must usually exceed the amperage limit to reach the max input wattage. You can read more about that in this article.

Solar Panels – What You Need To Know

Now that we know the input limits of the DJI power stations, it’s time to select a solar panel.

There are a couple of things you need to know before doing so, and these are true for all of the different models above.

DJI is one of very few power station manufacturers that have not put solar charge controllers in its power stations. If you want to connect panel, you MUST buy additional adapters that regulates the electricity generated by your panels.
Most solar panels use MC4 connectors, so first of all you need to turn the MC4 into XT60 to be compatible with the DJI adapters. Here is an adapter by Electop (click to view on Amazon) that does this. You need one of these for every panel you want to connect.
If you want to connect one solar panel to either the Power 500 or 1000, you must buy the DJI Power Cable. This supports panels rated between 12-30V, and can charge the DJI batteries up to 100W. To get close to the 100W maximum, I would connect at least a 120W solar panel.
If you want to connect two or three panels to either the Power 500 or 1000, you must buy the DJI MPPT Module. This allows you to connect up to three panels, and it supports voltages between 12-30V. Each input on the adapter is rated for up to 10A, and DJI advertise up to 200W maximum per input.
The Power 500 only has one input, but support both adapters. So you can connect up to three panels, with a maximum input wattage of 300W.
The Power 1000 has two inputs, so you can use two MPPT modules and up to six panels, with a total wattage of 800W. Each port supports 400W input.
Even though the Power 1000, according to the specifications, support a high voltage between 32-58.4V, the adapters required to connect panels do not. Therefore you can only connect panels with voltages between 12-30V, and you can’t combine panels in series.
The USB C ports on the Power 500 can be used to charge the battery as well, but this is not supported on the Power 1000.
If you have or plan to buy a panel that doesn’t use MC4 connectors, you’re going to need a different adapter. Please leave a comment and let me know what connector the panel has, and I will help you find the correct adapter.
I’ve mentioned it earlier, but the most important thing is that you find a panel with a compatible working voltage. Read this article to learn what to look for.

Solar Panel Recommendations

There are a lot of different type of panels, and I have written an article that talks about the pros and cons of each that you can read here.

Below I have listed panels from popular and reliable brands, but these are obviously not the only options you have to choose from.

DJI’s Own Panels

Zignes 100W

Rigid Panels

Renogy 50W – MC4 connectors, 18.6V Vmp.
Newpowa 70W – MC4 connectors, 20.41V Vmp.
Renogy 100W – MC4 connectors, 20.4V Vmp.
Megsun 160W – MC4 connectors, 18.2V Vmp.
Renogy 200W – MC4 connectors, 19.2V Vmp.

Flexible Panels

Xinpuguang 50W – MC4 connectors, 19.8V Vmp.
Renogy 100W – MC4 connectors, 20.7V Vmp.
Eco-Worthy 130W – MC4 connectors, 20.05V Vmp.
BougeRV 200W – MC4 connectors, 17.1V Vmp.

Portable Panels

Renogy 100W – MC4 connectors, 18V Vmp.
Renogy 200W – MC4 connectors, 20.4V Vmp. Bypass the charge controller before connecting it to your DJI power station.
Renogy 220W Lightweight – MC4 connectors, 20V Vmp.
Renogy 400W Lightweight – MC4 connectors, 40V Vmp.

Portable Flexible Panels

Togo Power 60W – Includes several connectors compatible with different power stations, including XT60. 18V Vmp.
Sunsul 100W – Includes several connectors compatible with different power stations, including XT60. 20.7V Vmp.
EcoFlow 110W – MC4 connectors, 18.4V Vmp.
Elecaenta 120W – Read my review of this product here. Includes several connectors compatible with different power stations, including XT60. 18V Vmp.
Dokio 160W – Includes several connectors compatible with different power stations, including XT60. 18V Vmp. Don’t use the included charge controller with DJI inputs, but you can use it to charge external 12V batteries like an RV or car battery.
Renogy 200W – MC4 + USB A and C connectors. 20.16V Vmp.

Connect Two Or More Panels Together

To increase the charging speed, you can combine two or more panels. If this is something you would like to do, I suggest reading this article that go through the different ways to how that is done.

Extension Cables (Optional)

Here are my recommendations when it comes to extension cables.

MC4 – Geosiry 12 AWG Solar Panel Extension Cables
XT60 – Elfculb XT60 Extension Cable

Here is a list of articles that answer frequently asked questions related to this. If you have a question that hasn’t been answered, please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions. Share information about your specific setup, models and/or plans, so I can help you as much as possible.