Is the Bluetti AC300 a Worthless Amazing Solar Generator?

There is no question that most people who are looking into powerful solar generators are considering the Bluetti AC300. On paper, it looks absolutely incredible. Its expandability is great, it can make 240v power, it can be monitored wirelessly, and even has really long-lasting LiFePo4 battery cells.

Then why is it that I do not recommend this power station? That’s a great question and I will explain why here in this full review. But if you’re looking for a short answer, I’ll save you some time.

The main reasons I do not like the Bluetti AC300 solar generator are first the idle power consumption rate, the screen has multiple issues, and the efficiency varies greatly between units.

But is it all bad? Definitely not. There are many great features like a powerful inverter, expandable batteries, a true UPS setting, and really good solar input. But is that enough to make it a considerable option? Only you can make that decision. For me though, not so much. Let me explain.

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Output Power

The Bluetti AC300 has a 3,000w pure sine wave inverter that is capable of surging up to 6,000w. An inverter of that size is plenty powerful for nearly everyone’s needs for back up power supply. Even for a 30a service RV, van or small off-grid cabin 3,000w of continuous output is plenty to run all the essentials minus a 240v well pump.

The Bluetti AC300 solar generator can link two units together and make 240v power which then allows it to run things like well pumps and electric dryers. No solar generator can do central A/C so the AC300 is exempt from having that as a downside. But having 240v power and 6,000w of continuous output power is very good for small off-grid living or for emergency power.

Having the ability to make 240v power and using that in conjunction with a transfer/interlock switch means you don’t have to run extension cords to every room, fridge, freezer, and device you want to run which makes life less of a hassle when the power is out. You’ll need an electrician to install the transfer switch but that is a very simple task for nearly any electrician and isn’t overly expensive either.

Whether it’s running a fridge and a couple of freezers or powering up a shop to run a miter saw and a table saw, the Bluetti AC300 can absolutely do it. But is it still good enough?

The biggest issue that no one seems to be talking about with the Bluetti AC300 in any reviews is the idle power consumption rate. IPCR is how much power an inverter uses to simply be turned on. You can think of it as turning on your car on and being in park. The engine is running, which means it’s using gasoline, but you’re not going anywhere.

On the Bluetti AC300 it has an IPCR of about 64 watts. Other solar generators of similar size in this comparison chart have a much lower IPCR. For example, the Delta Pro, a main competitor to the AC300, only uses about 13 watts when turned on. That means the AC300 is using about 5x the amount of power just to have the inverter running but not even doing anything. Also keep in mind, if you turn on the Bluetooth receiver to use with the app, the IPCR goes up to nearly 100w! That’s a lot of draining.

In a 24 hour period, the Bluetti AC300 will consume about 1,536wh of battery capacity. That’s about 50% of the overall battery capacity on the AC300. It’s used up, for no good reason. Now on the plus side, the AC300 has an auto shut off function where if it’s not running anything for about 8 hours it will just shut off. In those 8 hours will use up 512wh of the battery, about 17% of it. But the bigger issue is, that many people need to run things like a sump pump, which only turns on when water fills a tank in the ground and then the pump pushes that water out to the city or septic system. They sometimes don’t run all day, or for long periods of time until they get filled up. This is just one example, but many items don’t constantly run which means the AC300 could turn off, and then there’s sewage back filling in the basement and there’s a much bigger mess to deal with. That would only happen if the tank got filled and the AC300 was off, not running that pump. But, if it’s happened once, it can happen again.

The second big issue with the inverter is the efficiency. All inverters do for the most part is convert battery energy to usable energy for your devices. Because there is a voltage change in doing that, there is an efficiency power loss. Meaning if you have 100wh of battery, you may only get to use 90wh of it, because the other 10wh were just burned up in the form of heat to convert from one voltage to another.

The Bluetti AC300’s inverter efficiency has varied greatly according to multiple reviews and posts on forums. One person will get 87% efficiency out of their unit, and another person will get 72% efficiency. That’s a massive spread. 87% is quite good for most systems, but 72% is quite bad. How do you know which one you’re going to get? Will Prowse in his own review got a higher number than the review done by Tom from HoboTech which was as low as 72%. This causes major concerns since you could be getting a poor-quality unit and not even know it. It’s basically a lottery system if you get a good unit. That’s quite the risk.

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Battery Power

The batteries that go with the AC300 are called B300 batteries. They are quite nice on the AC300 because they are high-grade LiFePo4 or Lithium Iron Phosphate. They last a very long time but are a bit heavier than Lithium NMC/Lithium Ion. But the LiFePo4 batteries for the AC300 are rated to 3,500 lifecycles which is very impressive. That means it can go from fully charged to empty and then fully charged again once a day for 10 years before the batteries have any noticeable degradation. After doing that for 10 years straight, which no one does, the batteries will be 80% efficient. Meaning they’ll have 80% of the original usable capacity from when they were new.

But there have been multiple reports now in reviews of people saying they found out one or more of the cells in their B300 have gone bad. How is the average Joe who isn’t an electrical engineer or who doesn’t play with solar stuff all of the time going to know that their battery is faulty? They probably will never know. And then sometime, maybe even years down the road when they need it the most that battery may just stop working all together. That’s a big concern for most people.

The Bluetti AC300 requires you to use proprietary Bluetti batteries. EcoFlow does the same thing with their Delta Pro and other systems. The Titan is the only solar generator where you can use any other battery with it as long as it’s a 24v battery which makes sense.

Each B300 battery is 3,074wh in capacity. There is no battery built into the inverter of the AC300. So if you get just an AC300, it will come with one battery that attaches to the inverter with a heavy duty cable. But each AC300 can have up to four B300 batteries connected to it for a total battery capacity of 12,296wh which is quite large. And even better yet, if two AC300 units are linked together for 240v power, you’re able to have 4 batteries on each system which maxes the total battery capacity to 24,592wh which is absolutely incredible. The expandability of the batteries is extremely impressive.

The Delta Pro can have two extra batteries per unit which makes its maxed our setup with two Delta Pros capable of having 21,600wh of batteries capacity all connected together. So the Bluetti AC300 definitely wins in that area, but we have to keep in mind that a lot of excess power from the batteries simply gets burned off just by using the AC300 so it may not actually have much more usable power than a Delta Pro.

Also, by comparison, the Titan can have up to 270,000wh of battery capacity connected. Not that anyone would ever do that, but it’s so much easier to add batteries to the Titan as far as having a large capacity than any other unit so far. And the Titan can use more Titan batteries, or other brands of batteries.

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Input Power

Out of all the other solar generators in the heavycap and ultracap size categories, the Bluetti AC300 has some of the best solar charging rates out there. Each AC300 can input up to 2,400w of solar into it. This part is a little confusing because there is only one solar input port. But the Bluetti AC300 has a nifty adapter than has two MC4 connections built into it. The single solar input plug in reality has two inputs built into it. This is a great way they saved space and kept things simple for users.

There are two MPPT charge controllers inside and each one is rated to work from 12-150v and up to 12a to get a total of 1,200w into each one. That is how it gets 2,400w of solar input. This is something that would’ve been incredible in the Delta Pro because it only has one solar input maxed at 1,600w but that’s still quite a bit of solar input for the Delta Pro.

It’s pretty easy to get 1,200w connected to the AC300 but because of it’s really low 12a parameter, it’s difficult to get a good over-paneled setup on it. It’s definitely possible, but just keep in mind over-paneling isn’t great. For example if you were using 100w panels, each solar panel is going to put out about 20v and 6a. That means I can connect seven 100w panels together to be at 140v and 5a with a total input of 700w. Then I can double that and connect that to the unit for 1,400w connected to a single charge controller. Then double that again for a total of 28, 100w solar panels for 2,800w of solar input. I am able to over-panel the system in that way but it’s only over-paneled by 400w which isn’t huge.

One of the extra cool features though is that it’s possible to add an additional 200w of solar going into each battery that’s added to the system in order to maximize the solar input and increase the charge speed. That’s a cool feature that only the Hysolis MPS3K has been able to do in the past.

By the way, make sure if you’re using the two solar inputs to change the settings on the screen to PV charging on both solar input ports, as well as turn off “PV Parallel Enable” so if one set of panels is a different voltage than the other, the unit will continue to charge from solar. Many people were not getting a good charge from their solar panels according to different reviews and that’s how you should be able to fix it.

The wall charging speed is programmable which is a really nice feature. If you need to charge it up really fast, you can change it to 15a for a normal house wall outlet. If you want to trickle charge the system, you can go as low as 1a charge speed. If you have a high-speed charging outlet like a 30a outlet you can go up to 30a charging speed for the AC300 which is incredible, but those plugs are extremely rare and nearly no one will ever get to use that feature.

If you’re really in a rush to charge, the AC300 can be charged with both AC (wall outlet) power and solar power at the exact same time. And of course, it has pass-through charging meaning you can charge the system and use it at the same time.

Things to Know About

The battery expansion cables are a big hassle for pretty much everyone. Nearly every review out there mentions that they don’t like the big bulky and unwieldy cables for the batteries.

There are a lot of outlets on the Bluetti AC300 which makes it very versatile. It has a 12v 20a cigarette lighter DC port as well as a 24v 10a cigarette lighter port. Six 120v 20a oultets (house outlets) and one 120v 25a TT-30 RV plug to run your RV off of. There are a number of USB ports as well for mobile devices and even two wireless charging pads on the top of the unit.

It does have a car charger that you can charge up the AC300 from a cigarette lighter port in your car, but it only charges around 120w at the most which means it’s a very slow trickle charge and no one uses those DC charging ports hardly anymore.

Pros

There are some really big wins for the Bluetti AC300. It has a powerful inverter:

Powerful 3,000w Pure Sine Wave inverter.

240v Capable for running nearly the whole house.

3,500 cycles on the LiFePo4 batteries.

UPS setting to supply immediate backup power for essential devices.

A large 2,400w solar input through two MPPT charge controllers.

Pass-through charging to run equipment while the unit is charging.

Dual charging from solar and wall power at the same time.

The batteries are separate from the inverter, so it makes the more portable

It has a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi app.

Cons

Extremely high idle power consumption rate, pretty much a deal breaker.

Any load under 100w will not show up on the screen.

The screen has a harsh viewing angle, you have to be right in front of it to be able to read it.

There are so many settings and options on the screen it can be confusing.

The inverter efficiency varies greatly, another deal breaker.

Most reviews dislike the dust covers on the outlets and the large battery cables.

The 240v power hub has had issues in the past and they are nearly never in stock.

The customer service is horrible. I have never received an email back for any question. I have never had my phone call answered. And their voicemail box is full. Basically, if you have the system, and something comes up, you’re on your own. Another deal breaker.

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Conclusion

Would I recommend this unit to anyone? Sadly, no. The issues that are built into this system are way too big. Not having reliable efficiency, the unit draining on its own really fast, and no one to help support me from customer service are major deal breakers. Just one of those items is enough to be a deal breaker and so the fact that there are three major issues like that means it’s definitely a no-go unit.

In essence, it’s a really good but worthless unit. It has many great features, but the bad features outweigh the good features.

What would I recommend? There are three units I’d recommend over the AC300:

The first would be the EcoFlow Delta Pro because it has a good price for what you get, can do 240v power, is expandable and has pretty decent solar input. Also, their customer service is great and the units are efficient and have a low idle power consumption rate.

If I don’t absolutely need 240v power to run something like a well or to run the outlets and light switches in my house, I’d for sure go with the Titan. The Titan has the same sized inverter at 3,000w, has a similar 2,000w solar input but has massive battery expandability and doesn’t even require proprietary batteries to expand the system. They are tried and true, I have two Titans, one of them has been running my off-grid cabin non-stop for over 2 and a half years without any issues. It’s hard to beat a track record like that. But the Titan will not do 240v power.

If not the Delta Pro or the Titan, then I would absolutely go with the MPS3K. It’s a very basic and not-so-user-friendly unit but it works extremely well. Once it’s set up, it’s very easy to run. It too has a 3,000w inverter but has a 4,500wh battery and 1,500w of solar input. But if you get the expansion battery for the MPS3K it adds another 4,500wh of battery and you can add another charge controller to that battery and add another 2,400w of solar input for a total of 3,900w of solar input which is ridiculously powerful. It is also a better bang for the buck than the Titan and Delta Pro, but the MPS3K will not do 240v power either.

In the end, the reviews speak for themselves about the Bluetti AC300. It’s great on paper, but not so great in person. And that’s really too bad. These other units will serve people very well as they have served me personally very well too.

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Hysolis Apollo Review of the Most Powerful Solar Generator Ever

Introducing the all-powerful, industry revolutionizing, and mind-blowing Hysolis Apollo. Truly, we have never seen a solar generator or power station like this one before. Similarly, to how the Titan revolutionized the solar generator industry, the Apollo is now doing it too.

If you’re looking for a super-powerful, do anything, go-anywhere type of solar generator, this is it.

The Greek God Apollo was capable of protecting people from evil, healing people from disease and illness could see the future, and was extremely powerful in battle. The name for this solar generator is very appropriately given.

A big disclaimer up front, this article has not been sponsored in any way, shape or form. And also, as another disclaimer, this product will not be available for delivery until November 1, 2022. There will be a pre-order for 500 units only. If you go through this article and feel this is the system for you, then do not hesitate to grab it because you do not want to be kept waiting for this one.

For a quick view of the Hysolis Apollo, it will have a 3,000w inverter, 5,376wh internal removable battery, 4,000w of solar charging capability, 6,500 cycles on the LiFePo4 battery, 240v capable, extremely expandable, and an AC input charge speed that is programable up to 3,000w! This shouldn’t have been named the Apollo, it should’ve been named “The Beast!”

And the price, it’s extremely good for everything included, read through the see all the info.

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What Will it Run?

The Hysolis Apollo will quite literally be capable of running anything, as long as you build it to the necessary size. The vast majority of people have found that a 3,000w inverter is plenty strong enough to run their equipment, and that is why the Apollo has a 3,000w pure sine wave inverter with a 6,000w peak. That is for 120v power only, but the Apollo can attach two units together to make 240v power and have a 6,000w inverter continuous output rating and 12,000w peak.

Not only that, but the inverter efficiency rating is 94% which is unheard of. A good quality inverter has 85-90% efficiency. This means that you get nearly 100% of all the battery capacity to use. Many other brands like the Jackery, Pecron, Inergy, and others have inverters with even lower efficiency ratings.

But that’s not even the most impressive part. The EcoFlow Delta Pro has a 3,600w inverter and can put two Delta Pro units together to make 7,200w of output power in 240v. The Apollo can do much more. It has the unique ability to attach up to nice Apollo units together. With nine units it will still be making 240v power but have the output capacity of 27,000 watts of continuous power and 54,000 watts of peak output power.

No other system has been able to connect more than two units together to have superior output capacity. This is literally fully capable of running an entire house without any issues.

For AC power outlets it has six 120v house style outlets (NEMA 5-15) and can push out up to 25a (3,000w) between them all. A single plug will max out at 15 amps which is normal. It also has one 30a style RV plug (TT-30R) that will output up to 25a (120v x 25a = 3,000w).

For 12v DC power outlets, there is one cigarette lighter style plug rated to 15a. There are three USB A fast-charging outlets and one USB C PD60w port. The Apollo includes two 5521 barrel ports. But one DC plug that is not common on other solar generators is the 30a output plug to run heavy equipment like HAM radios and other vital DC equipment.

The Apollo doesn’t mind if you’re running just a fridge, freezer, lights, fans, and kitchen appliances or if you want to run a well pump, electric dryer, central air conditioner, welder, and everything else. If you want to run those things, you just have to build the system big enough to do it.

But how long will it run your equipment?

How Much Battery Storage?

The Apollo has an internal battery made from rectangular LiFePo4 cells connected to make 51v, which are considered the highest quality of all the different lithium battery types and styles. Other systems like the Bluetti AC300 and Bluetti EP500 use cylindrical LiFePo4 cells which are definitely good, but rectangular cells are better.

The Apollos internal battery is 5,376wh of capacity. With 94% inverter efficiency you’ll be able to get 5,050wh of total output for running AC-powered equipment (anything that uses a normal house-style wall outlet).

The Apollo internal battery can be easily removed by the end-user with just a screwdriver. This is great in case the battery needs to be replaced many years down the road from now. It is also a huge advantage if the unit ever does have to get shipped back for warranty work the battery can be removed to greatly reduce the weight for shipping and ease of transportation. The internal battery is about 60lbs and each external battery is about 65lbs.

As mentioned at the beginning, the Apollo is extremely expandable. Not only can up to nine Apollos be connected together to make excessive power, but each Apollo unit can also have up to eight batteries attached to it. Each Apollo can have a maximum of 48,348wh of the battery all connected together. That’s the main internal battery plus eight external batteries for over 48kwh of battery.

At my home, which uses propane for everything heat-related, my entire family and extended family together use an average of 20kwh per day. Maxing out the batteries on just one Apollo would give us 2.5 days of non-stop power. That’s incredible.

I will have at minimum two Apollos to make 240v power for my house which means I can have up to 96,696wh of battery. If maxed out that would give me 5 days of non-stop normal power usage. That’s without using solar panels.

If someone decided to put nine Apollos together with each one maxed out with batteries, the total battery capacity would be 435,132wh. I doubt anyone will ever do that but that’s enough power to run my house just like normal for over 21 days non-stop.

All of those numbers are based on my average daily use, not emergency essential power use, which is 10,000wh at a max per day.

The Apollo expansion batteries all link together with a heavy-duty cable and can all be stacked together in one stack can be in two stacks or all side by side. This gives so much flexibility with where it can go. Especially when using the Apollo in an RV it’ll be very easy to store the main unit and batteries in different configurations.

But with all of that battery capacity, how can they all be recharged?

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Does it Recharge Quickly?

The Apollo so far has not ceased to amaze us. Will the recharge capability let us down? Definitely not.

The Apollo solar generator has a built-in MPPT charge controller capable of charging up to 4,000w of solar to recharge the batteries! The biggest solar charger of any solar generator so far has been the Titan with 2,000w of solar input. The Apollo is now doubling that.

The MPPT charge parameter is 120-500v and 80a. That highest voltage solar input of any other system has been the EcoFlow Delta Pro with a max solar input of 150v and the Apollo demolishes that. The only tricky part with the Apollo is getting at least 120v connected. That is perfectly fine since no one will realistically connect just 500w of solar to this unit. At the minimum, it will recommend having no less than 1,000w of solar panels connected to it.

With such a large charge parameter the Apollo will be able to charge with any solar panel out there and be configurable in many different ways to charge quickly and efficiently. Also, it will be easy to over-panel the system if someone wants to do that, but likely not. Keep reading to see why.

Volts are easy to send over long distances, amps are not. By having such a high voltage range, it will allow people to connect up to two dozen or so solar panels directly to each other making it very easy to set up the solar panels.

With 4,000w of solar input, it is possible to get up to 20,000wh of battery recharged per Apollo each day since there are an average of five solar peak hours per day. Does this mean the Apollo can only charge itself and up to three external batteries? Nope, they thought of that issue too.

Each expansion can have its own MPPT charge controller attached to it. Each battery can have up to 2,400w of solar panels recharging it in addition to the main solar charge controller inside the Apollo. A single Apollo with one extra battery can have up to 6,400w of solar recharging it. Again, this is incredible!

This makes the Apollo the most expandable solar generator ever created. It won’t matter if a new solar generator comes out in a few years with cooler features, because the Apollo will last decades of full-time operation since each battery has 6,500 cycles.

It can charge from a wall charger as well and the wall charging speed is programmable all the way up to 3,000w. Wall charging and solar charging can also be done together at the same time. This would also be applicable when there is no grid power and it’s very cloudy. You can use a gas generator to recharge the entire system quickly along with the solar panels.

How Do Other Units Compare?

There are multiple solar generators that have some similarities but let’s define these in one easy-to-see comparison. The comparisons listed below will be based on 240v configurations, meaning two units.

Inverter: Apollo 6,000w | Delta Pro 7,200w | AC300 6,000w

Base Battery Capacity: Apollo 10,744wh | Delta Pro 7,200wh | AC300 6,144wh

Max Expanded Battery Capacity: Apollo 96,696wh | Delta Pro 21,800wh | AC300 24,576wh

Base Solar Input: Apollo 4,000w | Delta Pro 3,200w | AC300 4,800w

Max Expanded Solar Input: Apollo 46,400w | Delta Pro 3,200w | AC300 4,800w

Price (2 units): Apollo $9,390 | Delta Pro $7,198 | $7,398

Price per Unit Wattage: Apollo $1.20/w | Delta Pro: $1.42/w | $1.33/w

As you can see with how these different specs stack up against each other that the Hsyolis Apollo is the best bang for the buck. Once everything is factored in from the inverter capacity, battery capacity, solar input capacity, and the expandability of each unit, the Hysolis Apollo wins by quite a bit.

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Pros

As we can tell from this review, the Hysolis Apollo is an extremely powerful system. It is unrivaled in terms of power output, input, and expandability. It is very well priced for everything that is included. The Apollo can literally run an entire house, RV, cabin, van, or anything along those lines just by building it up to meet your needs.

One neat feature is that the screen is removable from the Apollo. It can reach up to 60ft away from the main unit and still read out what’s going on. It has a simple yet beautiful looking screen. The Delta Pro has a wireless screen that can be added for an additional $99 but the Apollo’s screen is already wireless, for no extra fee.

The Apollo will also have a phone app so that you can leave the screen on the main unit and monitor everything through your phone easily.

All of the standard safety features are included such as short circuit protection, high voltage protection, and low voltage protection and can even be used as a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) so it will continue to run all your equipment immediately after the power goes out.

The inverter size is just right, the battery is huge, and the solar input is unmatched anywhere. It even has an eco-mode to save even more energy.

The customer service with Hysolis has been top-notch. Having spoken directly with the owner of the Hysolis, he said they are actively looking for more support staff members, here in the USA, so that when someone calls in, they can speak to someone who knows exactly what they’re talking about. Fingers crossed they keep up with customer service because it has been so great.

Cons

Obviously, the weight is a big concern for the Hysolis Apollo. Each battery is 65lbs which is definitely on the heavy side, but it doesn’t even come close to the Delta Pro expansion battery at 84lbs. The Bluetti AC300s battery is 80lbs. And the Apollo batteries have far more energy packed into them than the other brands.

That’s pretty much it, no other cons. The Apollo will have a rolling cart just for it to make it easy to move it across flat surfaces. The only difficulty will be getting it out of the box and going up/down stairs.

Click Here to Get the Best Price on the Hysolis Apollo

Conclusion

I don’t know of any other system that has the matched capability of the Hysolis Apollo as you can tell from this review. Since I have personally been in the solar generator industry for many years and have talked with tens of thousands of people about systems, I can tell that the Hysolis Apollo is going to truly change the solar generator world.

I am extremely excited to get my first two Apollos, each with one extra battery. That’ll be how I start off. After that, I will keep expanding it so it continues to meet my needs for my home, cabin, RV, and any other situation that arises.

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WARNING: 5 Reasons Why the Patriot 1800 Solar Generator May Not Be Right for You

Patriot 1800 Solar Generator Kit

You may be looking at the Patriot 1800 solar generator thinking that it sounds like a perfect fit for your needs. Are you looking for emergency backup power? Need to run things in the RV? Want something portable that is easy to use? Sadly, the Patriot 1800 doesn’t do as much as what most people think.

Seeing the number “1800” makes people think it must have a huge battery or large inverter which is capable of running everything they need. Because it comes with a 100-watt solar panel, flashlight, small battery pack, booklets, food and other small knick-knacks people get excited. But there are 5 reasons you should reconsider before buying.

You won’t believe what these reasons are. Be sure to read the full review.
Click Here to See a Full Comparison Chart of Solar Generators

Battery Capacity

When you see the name “Patriot 1800” you may think that it comes with a large 1,800wh battery. It does not. The battery is Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) which is a very good thing, but it is definitely not 1,800wh. It’s not even half of that. The battery is only 690wh.

User Manual 960 Watt Hours
User Manual 960 Watt Hours

Technically speaking the battery is 768wh but it says in the user manual that only 90% of the battery is usable. 768wh x 90% = 691.2wh.

The battery that was on the Patriot 1500 was only 500wh. This is one thing that can be found in their sales pitch, that the new Patriot 1800 has a battery that is 28% larger than the previous model! Well when the first model was a small battery to begin with, adding 28% isn’t a very big deal.

To put it into perspective a 690wh battery will run a standard fridge for about 6 to 9 hours. Not even a full day. The Patriot 1500 model would only run a standard fridge for about 4 to 7 hours. The 1800 model is better than the 1500 model, but it is still very low.

You probably need to run more than just one fridge during a power outage. You likely need to run a freezer as well. You probably need to run phone chargers, laptop chargers, a few lights, and maybe a fan. Or even more importantly you may need to run medical equipment like a CPAP machine.

Titan Solar Generator 1 Battery

Running those items is not easy on the Patriot 1800 because the battery will be used up quite quickly.

If the battery were 3x the size then it would make a lot more sense since then it would be very easy to run items such as the fridge, freezer, chargers, medical devices for a long time. If the Patriot 1800 had a battery like the Titan solar generator then it would do much better.

The Titan has a 2,000wh battery which is 2.9x larger than the battery in the Patriot 1800 (2,000 ÷ 690 = 2.9). With the Titan it is very easy to run multiple things at once and have it last all day and night. Especially while solar panels are attached.


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Low Solar Input

What most people don’t understand is that one of the main features to look into on a solar generator is how much power it can make from solar. Now, this isn’t your fault that it is hard to understand how much power can come from a solar panel and what that means. It’s naturally hard to understand.

Patriot 1800 with 100 watt solar panel

The Patriot 1800 comes with one 100-watt solar panel. What that means is that if the panel is plugged into the Patriot and is charging in perfect conditions (which never happens) that the panel will make 100 watts of power per hour. Or in other words, it will make 100 watt-hours of power.

If the Patriot 1800 was at 0% and needed to be recharged and the panel was in perfect conditions, it would take 6.9 hours to recharge the battery. There are two big problems with that.

First, since perfect conditions are extremely rare it will actually take more than 6.9 hours to charge. On a good clear day, the panel may make up to 75 watts of power per hour. At 75 watts per hour it would actually take 9.2 hours to charge from 0% to 100%.

Not all solar panels are made equal. Many solar panels will only make 40% to 50% of their rated value which is horrible. Buying cheap panels will mean cheap results.

 

Second, there is an average of 5 to 6 hours a day that solar panels can make their full power production. What that means is that for 5 to 6 hours a day the single 100-watt solar panel can make 75 watts per hour. The other time of the day during morning and dusk the panel will make power but not nearly as much as those peak hours.Peak Sun Hours for Solar Panels

If the Patriot 1800 makes about 75 watts per hour from the one panel and it has 6 hours (summer) in of peak power production, it will make 75 watts x 6 hours = 450 watt-hours. The battery in the Patriot is 690wh which means that it only charged from 0% to 65% in a single day.

The Patriot 1800 cannot be charged in a single day with just the panel that comes in the kit.

To get it to charge at its fastest rate you’d have to charge the Patriot without running any equipment while it’s charging.  Which means all day long the fridge, freezer, fans, or whatever else cannot be used.

Luckily, the Patriot 1800 has a max solar input of 240 watts even though it only comes with a 100-watt solar panel. If you had 240 watts of solar panels connected to it then you could make about 1,080 watt-hours in a day. Decent solar panels will make an average of 75% of what they’re rated to, i.e. a 100-watt panel generally makes 75 watts in normal sunny conditions.

Patriot 1800 With 200 Watts in Panels

240 watts x 75% is 180 watts. 180 watts x 6 hours = 1080 watt-hours. That means that it could be charged in a single day as long as the maximum number of solar panels are attached to it. That also means you could run a fridge a little bit during the day and still have a full battery by the end of the day.

That does mean on cloudy days that you can’t make enough power to recharge the unit because the solar input is so low. Solar panels will still make some power on cloudy days. It’s not very exciting to only receive a single 100-watt panel with the Patriot when it is capable of 240 watts.

It seems odd that the Patriot 1800 is rated to 240 watts of solar input but 4Patriots (the manufacturer) only supplies 100-watt panels for the Patriot 1800. This makes it very hard to get 240 watts if they only supply 100-watt panels.

That is why it’s recommended to have a really high solar input capability like what is on the Titan solar generator. The Titan has a 1,000w solar input capacity. Over 4x what the Patriot 1800’s solar input capacity is.

Titan vs Patriot 1800

Not only does the Titan have a 1,000w solar input capacity but it has the unique capability to be “over-paneled.” Being over-paneled means that you can put more than 1,000w of solar panels on it if you’d like without hurting the system.

What would be the point in that?

The reason over-paneling is a great feature is that you now know that a 100-watt solar panel rarely makes 100 watts. Luckily, the panels that come with the Titan solar generator kits are the highest quality panels made and commonly make 90% their rated power in sunny conditions instead of just 75%.

If you had a Titan with 1,000 watts in panels that means you would make roughly 900 watts per hour. 900 watts x 6 hours = 5,400wh on an average sunny day. The Patriot can only make 1,080wh on a sunny day. The Titan makes 5x more power on the same day as the Patriot 1800 (5,400 ÷ 1,080 = 5)

Now with all of that being said, it is possible to add another 200 watts in panels to the 1,000 watts already connected. That would make 12 100-watt panels in total. 1,200 watts x 90% = 1,080 watts.

That’s more than the 1,000w rating. But since the Titan can handle 35-145 volts and 30 amps through each of its two solar input ports, that means you can truly make 1,000 watts per hour. The panels may be making 1,080 watts but the Titan will limit it to 1,000 watts. That is why over-paneling is a great feature.

It is possible to put 1,500 watts in panels into one solar input port on the Titan. This means even on cloudy days your panels will be making lots of power for the Titan. Then on sunny days it will limit the input to 1,000 watts so that you charge quickly but don’t damage your batteries.

You get the option to truly make the full 1,000w of power from the panels. No other solar generator in the world currently has that option. But not only that, since the Titan has two solar input ports, it can double its 1,000-watt solar input rating to 2,000 watts!

That’s right. That is an unlocked feature of the Titan once a second battery is added to it. You’ll learn more about expansion batteries here in a minute. But with two or more batteries on the Titan you can get 2,000w of solar input.

Only 2 Outlets for 120v Power

Patriot 1800 Solar Generator

When the power goes out and you know you’re going to need power anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks, you’re going to need to plug a lot of things in. Having two 120v (house wall outlet) style plugs isn’t enough.

Once the fridge is plugged into one and the freezer is plugged into the other, you’re out of outlets!

It is easy to use a power strip to give you more outlets. Then you can easily plug lot of things into the Patriot 1800 solar generator. It is a bit of a pain though to have to use power strips rather than just having more outlets on the unit.

Having more outlets is such a simple thing but is not included on the Patriot 1800. Everyone will need to run more than two items when the power is out so having more outlets is an absolute must. This means that the Patriot 1800 requires you to have at least one power strip on hand in order to run everything you need.

It does have 4 USB outlets on it which does make it easier for charging small devices like cell phones. Charging cell phones only needs to happen once or twice a day at most though so it’s not a feature that is used often.

With 1 DC cigarette lighter outlet it does allow for additional phone chargers to be plugged in like in the car if needed. It is rated to 20 amps which is nice.

Since the Patriot 1800 only has two 120v outlets it should come with power strips amongst all the other small gadgets they give you in the kit.

The reason the Patriot 1800 has the number “1800” in its name is because the inverter is capable of running 1,800 watts continuously until the battery is depleted. That means the two 120v plugs are rated to 15 amps.

Volts x Amps = Watts

Volts x Amps = Watts. 120 volts x 15 amps = 1,800 watts. That is the common limit to a normal house outlet. If you’ve ever turned something on while someone is blow-drying their hair and you flip a breaker it’s because you used more than 15 amps off of that one circuit. That’s when you have to go flip the breaker.

Alternatively, the Titan has six 120v outlets on it. On the front of the Titan you can see that it is split into two sides. There are three 120v outlets on the left with an orange line around them and then another three 120v outlets on the right side with an orange line around them.

The two sides run independent of each other. Each side is rated to 15 amps. That means the Titan is basically like having two Patriot 1800 solar generators combined together in terms of output capability. Not only that but it still has more 120v outlets as a single Titan unit than if you had two Patriot 1800s.

The Titan comes with 4 DC cigarette lighter ports instead of just one. All together the DC ports are capable of running up to 20 amps! That’s incredibly high. Not only that but the DC ports are regulated on the Titan meaning that no matter how full the battery is they keep the same voltage.

The Patriot 1800 DC plug is not regulated which means as the battery drains the DC port will lower its voltage. That means whatever is connected to it will start to run slower and with less power.

Titan No Panels XXL

The Titan comes with 4 DC plugs that can be inserted into the DC cigarette lighter ports to use as needed for phone chargers. This means you have the option to run multiple phone chargers or run more DC items like HAM Radios, a DC fridge or other items that use 12v DC.

One unique feature to the Titan is that it has a 30amp 3 Prong RV Plug built into it. Not only that but it can actually put out 30 amps of power which no other portable solar generator in the world is capable of doing. This means you could connect it directly to your RV/Travel Trailer and it will run everything just like you were at home.

Or if you have a 30-amp 3 prong plug on your house or on an electrical sub-panel you can plug the Titan directly into that and run your house! It is semi-common for houses to have 30-amp plugs built into them so that when the power is out a gas generator can be used to run the house.

You must have a transfer switch installed to do this. Your power from the grid has to be 100% disconnected in order to make this work. Otherwise, you run the risk of destroying your unit and causing other hazards.

The Titan uses that same plug and is capable of the same 30-amp output which means anything on the sub-panel can be run like normal. If you don’t have one of these plugs already installed it’s not overly expensive to have an electrician install one.

No Battery Expansion Capability

As noted in reason #1, the battery size of the Patriot 1800 is very small at only 690wh. With the Patriot that’s all you get. If you have more batteries or wanted to add more batteries to it in order to make it last longer running equipment you can’t add them. There’s no way to expand the battery capacity.

This is why it’s recommended to get the Titan instead. The Titan comes with one 2,000wh battery. But another unique benefit to the Titan is that you can add as many batteries as you want. Not only that but you can get more Titan batteries and stack them vertically on the Titan.

Titan with 3 Batteries

The Titan is only portable solar generator in the world to have a stacking battery setup. There’s no need to get heavy cables and attach batteries externally taking up more space. No need to wonder if you’re hooking it up right or if you’re about to blow up thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment. It’s simple, safe and easy with the Titan batteries.

To add batteries you simply balance the Titan batteries by charging them to 100%, remove the top section of the Titan called the “Power Module,” stack another battery on top of the battery/batteries that were already connected, place the power module back on top,  and latch it down.

This video shows how to setup the Titan for the first time and how to balance the batteries.
Click Here for the Best Prices on the Titan

Adding a second battery is extremely simple and doubles the capacity. Adding three batteries is just as simple as adding a second battery. This means that you can build a battery bank large enough that you could go many days without sunlight at all and would still be able to run your equipment no problem.

One little trick is to use this outlet timer. Use it to reduce how long your fridge and freezer run each hour. Your food will stay the same temperature but your power usage will drop about half!

Customer Service

There is one thing to be said about their customer service in that they do answer their phone which is great. There are many companies out there where they give you the go around with customer service and never seem to pick up.

When I called 4Patriots and had questions about the Patriot 1800 it only took about 5 minutes or so for someone to answer which isn’t bad. But the reason their customer service is on this list of reasons to reconsider the Patriot is because they didn’t know what they were talking about.

Poor Customer Service

Sadly, their customer service team is just sales reps. As you have likely experienced from the Patriot 1800 website, it is extremely vague how big the battery is when reading through their website. They say plenty of times that it’s 28% larger than the previous model but that doesn’t actually tell you how big it really is.

When I called and asked for clarification, I asked, “How many watt-hours is the capacity of the battery?” The person I was speaking with said, “The Patriot 1800 can do 1,800 watts…” I said, “Okay, great. But what is the battery capacity?” Again, they said, “It can do 1,800 watts from it.”

This was extremely alarming that not only was I just talking to a sales rep and not someone who could help but that they didn’t even know the basic specs of what they were selling. I had to ask them to email me a copy of their user manual so I could read through it to find the total capacity of 690ah.

And in addition to that, the rep talked with their “tech team” 3 or 4 times trying to find out the answer and not even their tech team knew that answer. I thought it was a very basic question since it’s a basic spec to know for a solar generator. After 25 minutes on the phone, mostly on hold while they asked for help, I had to read the manual to get the answer.

When I asked the rep “It says on your website that the Patriot 1800 will run a fridge/freezer for 16.3 hours, how big of a fridge is that?” The rep didn’t know the answer. But having worked with solar generators for many years now I know that a modern standard fridge uses about 70 to 80 watt-hours.

Patriot 1800 Powering Fridge

You can see in this picture the type of fridge they used to get the 16.3-hour estimation. It is much smaller than an average household fridge which is why they say it runs a fridge for over 16 hours. It looks like an RV 12v DC fridge.

That is why the Patriot 1800 will only run a standard fridge for 6 to 9 hours because 690wh ÷ 80w = 8.6hrs. The range of 6 to 9 hours is because some people live in hot climates where their fridges runs more, and other people live in cooler climates, so their fridge runs less often.

When looking at the Titan it was a completely different experience with their customer service. When calling their customer service hotline to get help with the Titan I was answered within about 20 seconds.

Not only did they take my call very quickly, but they were very knowledgeable about every aspect of the Titan and how to work it.
Click Here for the Best Prices on the Titan

Should You Buy the Patriot 1800?

Harry Potter Selecting a Wand

People should not buy the Patriot 1800. Just looking at the specs of what it is capable, or not capable of doing is enough reason. The battery is too small, it has very low solar input, there are very few plugs on it, there’s no ability to expand it, and if I have an issue that I need real help with the customer service reps don’t know the answers.

Knowing that it can’t run essential items for just a few days of a power outage is enough evidence to not buy it.

The absolute best option, and does not cost much more, is the Titan solar generator. The Titan has pre-built kits that come with 100% everything you need to be up and running without any problems. Forget getting a few bags of freeze-dried food, flashlights and preparedness manuals.

Titan 1000 Flex Kit

Get what you need from a solar generator kit which is solar equipment accessories. Get a kit that perfectly fits your needs so that you know when the power is out you can sleep comfortably knowing that each day you have enough power to run everything you need for weeks or months on end.

The Titan kits come with pertinent accessories like solar panel carry cases, chainable lights, faraday bags for EMP protection and much more.

Power outages, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, storms and so on can leave areas without power for weeks at a time. Electricity is the dividing factor when it comes to ease of life.

Just look at the example of Puerto Rico having gone through Hurricane Maria as well as multiple earthquakes. People cannot run their fridges, fans, washer machines, medical devices, and so on. They wouldn’t be able to do that with the Patriot 1800 either for more than a day.

Aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

It’s horrible to think that some people would purchase a Patriot 1800 kit with the expectation that they’d be able to run their essentials. Then find out the hard and expensive way that it isn’t enough.

But with the Titan solar generator kits there is nothing keeping you from having as much power as you need. The kits go from just a Titan solar generator with no panels all the way up to a Titan with a second battery and 2,000 watts of solar panels. Get the kit that meets your needs.

It is also possible to get a smaller kit like the Titan 500 then grow it into a Titan 1000 or larger kit. The #1 selling and most used kit is the Titan 1000 Flexx Kit. It is mobile, powerful, and easily expandable.

If you’re going to spend a large amount of money on something that you will depend on for electricity while there’s a blackout or while RVing, don’t waste it on something that will not perform. Put that money towards a Titan and know full-well that you’ll be completely taken care of.

Continue ReadingWARNING: 5 Reasons Why the Patriot 1800 Solar Generator May Not Be Right for You

11 Tips for Finding the Best Solar Generator

There are a plethora of different solar generators out there on the market. Many people want to get better prepared for blackouts, hurricanes, storms or just want better camping, RV or tiny house options.

I have been studying and learning about all the different solar generators out there now for over 3 years. One thing for sure is there can be A LOT of confusion. That’s why I found these 11 tips for finding the best solar generator very helpful.

SHORT ANSWER: Check out this page for the absolute best solar generators I have found. Point Zero and Inergy make the best.

EXPLAINED ANSWER: Focus on these 11 points when searching for your solar generator:

  1. Battery capacity
  2. Weight/portability
  3. Charge speed
  4. Expandability
  5. Life cycle
  6. Number of plugin ports
  7. Inverter size
  8. RV connectivity
  9. Car charging capability
  10. Lithium based battery
  11. Customer support and warranty

After studying for over 3 years all the different brands of solar generators out there and trying to find out what is best for my family, I have found that these are the most important points to look for in a solar generator.

For me I truly couldn’t care less about a brand, I have no problem moving onto another brand that offers a better setup. There are so many people that absolutely love their generators and that’s perfectly fine, no problems here. However, once I have asked those people about these 11 points, they began to question their decision.

Let’s take each point into account and break down why each point is so important in deciding on a solar generator.

Click Here for the Best Solar Generator Kits

 

Battery Capacity

First of all, it can get quite confusing how some brands advertise their units. They say they have 1500 watt of power or that it can run a fridge all day or anything like that. Well, the unit may have 1500 watts of power meaning that it can run 1500 watts at a time, but may only have a 600-watt battery, not so good. That means you could run six, 100-watt light bulbs for 1 hour. Or you could run 15, 100-watt light bulbs for about 20 minutes. So, don’t always assume up front that the number they tell you is the battery size.

Secondly, don’t assume that it’s the inverter size either; some units have 1500-watt batteries and a 750-watt inverter. Still doesn’t make sense why they advertise that way.

Really battery capacity with a solar generator comes down to what you need to run. For my friends who are into preparedness, my family and I there are various things to run. Running items such as a full-size fridge, full-size deep freeze, lights, fans, TV if wanted, blender, juicer, microwave, wheat grinder, chargers, radios and so on.

We are not running those items all the time though. We only run a few LED lights at night so that hardly any power. The biggest energy consumer for us is the fridge and freezer. Since we won’t have solar panels connected during the day, we need to run that at night on pure battery power. Since no one will be getting in and out of the fridge during the night we hardly run it at all during the night, thus saving battery.

During the summer however, we need to run fans all night long since it’s so hot. Others may need to run items such as CPAP machines or ventilators and so on. So really battery capacity comes down to your own needs.

I have found that 1,000 to 3,000 watts of battery capacity is plenty depending on energy requirements as well as how many solar panels are attached to the system.

Weight & Portability

Portable is a little subjective because a 25-year-old man who goes to the gym every day can probably carry a 50lb solar generator no problem. Whereas a 75-year-old man may not be able to easily carry a 50lb generator. Know your limits and your strengths.

What it Feels Like Carrying Lead Acid Batteries

 

When it comes to weight, I recommend something that can be carried in one hand. For me, I can carry about 35lbs in one hand and not fall over. 20lbs though is much nicer. So, I find anywhere in the 20 to the 35lb range is perfectly fine for most people regardless of age.

I highly discourage systems that use wheels. If it’s on wheels that means it’s too heavy. Going up and down stairs, loading it into a vehicle, setting it on a counter or table all become really hard chores or two people are needed. There are some units out there that range from 50lbs to 110lbs and are still called “portable” because they had some wheels attached to them. Make sure it works for you and don’t go with ones with wheels in my opinion.

Many people are getting a solar powered portable generator because they want to have power during emergencies. Others simply want an easy solution in their RV, tiny home or just for camping. So, if it’s for an RV then weight and portability aren’t huge factors. Camping and emergencies though weight and portability really matter.

I know many people, especially in the southern and eastern states, that prepare for hurricanes and storms every year because they know they those storms are definitely coming. Those storms are not decreasing in how often they happen, they’re actually increasing. When looking for your solar generator you need to consider the option that you may need to grab it and go to another location. That means you need to be able to grab it quickly and load it easily.

Charge Speed

Charging speed is where I see most brands under building their units. The generator needs to be able to charge in a day from 0 to 100 while being used still to run necessary items like previously mentioned.

For the US, the average amount of hours in a day that solar panels can produce full power is 5 to 6. The further south you are the more light you get, the further north the less. To play devil’s advocate let’s say it’s 5 hours a day are all there is to create full power from the solar panels. If there are 500 watts in solar panels that means 2,500 watts will be made.

Here’s the example: 2,500 watts will be made on a daily basis and the battery is 1,000 watts, and the battery is at 0%. That means during the day the battery will get fully charged from that 2,500 watts produced, leaving an excess of 1,500 watts. However, items such as fridges, freezers, fans or maybe even a 5,000 BTU A/C unit will need to run during the day as well. That means that extra 1,500 watts will run those items during the day at come nightfall the battery will be back to 100% ready for the whole night of use.

This scenario can be played out any different way. If there are 300 watts in panels it’ll make 1,500 watts in a day. What are the energy requirements? That’s what it comes down to.

Now, all that being said, most solar units out there DO NOT charge at 500 or more watts per hour. It’s more common to find a charge speed of 150 to 250 watts per hour. If the 1,000-watt battery is dead and there are 5 hours to charge it in and it’s 200 watts input power, that means 1,000 watts will be made that day. But that would mean nothing could be run all day long because the battery would be charging.

Sadly, this is a common theme. Every year my family actually does a week-long preparedness camping trip with hundreds of other people. Many of them have solar generators and at least 80% have slow charging speeds. After 1 or 2 days max they are completely out of power and can’t charge fast enough to run anything the rest of the week; a bit ridiculous.

Expandability

Going back to the scenario of making an excess of 1,500 watts a day, some would ask, “why not just store that energy in another battery?” That’s a great question! Some people don’t need to use all 2,500 watts produced in a day, or maybe they only need it some days but not every day.

Let’s say the battery capacity of the solar generator is 1,000 watts and only 500 watts max will be needed during the day to run different items such as fans. If 2,500 watts will be produced then that means the extra 1,000 watts goes to nothing. Unless the solar unit can add extra batteries. If the solar generator had an extra 1,000 watts in batteries connected to it that means that extra power could be used during the night or during a time when high energy requirements are needed.

 

Being able to add extra batteries is a must. Whether the plan is to expand or not, having the option is a very important option. People don’t know what the future holds, so why limit the option of growing the solar power bigger if the need arises?

There are many people who have taken their solar generators and added extra batteries. Now they use them in their RVs, tiny homes, camping or just for power outages. Now they can run heavier equipment or charge more for longer just because they added an extra battery.

Life Cycles

How long will the unit last? Thousands of dollars is a normal price for one of these solar generators so how long is this investment going to last?

Sadly, most lithium-based generators will only last 500 cycles. 500 cycles sound like a lot but it should really be closer to 2,000 cycles.

A cycle is using the battery from 100% down to 0% (or whatever the minimum drain point is) then back up to 100%. Especially those out there who need this for emergency preparedness or even more so RV and tiny homes this is a big issue. A tiny home will likely use at least half a cycle a night on a solar unit. That means it will only last 1.5 to 3 years max.

For those preparing for an event such as an EMP attack, it is expected that the grid would go down for a minimum of two years but likely 10 years before being restored. That means the battery needs to be able to handle working that long.

2,000 cycles can reach that length of time. If a generator has 2,000 cycles and is cycled 1 full cycle per 24-hour period it would last 5.5 years. So that being said if the unit were not drained a full cycle but only half a cycle per 24-hour period it would last 11 years. Also adding extra batteries will help share the load of the cycles which is another reason why it’s good to expand.

Number of Plugin Ports

Another area that is hugely under-fulfilled in the solar generator industry is how many spots there are to plug stuff in. The vast majority have two 110v (normal house wall outlet) plugs. The power goes out, I pull out my generator and plug in my fridge and then my freezer… now what? I can’t run lights, chargers entertainment, fans, medical devices or anything unless it’s running off another DC plug like a car cigarette lighter plug.

There needs to be a bare minimum of four 110v plugs on a solar generator. Having other DC ports such as a car cigarette lighter and USB ports are also very handy but are generally used much less than the 110v plugs. Having 6 110v plugs has proven to be plenty and leaves options for plugging in a fridge, freezer, light, fan, tv, and chargers without straining the system at all. DC ports are nice because they are always on even if the unit is off, which means using car chargers will work for smaller devices like phones or radios.

Inverter Size

Now, this was mentioned earlier back in the battery capacity section. Don’t go with numbers you see in a title, name, tag or anything; actually, read what the inverter capability is. For most portable solar generators out there 1,500 watts is pretty average and has proven to be a pretty good size.

A 1,500-watt inverter means that it will run 1,500 watts of energy continuously without turning off, going into safety mode or hurting anything. 99% of the time the peak wattage

 

is double that of the continual wattage. That means a 1,500-watt inverter will peak at 3,000 watts. As an example, if you turn on a blender it uses more energy to get going than it does to keep going. Just like accelerating onto the freeway in a car, we burn more gas accelerating quickly but once we’re on the freeway it uses much less gas.

Small vs Big Inverters

The next question comes in on how long that peak can go? Sadly, most inverter peaks can only last about 2 seconds, not very long. That means if it takes 3 seconds for the device your using to get its motor to full speed that it will likely cause the inverter to shut off and stop. Really 5 seconds or more is what should be aimed for in the peak length.

To add to this, it’s also important to get a Pure Sine Wave Inverter. It will run everything normal as you can in your house. If a Modified Sine Wave Inverter is in the unit it will only run certain types of items so it is definitely not recommended.

RV Connectivity

There are 2 big reasons why this made it onto the tip list. The first is pretty obvious, connecting to an RV makes life much easier, if you’re in an RV. But having the solar generator plugged into the RV isn’t the only use for RV connectivity.

Your average 110v plug is rated to 10 to 15 amps. Now in this article, we won’t be getting into the nitty gritty details of amps, volts, and watts. But since the average 110v plug will only run 10 to 15 amps that means items that drain more energy yet are still useful cannot be run on them. But what kind of items use that much amperage?

Luckily for me, I have a propane stove and oven in my house. So even if the power is out I can still light it and cook with ease. However, not all have that option. I have a single burner stove top that is electric that can be used with my solar generator. However, it uses about 15 amps at once because the heating coils take so much energy. Using the normal 110v plug pops the breaker and I then have to reset my solar generator to use it again.

Lucky for me my solar unit also comes with a 30-amp RV plug. So, I simply went and bought an RV plug to 110v plug adapter and now I can use my stove top without any issue. There are other items out there besides electric burners that use lots of amps and so having the ability to increase how many amps can be used with that port gives more options and helps long term.

Car Charging Capability

This is the most overlooked part of solar units by consumers. A solar unit needs to have the option to charge by a vehicle. Let’s use a camping scenario: You’re going on a camping trip but you pulled out your solar unit to find it’s only at 50%. It’s still mid-day but you can’t strap the panels to the roof of your vehicle. Luckily you have a car charger and so by the time you arrive at your location your unit is fully charged. Happy day.

It’s very surprising how often this type of situation happens. Simply being able to charge the generator while driving allows many people to get it up to 100% before reaching a destination. Many people use this option in their RVs or travel vans.

Keep in mind though that sadly some manufacturers or brands have a very slow charge speed even with their car chargers. So again that charging speed point comes into play and needs to be addressed. Make sure it charges quickly with a car charger, 5 hours or less is great.

Lithium Based Battery

It is no secret that lithium technology has come a long way over the years and is currently the absolute best readily available option for lots of power in a small package. There are different types of lithium though. Lithium Ion has been the most popular over the years because it is the lightest weight for the highest amount of energy output as well as life cycles. There’s a newer trending lithium battery though called Lithium Iron. It’s much heavier like normal lead acid batteries but uses the same power as lithium ion.

Then within lithium batteries, there are different grades of lithium. You can commonly see this just doing a search for 18650 lithium-ion batteries. How can the exact same battery have the option to have 2,400mah (mili-amp hours) of capacity whereas another identical battery can have 3,500mah? And how can some have only 500 cycles and other 2,000 cycles? The answer: Quality.

Lithium is by far the best way to go because it reduces weight significantly but also increases power output significantly over lead-acid type batteries.

Customer Support & Warranty

Finally, is the need for help before and after the purchase. Now most companies stink when it comes to customer support. They don’t answer phones, they hide contact info so they can’t be called or emailed, they take days to respond etc. It can drive someone up the wall crazy when they paid thousands of dollars and they can’t get any help.

First of all, that’s why I’m here =). Just like how I am writing this article to bring you help, I am always available to help people and generally respond within hours not days unless it’s the weekend. However, even on the weekend I generally answer questions at any time of day or night.

Bottom line though is I can’t fix something if a solar generator is having issues, that’s where the manufacturer and warranty take over. So, it’s imperative that whatever company makes the generator you’re using or going to be using be able to help.

Customer Service Small vs Big Company

It’s so sad when companies finally get big because then they act big. Big companies have 9 different phone options when you call or will respond to your email within 48 to 72 hours. It’s best to be big and act small. A good solar company will answer questions promptly and fix any issues that come up.

1-year full manufacturer warranties are plenty for solar units. If the unit is being used at least every now and then during the first year of purchase and has no issues, then there’s no reason to believe that after that first year it will begin to have issues. I have only had a couple of warranty claims ever cross my desk in the 3+ years I’ve been doing this. That’s because I only use quality items and only recommend quality items.

It is important to not get confused when some listings say 25-year guarantee on items such as solar panels. That doesn’t mean 10 years from now a replacement panel can be shipped out because you cut a cable on the panel. It means that the materials used in the construction of the unit are high quality and have shown that it should last 25 years at 80% or better efficiency.

Conclusion

When it comes to getting prepared, powering a dwelling, or just some fun camping, a solar generator is a great way to power items. If the right unit is purchased, then it can power lots of items for months on end without any concern. I personally use my units all the time and am constantly testing them to make sure I have the absolute best setup and kits for my family.

Like I said before I have zero commitment to a single brand. That is why you will see in the kits I have on my SHOP page are a composition of the absolute best products put together to make awesome solar generator kits.

Follow these 11 steps to finding the best solar generator and you will have a powerful tool at your disposal.

Click Here for the Best Solar Generator Kits That Include All These Points
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