Goal Zero Yeti 6000X Portable Solar Generator Power Station Review

This is the big one. This is the biggest solar generator Goal Zero has ever made. The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X solar generator is their mac daddy when it comes to total capacity and capability. Does it really stand up to what’s on the market though? Is this really the best option available? Will this power station run all that’s needed during an emergency, blackout, or with an RV or Van?

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X has the largest built-in battery out of all existing power stations on the market. That means with no alterations, it will run the longest before needing to be recharged. But is that a good thing?

Battery

With a 6,071 watt-hour, total battery capacity the Yeti 6000X is definitely long-lasting. It uses Lithium-NMC battery cells to hold the power inside ready to go. It is a 12v battery bank which is typical for solar generators but 24v or 48v would be even more efficient.

With a large battery capacity, the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X is capable of running a fridge non-stop for about 3 days straight on average with no solar panels connected. Now that’s impressive. We’ll get into solar charging shortly.

There are some bigger drawbacks to having such a large battery. Normally, more battery = better system. But with a bigger battery comes other needs such as the ability to recharge quickly, and have the ability to put out lots of power when needed.

Click Here to Buy the Yeti 6000X

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X battery cannot be fully recharged in a single day from solar panels which is a big problem. Also, it makes the unit weigh 104lbs which is going to be very hard for many people to move around. Luckily it does come with a moving dolly so it at least has wheels to move it but going up stairs, putting it in a vehicle, or even getting it out of the box is very challenging.

What is nice about the 6,071wh battery capacity is there is no need to upgrade the system to have external batteries. It has the option to add AGM batteries to it but that is really not necessary.

The Goal Zero Yeti 3000X has a decent-sized battery of 3,032wh and can be expanded on as well but adding the Goal Zero Tank system actually hurts the Yeti 6000X battery capacity.

Because the Goal Zero Tank system uses AGM batteries, you automatically cannot drain the entire system below 50%. The Goal Zero Tank has a 4,800wh battery option. With the onboard 6,071wh that would equal a grand total of 10,871wh of total battery capacity which is incredible! But, you can only use 50% of it which means the total battery capacity would actually be 5,435wh.

By adding the Goal Zero Tank you’d actually reduce the overall battery capacity of the 6000X. That’s not cool at all. Basically, the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X should not be expanded on.

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X has a lifecycle count of only 500 cycles. Not very high. And it will only hold a charge on the battery for up to 3 months. In my experience, even after 3 months, the battery is around 80% at best so it does discharge on its own somewhat quickly. Not as fast as the Patriot 1800 which will discharge completely in a couple of weeks.

Click Here for the Best Solar Generator

Inverter

Just like the Goal Zero 3000X, the 6000X has a 2,000w pure sine wave inverter that can peak up to 3,500 watts. That’s a good-sized inverter for running basic needs around the house or RV. It is not going to run an RV A/C unit as well as the microwave or anything at the same time.

It will run power tools, small A/C, fridges, and other important devices but it may not do it all at the same time. This will require a little bit of power management on your part if you’re running any big equipment.

If you’re not running much equipment but just need a good power bank, then the Yeti 6000X would be a pretty good option if it had a longer lifespan.

Generally, it’s best if the inverter is capable of pushing out twice as much power as the continuous power output rating which means it should be able to peak at 4,000w. 3,500w is fine but it’s strange that it’s not capable of double the continuous output.

2,000w of inverter output power is good, you just need to be mindful if you’re running any bigger equipment like A/C.

Charging

This is the biggest challenge of the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X. It has a huge battery which is great. It has a good-sized inverter which is helpful. But the solar recharge capacity on the 6000X is not good for multiple reasons.

One, they advertise that it can input up to 660 watts into the batteries but that’s actually not true. After reading the user manual and talking with the Goal Zero Customer Service reps both confirmed that only 600w can be put in by solar.

Since the main focus of solar generators is to provide power when there is no power due to power outages, boondocking, or away from the grid, solar is very important.

The issue is that even though it has an MPPT charge controller, the 6000X cannot be charged in a single day from solar panels. There are 5 solar peak hours a day on average in the USA. That means there are 5 hours a day that the panels can make their full potential power.

5 hours x 600w = 3,000 watt-hours

That is only 50% of the battery capacity. That is okay if you’re not draining the battery every day but many people are shocked by how much power they use on a daily basis even during emergencies.

The bigger issue is that 3,000wh is how much power it can make in a day, as long as nothing is being run off of the Yeti 6000X while it’s charging. That’s a big problem because during the day we still need to run our fridge, freezer, lights, fans, kitchen devices and so on.

That means in a single day it’s only likely going to be able to make upwards of 2,000wh while running essential equipment. That would mean it takes 3 days to charge! And that still doesn’t factor in using that essential equipment all night long and having a battery that’s even lower in the morning.

This is the big crutch of the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X system. It’s extremely hard to get it recharged unless you have very small power needs.

This is why the Yeti 6000X is in the last place on the Top 8 Best Solar Generators.

On the upside, it does come with a fast 600w wall charger to recharge the 6000X from a wall outlet in only 5 hours which is great. That is one of the fastest recharge speeds of most solar generators available according to all the reviews I’ve seen and done.

This is why I love the Titan so much. The Titan can have a 6,000wh battery capacity just like the 6000X for about the same price. But, in addition to that, the Titan has a 3,000w pure sine wave inverter so it can easily run a lot more equipment at the same time. But then, even more, it has 2,000w of solar recharge capability through the two MPPTs built into the Titan. That means it can be used all day long and still get fully recharged by nightfall every day.

Longevity

How long will the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X last? It has 500 cycles which means that you can drain it from 100% down to 0% then back up to 100% 500 times before the battery is considered “used up.”

It isn’t truly used up and no good. After 500 cycles it will be 80% as efficient as it was when it was brand new. So rather than it being a 6,071wh battery, it would be more like a 4,857wh battery. It’s still a good battery and should work without any problems, it just won’t last as long-running equipment like it did when it was brand new.

Click Here to Buy the Yeti 6000X

The Titan batteries are rated to 2,000 cycles which means it will last 4x longer than the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X battery. In addition, the Titan can add external batteries of any type, lithium or lead-acid, and make the cycles last even longer. I like to use the Titan Expansion Batteries to add more capacity to my Titan.

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X needs to be maintained every month or two. It will slowly drain the battery down as it sits on the floor waiting to be used. This is due to the fact that the Yeti 6000X doesn’t have a true “off” switch. The screen always has a readout and is never truly turned off. There is no off or on button. You simply choose which output you want to use and it will either turn those ports on or off. But the battery always has a tiny draw on it which causes the 3-month shelf life explained in the user manual.

Outlets

For having a massive capacity it only has 2 AC outlets. That’s okay, more outlets are not a requirement but it doesn’t make life easier when using the system. I find that a minimum of 4 outlets is good but 6 is best.

When the power goes out the most common devices plugged in are 1 fridge, 1 freezer, 1 fan, 3 to 4 lights, and different kitchen appliances as they are needed. Having only 2 AC outlets means that I have to keep a power strip around to make sure I can run everything I need. Not a deal-breaker, but again it doesn’t make life easier when the power is out.

When the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X is used in an RV it doesn’t have an RV plug that the shore power plug can plug into directly. A dog bone adapter is required. Using the dog bone can make it hard to have the other AC outlet available to use if I need to plug something directly into the Yeti.

It does have 2 normal USB-A outlets, 1 USB-C QC (Quick Charge) 18w, and 1 USB-C PD (Power Delivery) 60w fast-charge port. Charging MacBooks, drones or other USB-C charging devices is easy with the high output on the Yeti 6000X.

On the 12v outputs, it has a regular cigarette lighter port that is regulated and rated to 13amps output as well as the 8mm ports at 10amps. But the 6000X does come with a special 30a Anderson Powerpole 12v port that will be great for many HAM radio operators who want to run heavy-duty HAM radio equipment.

Click Here for the Best Solar Generator

Customer Experience

Goal Zero has been around for a long time. They were the first big company to make solar generators/power stations and they will likely stay the biggest company for many years simply due to their amazing marketing team and worldwide influence.

Their customer service is great. Every time I have called to ask a question I have never had to wait very long to get an answer. They are very good at helping others figure out how to use the Goal Zero systems and get people pointed in the right direction.

Using the Goal Zero Yeti 6000X is overall pretty good as long as your power needs not large. If you just need to run a fridge, a light, and a fan for a long time during a power outage or RV trip, then it’ll work great for that. If you have any more equipment that needs to be run off of the Yeti 6000X it will likely not be enough mostly due to the small solar input.

Pricing

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X can usually be found for about $4999.95. There is a scale that I made to determine the actual cost per “unit wattage” to better compare different solar generators to each other. It factors the 3 vital aspects of a solar generator which as battery capacity, inverter output, and solar charge rate.

Factoring all of those pieces together we get “unit wattage.” Meaning all the watts and watt-hours combined together then compared to the total price. The unit wattage of the Goal Zero yeti 6000X is $3.89/unit wattage. That is on the high end of the scale.

The Titan has the lowest unit wattage of all solar generators on the market at a mere $1.33/unit wattage. All things considered; the Titan is 1/3 the price for what you get.

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X has a 6,071wh battery, 2,000w inverter, and 600w solar input for $4,999.95.

The Titan with 2 Expansion batteries added has 6,000wh in batteries, 3,000w inverter, and 2,000w solar input for $5,785.

Comparing the Yeti 6000X vs Titan shows that the Yeti is slightly more affordable, but it will only last ¼ as long as the Titan and does not charge as fast or put out as much power as the Titan. For me, I’d rather spend a little bit more and know that my power station is going to be with me through the thick and thin and do everything I need it to do.

Click Here to Buy the Yeti 6000X

Conclusion

The Goal Zero Yeti 6000X is not a bad unit. It definitely has its place in the solar generator/power station world. It has limitations and is not quite as good as other units but it is still a decent unit.

I hope that Goal Zero will look at their system in the future and change certain aspects according to the demands and needs of the market like how the Titan has done.

Continue ReadingGoal Zero Yeti 6000X Portable Solar Generator Power Station Review

Goal Zero Yeti 3000X Portable Power Station/Solar Generator Review

The Goal Zero Yeti 3000X solar generator has been available for quite some time and many people are wondering if it’s worth getting. They’re generally readily available and have an incredible marketing crew behind it at Goal Zero.

The Goal Zero Yeti 3000X has been compared to other solar generators such as the Titan and Bluetti AC200P and we wanted to know which one is actually the best option.

First, we need to know what the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X has to offer.

Battery

The Goal Zero 3000X has a very large base battery capacity within the unit. It boasts a large 3,032wh capacity from the Lithium-Ion battery pack. The 3000X has a larger base battery than both the Bluetti AC200P and the Titan solar generators. But, there is a big drawback that will make you think twice about the Goal Zero Yet 3000X that we’ll get to shortly in this review.

The battery is a 12v battery pack which many companies are still going with but there’s no doubt that a 24v or even 48v configuration in batteries has many benefits and increased efficiency. I am simply surprised that this far into the game Goal Zero, the biggest solar generator company, has not adopted a higher voltage battery to be more efficient like the Titan solar generator which uses 24v batteries.

To convert power from 12v to usable 120v power, the voltage has to increase 10x. That is one of the reasons there are efficiency losses. However, to converter a 24v battery to useable 120v power it only has to increase the voltage 5x which is much easier.

Having a higher battery voltage allows the battery to last longer, stay cooler, and have less stress on it. A 12v battery isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s just surprising that they haven’t upgraded it to a better battery voltage.

The biggest drawback about the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X battery is that it is only rated to 500 cycles. That means, if you drained the battery from 100% down to 0% and recharged it back up to 100%, you would’ve just used 1 cycle. If you do 1 cycle per day, that gives you 500 days before the battery has reached its full lifecycle.

After 500 cycles, the battery will be 80% efficient of what it was when it was brand new. On units such as the Titan, it has 2,000 cycles which means it will literally last four times as long as the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X.

The entire system weighs 70lbs which is mostly the battery.

Inverter

The Goal Zero 3000X has one of the larger inverters on the market at 2,000w pure sine wave AC output. That is definitely strong enough to run basic needs such as fridges, fans, lights, food dehydrators, hair blow dryers, washing machines, TV, and so on. It should be enough to run heavy-duty equipment such as power tools as well.

The biggest limitation that comes into play with the 2,000w inverter is when using it on an RV while boondocking or even in some vans while van-living.

Click Here for the Best Price on the Best Solar Generator

A typical A/C unit on an RV uses about 13,500 BTUs to cool the RV down. The rule of thumb is that you take 10% of the BTUs and that will give you your average running wattage on an A/C unit. That means a typical RV A/C unit will use about 1,350 watts while running to cool the RV down.

The Goal Zero Yeti 3000X has a 2,000w inverter and so that’s not a problem to run a 1,350w A/C unit, once it’s running. The problem some people have experienced is not being able to get the A/C unit running at the very beginning. The problem usually comes in because the A/C isn’t the only device that is being run in an RV.

Most people don’t realize that RVs are terribly efficient which sounds crazy because they should be extremely efficient. A typical RV fridge will use as much power as a household fridge even though it is about ¼ of the size. This is why many people switch to a DC fridge (Code: NC6USLB for a 5% discount) in their RV and save tons of power.

Running the A/C, while running the fridge, while also running chargers, lights, fans, TV, microwaves, toasters, coffee makers, etc. is what the real issue is.

Because the 2,000w inverter cannot handle running the A/C, fridge, coffee machine, and so on at the same time, it’s common for people to overload their Yeti 3000X and have to reset it.

It becomes quite a nuisance having the power get shut off sporadically. Even worse is if you’re out boondocking and you leave the RV for a bit to go do some hiking or adventuring and come back and everything is shut off because the Yeti 3000X overloaded.

Generally speaking, a 2,000w inverter is great, but it can be limited depending on what you need to use it for. RVing with A/C, may not be the best choice.

The same applies to the Bluetti AC200P. Although a good unit, it suffers from the same issue of a 2,000w inverter which isn’t enough for long term power needs for some people. Even running a fridge and a few freezers, if they surge power at the same time, can shut down a 2,000w inverter. I know from firsthand experience. It’s generally not a problem but has happened, more than once.

This is an issue I have not run into while using the Titan. The Titan has a 3,000w inverter which means it’s fully capable of running an RV A/C unit, fridge, hairdryer, and so on at the same time. Or even at home during a power outage, running a 5,000 BTU window A/C unit is quite easy off of something like the Titan.

Charging

Now you’d think that since Goal Zero is the largest solar generator power station company in the world, they would know that since they have such a large battery in the 3000X that they can put a lot of solar charge on it. You’d think.

This is the second biggest let down of the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X. They have a 600 solar input in the 3000X through the onboard MPPT charge controller. That sounds like a lot of power until you break down the math.

Generating 600w of power from solar panels for an hour will charge the battery up by 600 watt-hours. Since it has a 3,032wh battery it will take about 5 hours to get fully charged from a dead battery. 5 hours seems pretty quick but the reality is that it’s not fast enough.

There is an average of 5 solar peak hours per day in the USA depending on the time of year and location. What that means is that solar panels are capable of making their full power potential during those peak hours. A 100w solar panel can make 100w for 5hrs making a total of 500wh in that time frame.

But, accounting for panels getting hot, inefficiencies in the charge controller, and the skies clarity, generally panels will not make their full potential for those 5 hours. But there’s obviously sunlight for more than 5 hours a day. Outside of the 5-hour peak the panels will still make power and charge the system.

As a rule of thumb, you take the max solar input, multiply by 5, and that gives you the average power production on a full sunny day which accounts for the extra hours of sunlight each day outside of the 5-hour peak as well as the lack of full power creation during the 5 peak hours.

That all being said, that means the 3000X can make about 3,000wh a day. It can charge itself up then! But only if it’s not running anything during the day.

Just running a fridge all day long will typically use about 80wh per hour. With the 5 hour standard unit of measurement, that means the solar panels will make a total of 3,000wh but will have spent 400wh running the fridge during that time. Which leaves 2,600wh to go to the battery. That means the battery would be at 87% not 100% by the end of the day. Not a big deal, unless you’re running anything else too.

Running a small A/C unit would effectively keep the 3000X from charging while using the solar panels because the A/C units use so much power.

This is why large solar input is so vital in a solar generator power station. Sadly most reviews do not include this bit of info for people. This causes people to purchase a power station thinking that all is well but then when they need it most after a hurricane, flood, or while RVing or during a blackout, they find out the hard way it’s not enough.

This is one of the top reasons I recommend the Titan overall solar generators. The Titan has a max solar input of 2,000w. That’s 333% more power production! But that’s not even the biggest piece of news when comparing the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X to the Titan. I’ll get to that shortly.

Not only does the Titan have 333% more solar input, but it can be “over-paneled.” That means more than 2,000w of panels can be put on the Titan and that will increase the total solar peak hours per day allowing even more power to be made for longer each day.

Goal Zero claims that the max solar input on the 3000X is actually 660w, but you can only get that if you get specific solar panels that make 110w each which are not common at all. In all our testing, we were never able to get more than 600w of solar input into the 3000X.

To get the full 660w input, it appears the solar panels have to charge along with a car charger or wall charger at the same time. Not a fair statement in my mind to claim 660w input in that way.

The Bluetti AC200P is not far off from the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X in solar input. The AC200P has a solar input of 700w.

Outlets

The Yeti 3000X surprisingly only has two 120v AC outlets on the front. This doesn’t allow for many things to be plugged in at once which means using extra power strips will be helpful.

One thing that does set the Yeti 3000X apart from most solar generators and power stations is that it has a true 60w USB-C output port which is nice for people using it for fast charging of drone batteries or laptop batteries.

Other than that, it has 2 USB-A plugs, another 18w USB-C plug, 1 12v DC cigarette lighter port, 1 Anderson Powerpole 12v port, and two 8mm 12 ports.

The screen is simple and handy. It shows the battery percentage as well as the general battery capacity in bars. It also shows the total input charge and output draw which is all vital information.

I simply wish it had more AC outlets on it. The Titan has 6 and so does the Bluetti AC200P.

Expandability

The Yeti 3000X does have the ability to attach to the Goal Zero Tank battery system. Sadly though, the Tank system is made with lead-acid type batteries which means it can only use 50% of the total battery capacity. And when connected to the Yeti 3000X, cuts the total battery capacity of the onboard lithium battery to half the capacity as well.

This means if you add the massive 4.8kwh (4,800wh) Goal Zero Tank system to the 3000X, you’ll have a max battery capacity of 3,900wh. That means you’ll spend $2,000 extra, to add about 900wh of battery capacity. Not worth it at all.

This is what kills me with Goal Zero, they are the largest solar generator company in the world, but they are making equipment like this.

This is the #1 I started this website was to help people understand the true capability of solar generators.

I’m sure someday they will release a lithium-based Tank system and that will be great. But until then, it’s not worth a penny.

The Bluetti AC200P is not expandable at all so at least the 3000X has that edge over the AC200P.

But once again, the Titan takes the cake on this. The Titan can add as many batteries that are desired. It can have the Titan Expansion Battery added to it or other external batteries such as the Lion Energy UT 1300 LiFePo4 batteries.

The Titan can technically add up to 135 Titan Expansion Batteries on it. Of course, that’s not practical, but it technically can. I personally use three batteries on my Titan for a total battery capacity of 6,000wh. With that, I have run my off-grid cabin for well over a year with no power outages.

Click Here for the Best Price on the Best Solar Generator

Extras

The Goal Zero Yeti 3000X has a 3-month shelf life. Meaning it needs to be charged every 3 months or the battery will drain itself down to zero. I tested this with my Goal Zero Yeti 1400 and let it sit without charging. After 11 months it was completely dead. The Titan will hold a charge for up to 5 years.

The Yeti 3000X has a 2-year warranty which is wonderful and the customer service at Goal Zero has been extremely good in my experience. They are very responsive by phone and are always ready to help.

The biggest cool factor that the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X has is that it’s capable of connecting to your phone via the Goal Zero App. This allows you to monitor, change and manage the system.

Comparison

In this picture, you can see clearly why I prefer the Titan over the AC200P and the Yeti 3000X. The AC200P is definitely better in many ways over the 3000X but the Titan beats both by a long shot.

In the end, the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X costs $3,200 and the Titan is only $2,995. Getting a Titan will save you $200 and give you tons of more options. The only thing the Yeti 3000X beats the Titan is the base battery size.

Conclusion

As much as I want Goal Zero to put out good products since they are so big, they don’t put out good products. For someone in a Van or small RV, it may work. For someone just running a fridge, fan, and light during a power outage it may work. But for less cost, why not go with the best unit ever created and get a Titan?

I know I really beat up the Goal Zero Yeti 3000X portable power station in this review. But I feel that most reviews out there are not letting people know enough about this unit and are just trying to earn a quick buck. That’s not what my reviews are about. This review was brutal on the Yeti 3000X but it’s honest.

After reading other reviews and knowing all the specs, I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t go with the Titan and have the best for an even better price.

Continue ReadingGoal Zero Yeti 3000X Portable Power Station/Solar Generator Review

Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Review and Why it May Not be What You Want

“From lights to laptops, refrigerators to power tools, run all your devices with the clean and quiet Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Portable Power Station. Designed to be the most versatile and innovative power station on the market, the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 features a patent-pending 1,500W AC inverter designed to tackle any job, both indoors and out.”

This is the description on Goal Zero’s website of the Yeti 1000. They make some bold claims. Refrigerators to power tools? Seems a lot for a solar generator of this size. The Yeti 1000 is one of many models that Goal Zero offers. The Yeti 1000 is about in the middle of their sizes, as they also offer a Yeti 1500 and Yeti 3000, and some smaller offerings like the 500, 200, and others.

Today, I am going to do a thorough breakdown of the Yeti 1000 and look over its specs and features. We will see how much can it really power, and if it can live up to these claims. I will also compare it to similar solar generators and see how it stacks up.

Battery Capacity

The size of the battery doesn’t determine what size of equipment I can run, but for how long I can run it. It is the gas tank of the solar generator. The type of battery used makes a big difference. There are essentially 3 battery types used for solar generators. Lead acid, lithium-ion, and lithium-iron, in order of oldest to newest.

Click Here to Buy the Goal Zero Yeti 1000

The Yeti 1000 uses a 1045Wh, 96.8Ah (10.8V) lithium-ion battery. 1,000Wh is a pretty typical size of solar generators, although companies are continually pushing the envelope and making bigger and better batteries.

When I got into solar generators, I struggled with understanding what all this meant. I hope to help make this easier for you to understand. To figure out how long a 1,000Wh battery will last, you have to look at what you are going to run. Let’s look at power tools, since Goal Zero used that as an example of what the Yeti 1000 is good for.

A ½” Drill needs about 900W to start and 600W to stay running. I’ll talk more about the difference later. Using 600W then, if I was running the drill for an hour straight it would use 600Wh in an hour. 600Wh/1045Wh = 57%, meaning I have 43% battery life left. If I only used the drill for ten minutes, 1/6th of an hour, then my math would look like 600W x 1/6 hour = 100Wh. That would use roughly 10% of my battery.

What about a bigger power tool, say a disc sander that uses 1200W. In an hour of time that disc sander would use 1,200Wh, but the battery is only 1,045Wh, meaning the battery would only last about 52 minutes. 1,045Wh/1,200Wh = 87%. 87% x 60 minutes = 52 minutes. So, on paper it should be able to run a disc sander fine, but not for very long. It should be noted also that a lot of companies list nominal battery capacity instead of actual. Meaning that the battery might be rated for 1045Wh, but due to inefficiencies there might only be 1,000Wh that is usable.

What about a Miller Millermatic 141 mig welder for home use? According to their specs, it uses 90 amps at 18.5 Volts = 1,665 watts. That means that the Yeti 1000 couldn’t even run it, because it is 165W over the 1,500W inverter. Probably the same case for a chop saw also.

For big equipment the Yeti 1000 is a no go, not because of the battery but due to the inverter size. If using something like the EcoFlow Delta that has an 1,800W inverter, it could power it. The EcoFlow Delta is similar in price and battery size but outperforms the Yeti 1000. But if I really wanted a beast of a solar generator big enough to handle big equipment well, I would look at the Point Zero Titan. You can read my review of it here.

Inverter Size

The inverter is the engine of the solar generator, and its watt rating can be thought of as how big that engine is. Just like in a truck with a big engine can pull heavy equipment, a solar generator with a big inverter can run bigger appliances. The inverter’s role is to take the solar energy input that is in Direct Current (DC) form, and convert it to usable Alternating Current (AC) form.

The Yeti 1000 uses a 1,500W continuous Pure Sine Wave inverter, continuous meaning it can maintain 1,500 continuously until the battery runs out. At least that’s what it means on paper. Usually when the battery gets down to around 20% the inverter won’t be able to get the full 1,500W draw. Pure Sine Wave just means it can run all types of appliances, so that’s great.

It has a 3,000W surge capacity. If you remember in my ½” drill example, it uses 900W to start and 600W to stay running. A lot of electrical appliances are like this, requiring more energy to start up and then can use less to stay running. Because the Yeti 1000 has a 3,000W surge capacity and a 1,500W continuous capacity, it can run appliances up to 1,500W that might require more than that to start.

Weight/Portability

What’s great about solar generators is how easy they are to use. I don’t have to worry about gasoline/propane, fumes, maintenance, etc. I can bring it inside my house, or use it outside. Because of that, I want my system to be portable and easy to move around.

The heaviest component of a solar generator system is the battery. A big benefit of lithium-ion batteries is how much lighter they are than lead-acid. The Yeti 1000 comes in at 40 pounds. It’s a tad on the heavy side for its size, seeing as the Jackery 1000 comes in at 22 pounds. But 40 pounds isn’t bad at all and has easy carry handles built into it.

Charge Speed

The Yeti 1000 uses a PWM charge controller instead of the better MPPT charge controller. To keep it simple, an MPPT charge controller is considered a “smart” charge controller and can charge up to 25% faster than a PWM charge controller. It’s unfortunate they didn’t use the nicer MPPT charge controller.

There are typically 3 ways to charge a solar generator. Obviously, the first and main method is with solar panels. That is really the main reason to get a solar generator. But it’s also nice when a solar generator can be charged with a wall outlet or with a car charger, which the Yeti allows.

The Yeti 1000 can allow up to 360W of solar input via solar panels. That means it could charge the 1045Wh battery in a little under 3 hours. 3 hours is well under the 5-6 hour window that I shoot for. Where do I get 5-6 hours? That is the amount of optimal sunlight in a day. If a generator can charge within that window, then I can go into the evening hours every day with a fully charged battery. It works perfect on paper, but it should be said that if there is cloud cover or bad weather, it might not be possible to get good enough sunlight to recharge my system.

If I’m using a wall charger to charge the Yeti 1000, I can expect it to take about 18 hours to charge. That’s pretty slow, especially for only being a 1045Wh battery. They do offer a fast wall charger that is sold separately. It can charge in about 4 hours, and costs $150. Comparing it again to the EcoFlow Delta, the Delta can charge from a wall outlet in as fast as 2 hours. That is insanely fast, and for around the same price of the Yeti 1000.

If charging with a car charger, the Yeti 1000 can be charged in about 8 hours give or take. I really like the car charging option. It makes it very nice while traveling, camping, RVing, etc. Unfortunately, the car charger is sold separately.

Expandability

If more battery capacity is needed, the Yeti 1000 does allow a battery expansion to be added using the Goal Zero Tank Expansion Battery. Goal Zero has a 1,200Wh lead-acid battery that can be connected using the Yeti Link Expansion Module. The battery costs $400 and the Expansion Module costs another $400. Being lead acid, it doesn’t have the performance features of a lithium-ion, but it does work. It weighs 77 pounds, so moving it around might be a little challenging for some. There is no limit to how many batteries can be added.

The best system on the market right now for battery expansion is the Point Zero Titan. Although it isn’t really fair to compare the Yeti 1000 to the Titan because the Titan is so much bigger, I just wanted to highlight the Titan for its exceptional battery expansion feature. The main battery on the Titan is the exact same as the expandable battery, all lithium-ion, and they stack on top of each other. It is a really well thought out system.

Life Cycle

A life cycle is essentially how to determine how long a battery will last before the battery starts to deplete. As great as they are, they do have limitations and a life expectancy. A cycle is when a battery goes from 100% to 0% back to 100%.

The Yeti 1000 has a life cycle rating of 500 cycles. After that, the battery will deplete down to about 80% capacity. Every 500 cycles it will deplete a little more. 500 cycles is pretty typical of most solar generators. Around 2,000 cycles it’s probably time to have the battery replaced, which means sending the unit back into Goal Zero.

Number of plugin ports

The plugin ports are how the energy gets from the solar generator to your appliances. The more, the better. I prefer not to have to use a power strip on my solar generators just so I can get my stuff plugged in.

The front panel of the Yeti 1000 houses 2 110/120V wall outlets, 4 USB outlets, a 12V DC car port, a 6mm port, and a 12V Power Pole port. While there is a good amount of ports, I find it could use more wall outlets. I also don’t like how close the wall outlets are to each other. One boxy plug will block the other one, making it useless.

RV Connectivity

A 30-amp style RV plug is an incredibly convenient feature. When using an RV, I can just directly into the RV and use all the outlets, lights, and appliances in my RV without running power cords everywhere. Unfortunately, the Yeti 1000 doesn’t have this feature.

Click Here to Buy the Goal Zero Yeti 1000

Customer Support and Warranty

Goal Zero is really a great company to work with. They are very responsive to their customers with hundreds of questions answered on their website. I love to see that in a company. It gives me confidence in opening up my wallet to buy their equipment.

They warranty their products for 2 years. Most companies only warranty their products for a year, so 2 years is great. It is a good idea to test out your equipment as much as possible while under warranty so if there any issues they can be resolved by the manufacturer.

Final Thoughts

It is a great option for RVing, vanlifing, camping, etc, but in its price range and size I think there are better options. For example, The EcoFlow Delta costs $1400 while the Yeti 1000 is $1200. For $200 more you can get a unit that has a 1,260Wh battery, a 1,800W continuous inverter, more lifetime cycles, and weighs 9 pounds less.

Although I like Goal Zero, I don’t think I can really recommend this product. It doesn’t have very many outlets, no RV plug, and you can only expand the battery with lead-acid batteries. It also doesn’t have the Wifi capability of the other Goal Zero models that really gave it an edge.

Continue ReadingGoal Zero Yeti 1000 Review and Why it May Not be What You Want

Goal Zero Lithium Yeti 1400 Lithium Power Station Review

Yeti 1400G

oal Zero was truly the first company to make portable solar generators a big deal. With their launch of their big Yeti 1250 many years ago they entered the market and told everyone about it. The Yeti 1250 used a lead-acid battery which is very old technology, but, Goal Zero has come a long way with their lithium line of generators. From that line up the Lithium Yeti 1400 power station is my favorite one.

The Lithium 1400 seems to have a very good balance of inverter power to battery output power as well as simple to use setup. It is readily available on a plethora of websites and is backed up by a great warranty.

Click Here to Buy the Goal Zero Lithium 1400

The 1400 has many key features that set it apart from the competition. It is a well-rounded system that allows for some decent customization for each person’s situation. From upgrading to an MPPT charge controller, expanding the solar input capability and being able to use the full inverter capacity until the battery is dead are just a few of the great things about it.

Battery

It’s obvious from the name that the Yeti 1400 Lithium uses a lithium battery. Specifically, it uses a lithium-nmc or “lithium-ion” as it’s more often called. The lithium-ion is leaps and bounds better than what they were using before in their Yeti 1250 since that used a Using the Goal Zero Yeti 1400lead-acid battery. The lithium-ion battery is far lighter and has many more cycles.

It’s a 12v battery and is rated to 132-amp-hours. In easy terms, it’s a 1,425-watt-hour battery which is fairly large for its size. 1,425wh is enough to power a fridge, freezer, lights, fan and CPAP machine for the whole night. Running those items would mean the battery would be completely drained by morning though so it’s important to save as much power as possible. For this reason, it is always recommended to use an outlet timer to control how often the fridge and freezer run. This will save a lot of power and allow for less charging to be needed the next day.

Battery Draw Capacity

The draw capacity of the battery is the full 1,500 watts of the inverter. This is incredible since most solar generators on the market will either not pull the full inverter capacity for very long or have small inverters. This means if I need to use something like a toaster oven, microwave or hot plate/electric cooktop I can do it with no problems. Obviously, they can’t be run simultaneously since that would be more than 1,500 watts.

Other generators like the ExpertPower Alpha and MAXOAK Bluetti are other great generators because they can run the full capacity of the inverter. Their inverters are rated to 1,000 watts though so I can’t run things such as a hot plate which I often do during power outages for cooking. Both have 1,500wh batteries.

Then you have another such as the Inergy Apex which has a 1,500-watt pure sine wave inverter just like the Lithium 1400, but the Apex can only draw 550 watts continuously for more than a few minutes. The Apex uses a 1,100wh battery. It seems like the Goal Zero Lithium 1400 is the combination of those two units since it has both the bigger inverter and the bigger battery.

The Yeti 1400 is really one of the few on the market that can actually pull its weight in regard to using the inverter to the full capacity until the battery dies.

Inverter

The pure sine wave 1,500-watt continuous inverter has a peak value of 3,000 watts which is exactly what it should be. The peak wattage really should always be at least twice as much as what the running wattage is. This makes it easier to run heavy-duty items with large surges of power. Or when multiple items are running at the same time and then one of the items turns on a condenser are starts up a motor. The 3,000-watt peak allows the system to continue running without any interruptions.

Since the inverter is pure sine wave it will also have no problem running any kind of device that uses 1,500 watts of power or less.

Lifetime Cycles

Lifecycles of Goal Zero 1400 LithiumOne of the very limited number of things that is a weak point on the Goal Zero 1400 is how many lifecycles it has. Many lithium-ion based solar generators have a 2,000 lifecycle rating. This means it can be discharged and charged 2,000 times before the battery reaches about an 80% efficiency level. With the Yeti 1400 it is only 500 cycles before it reaches that point.

With that in mind, it’s important to understand how this is not that big of a deal. Too often people get caught up in the numbers and specs and don’t think of the real-world application. I use my solar generators semi-often and most of the time I never drain them below 50%. If I were to use my Yeti 1400 Lithium every single day for 500 days, I would then have a battery that is 80% efficient, or in other words, 1,200wh not 1,500wh where it first started.

Seeing as how I use mine maybe once a week it’s more like I have 500 weeks before I reach that point. 500 weeks x 7 days a week = 3,500 days (9.6 years) before my battery reaches that point. Plus, the fact that I only drain it to 50% at the most so it’s more like a 20-year battery. That is plenty of time to use the Yeti 1400 without having to worry about if the battery is still in good condition. Essentially, I don’t have to worry about it at all.

Yes, it is a weak point when comparing against other solar generators because it doesn’t have 2,000 lifecycles but it really isn’t that big of a deal since I will likely never reach that many cycles any time soon. The fastest way I could see it being reached quickly is if I were using this in my RV/camper all summer long. Even still if I use it every day for a few weeks each year while traveling in my travel trailer the battery will last years before reaching that 500 cycle point.

Click Here to Buy the Goal Zero Lithium 1400

 

 

Solar Input

The charge controller inside the GZ 1400 Lithium is a PWM controller. PWM is definitely not the top of the line and I don’t know why they even put it in there in the first place. The good news is that it is inexpensive to upgrade to an MPPT charge controller.

A PWM charge controller works perfectly fine on bright sunny days to charge up the Yeti 1400. It will let in a max of 360 watts of power from the solar panels. It is limited to 22v and 25 amps which means solar panels should be connected in parallel into the Yeti 1400.

Where a PWM lacks is when there are not perfect sunny days. When there are clouds the PWM controller can’t compute how to use the panels and make more power. Whereas the MPPT charge controller is designed for making more power in non-ideal conditions. Unless it’s summer it’s more common to have non-ideal conditions, even during summer it happens.

Goal Zero MPPT Charge Controller Before

When it’s cloudy or partly cloudy the MPPT charge controller vastly outperforms a PWM charge controller. The beauty of adding the MPPT charge controller is that it doesn’t replace the PWM. It is a small black box that fits inside the top of the lid of the Yeti 1400 Power Station and very easily attaches. By plugging in the EC8 cable and the USB cable in the top of the Yeti it will allow it to be charged with a second set of panels.

The second set of panels has the same limit as the first set of panels that are plugged into the PWM. Both are limited to 22v and 25 amps. Personally, I use three 100-watt solar panels in each solar charging port to make a max of 600 watts of power. But the limit according to Goal Zero is 720 watts combined between the two solar input ports.

Generally speaking, there are 5 hours a day where the maximum amount of power can be made from solar panels. This makes it pretty easy to calculate my maximum power production per day. If I have 700 watts in panels connected then I multiply that by 5 hours for a total of 3,500wh created each day. I will obviously make power outside of those 5 hours each day but the base number used is 5 hours per day.Goal Zero MPPT Charge Controller After

3,500 watts per day is great. This means I could drain the entire 1,425wh battery during the night if I needed to and the next day within about 2 hours can have it fully charged again. Or even better, I can continue to run my fridge, freezer, laptop, and fans while still charging the battery. After 5 hours I will have a full battery and all of my equipment will still have been running all day long.

It’s important to note that it’s not common to get full production from solar panels each day. Between the 5 prime hours and the rest of the day though it is common to get that much power over the entire day.

Connections

The Yeti 1400 Power Station uses two types of input power connections. Primarily it uses an 8mm barrel connector that is universal throughout all the Goal Zero power stations. It also has an Anderson Powerpole connector which is one of the most common solar power connectors worldwide. It’s great the Goal Zero didn’t try to make everything 100% proprietary because that generally makes people unhappy.

It’s very easy to get an PV Connector to Anderson Powerpole adapter and use that for connecting to other brands of solar panels besides Goal Zero. The Goal Zero solar panels use the 8mm connector.Anderson to PV Connector

The Yeti 1400 Lithium is able to charge simultaneously mostly do to the fact that it can have the second charge controller added to it. This means it can have solar panels in one charging port and the wall outlet charger in the other. This will not harm the battery or the system and will help it charge faster.

If just the wall outlet charger is being used it will take about 24 hours the charge the battery up from zero to full.

Wifi

The newest Yeti 1400 generators now come with built-in Wifi. What this means is that a phone can be connected to it wirelessly and can see what the input, output, and usage levels are of the generator. This is a really exciting feature because it allows people to watch their battery levels and solar panel production levels without having to go look at the screen.

This makes it perfect especially for people out camping or using it while RVing since the Yeti can often be in a spot that’s not easy to get to. Also during power outages, it’s nice to be in the living room with the Yeti 1400 in the garage and see how much power is being made and used.

Charging

There are multiple ways to charge up the Yeti 1400. Primarily is the wall outlet charger and solar panels. It also has the ability to charge from a car DC cigarette lighter port but that car charger seems to be unavailable from anywhere.

It does have a very special car charger called the “Link.” Most car chargers pull power directly from the battery. This is perfectly fine when driving from place to place because the alternator is charging the battery. What the Link does though is it charges directly from the alternator. This allows it to charge up to a rate of 500 watts which is about 5 or 6 times more than you could get with just the normal car charger.

The big drawback to the Link is that it plugs into the exact same spot as the MPPT charge controller. So there’s no way to charge from the Link and panels connected to the MPPT charge controller at the same time. Really it simply makes it a hassle to constantly have to disconnect the Link in order to install the MPPT. I personally prefer just to charge off of solar and a wall outlet so I keep just the MPPT charge controller plugged into that spot.

Weight

The Yeti 1400 comes in at 44lbs. It’s heavy. It’s not so heavy I can’t move it around but it is a bit of a hassle to pick it up and move it around. Every time I pick it up I feel like I’m at the gym lifting a large 45lb weight. I guess it would be possible to save on the gym membership and just workout with the Yeti Lithium 1400. Most likely not recommended by Goal Zero though.

Carrying the Goal Zero 1400

It’s important to look at it in terms of end-users. Many people are using solar generators simply because they understand that gas is hard to get during power outages, they don’t want dangerous fumes, or because it’s much easier to use than gas generators. 45lbs is above my comfort zone of 35lbs so it is considered to be a heavy solar generator.

Outlets

When Goal Zero first launched their Yeti 1250 with the lead-acid batteries it had three 110/120v outlets. I think four should be the minimum that companies go for because it seems like it’s very easy to fill up two or three outlets when running a fridge, freezer, laptop, CPAP, TV or whatever else. I generally don’t like having to put power strips into solar generator outlets because it makes it much easier to overload them.

The Yeti 1400 Lithium only has two 110/120v outlets. Why Goal Zero decided to put fewer outlets on there we’ll never know but I wish it had four instead of just two. To run multiple items there’s no choice but to run extension cords and or power strips to multiple items.

It has one 12v DC cigarette port for items that use DC power. It also has two USB A ports, one USB C port and one they call USB PD. Basically the USB PD port is a stronger version of the USB C port. These ports are enough to easily charge phones, some laptops, and other personal devices.

It does not include a 30amp RV plug which is too bad. With a 1,500 watt inverter and a 1,425wh battery, this could definitely connect to small or medium-sized RVs and give good power. Plus it’s very easy to mount solar panels to the roof of an RV which makes it all the more reason why it should have an RV plug.

Using the Goal Zero Lithium 1400

 

Warranty

As usual, it is recommended to charge/use the Lithium 1400 Yeti every 3 months. This keeps the battery is a healthy state so that it lasts for a very long time. It seems like if it’s fully charged and left for one year that it is still in good condition though.

The warranty that Goal Zero provides is somewhat general yet at the same time very unique. It as a one-year manufacturer warranty on it meaning anything that’s not the user’s fault will be able to get it fixed for free if it happens I the first year. This is why it’s so important to get it out and use it so that any issues come out and can be fixed before the one-year mark hits.

What sets their warranty apart is that the warranty is both transferrable and resets when sold to a new customer. For example, if someone owns the Yeti 1400 Lithium for 9 months then decides to sell it, the new owner gets a one-year warranty from the day they bought it, not from the day the original owner purchased it. This is a great move by Goal Zero to ensure that people are satisfied with their generators.

X-Factor

There are a number of things that set the Goal Zero Lithium 1400 apart from the other solar generators on the market. First that it can expand it’s solar with the MPPT charge controller up to 720 watts is great.

Also that it has the Link car charger is not available on any other brand of solar generator to this date. That is a great way to charge when in the car not only because it’s fast but it also means that when the car is turned off it won’t drain the battery of the car.

Weakness

It’s really too bad that the MPPT charge controller is an upgrade. It is so common for solar generators to have MPPT charge controllers as the standard now. Goal Zero should have redesigned an upgraded unit that has prebuilt MPPT charge controllers already in it.

The fact that it only has 500 cycles instead of 2,000 cycles is a weakness too but not a bad one.

Click Here to Buy the Goal Zero Lithium 1400

 

 

Conclusion

Whereas the Goal Zero Yeti 1400 Lithium Power Station is not my #1 choice it is definitely a top choice. For people, those needing moderate power needs during power outages or out on the road it definitely fits the bill. It can make and store enough power to easily get by day to day with essential power needs. I would definitely recommend it to anyone needing light to moderate power.

Continue ReadingGoal Zero Lithium Yeti 1400 Lithium Power Station Review