Unbiased Review – Jackery Explorer 1500 Portable Solar Generator Power Station

To be upfront and 100% transparent, I have received zero benefits from Jackery in any way. I did not receive my Jackery Explorer 1500 for free or at special pricing, I have not received money from them, they haven’t even reached out to me to review this unit. With all of that said, should you even consider the Jackery Explorer 1500 solar generator a contender in the power station world?

The short answer is, maybe. But probably not. It doesn’t come close to the Titan. Are other smaller solar generators like the AC200P and Delta better suited for people than the Explorer 1500?

Overview

The Jackery 1500 is a decent unit. It’s not very heavy, has a pretty strong inverter for powering anything that uses 120v power. It has a decent-sized battery and supposedly can charge pretty quickly. Should it be used for emergency backup power, RVing, VanLife, camping, and so on? That’s what we’ll find out.

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Output Power

The Jackery Explorer 1500 is truly capable of pretty much running anything under 1,800w of power. Remember that watts are simply the result of volts and amps multiplied together. Common household voltage is 110v or 120v. They’re essentially the same thing but to keep the math simple I’ll just use 120v since that is what’s most commonly used today.

1,800w ÷ 120v = 15a. A typical outlet in the wall at home is rated up to 15amps of output. Meaning that if you can run the device out of an outlet at home, you can run it off of the Jackery 1500 as well. This is why reviewing this unit can be helpful to see if this is actually true. I have found in my testing that this is true.

Its peak or surge rating is 3,600w which is double the running wattage which is definitely adequate for most appliances.

Jackery has always put really good inverters into their systems. I have never had an issue with the Jackery 2000, Jackery 1000, or the Jackery 500 units which I have also reviewed. If it says it is capable of pushing out 1,800w then it really can. But not all things on paper for the Jackery systems have been accurate, as will be shown shortly.

All of the outlets on the Jackery 1500 are regulated which makes it very safe to use because it will keep the proper voltage and amperage going to whatever device is being run all the way down to the battery hits 0%.

It has a pure sine wave inverter which is very common in solar generators and power stations today but is not 100% guaranteed. Jackery makes sure to use top-notch quality in the inverter so they only go with pure sine wave which means you can safely run anything that would plug into a normal house outlet.

A modified sine wave is the other option and that has limitations as to what it can run and is often called “dirty electricity.” You won’t have to worry about any dirty electricity coming off of the Jackery 1500 or any of the Jackery units. That’s one thing that Jackery has always done very well.

Battery Size and Capability

The Jackery Explorer 1500 has a 1,534wh battery which is why it’s called the Jackery Explorer 1500. They rounded the number down from the battery capacity to 1,500 so they could give it that name. The 1,534wh battery is a 24v battery that is rated to 25.2v and 60.9a. It’s confusing but that’s just how solar and electronics are. The bottom line is it’s a 24v system that has 12v and 120v outlets on the front of the unit.

Using a Lithium NMC battery, or most commonly referred to as Lithium-ion, the Jackery 1500 will push power out constantly with no problem either at the max load of 1,800w or it can be trickling out power to your device at very low loads. The big advantage of using Lithium NMC is that it is much lighter than Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries or what is most commonly called LiFePo4.

The battery is the heaviest part of the Jackery 1500, and many other reviews have said that the weight is very manageable and easy to move around. I find in my testing and reviewing that it is indeed easy enough and portable enough to move around and use pretty easily. The total weight is 33lbs for the whole unit and I find that anything under 35lbs is not too bad for anyone to use.

The draw capacity of the Jackery 1500 is what is most impressive. Typically, it is difficult for batteries to push out more power than their own capacity and often times will not push that amount of power out until 0%. For example, the Inergy Apex solar generator has a battery capacity of 1,100wh and an inverter size of 1,500w but cannot push 1,500w out of the inverter for more than 5 minutes max. The Apex cannot draw more than 800w and run to 0%. If it’s running 900w it will quit working after a short while.

The Jackery 1500 on the other hand with its battery capacity at 1,534wh and the inverter at 1,800w is capable of running a 1,800w load all the way until the battery hits 0% which takes about 44mins. That is quite impressive that the battery has only 1,534wh but can run 1,800w continuously without interruption. The Titan solar generator is one of the only other units I have found that can do this as well. The Titan has a 2,000wh battery and a 3,000w inverter but it can run the higher loads until empty.

Many people dislike that Jackery hasn’t gotten into LiFePo4 batteries yet but it’s really a tossup between the two battery types and it all depends on what you need the system for. Lithium-Ion is good for portability since it’s lighter, but the Jackery batteries are only rated to 500 cycles which is considered low.

Keep in mind that a cycle means you have the solar generator at 100%, then discharge it to 0%, then recharge it back up to 100%. That is one full cycle. Once you’ve done that 500 times then the battery will only have 80% of its original capacity. That doesn’t mean it’s a dead unit. It just means that instead of a 1,534wh battery it would be the equivalent of a 1,227wh battery.

A LiFePo4 battery will commonly have 3,000 cycles or more, but it is much heavier. Therefore, it makes it much harder to be mobile and portable. Some other reviews like the lighter more portable option and other reviews prefer the heavier longer-lasting option. Again, it all depends on your own preference and needs.

That is one of the reasons why the Titan is so well-liked and has been the leader in solar generators for over 2 years. It uses Lithium NMC batteries which are lighter but have 2,000 cycles in them because of how they are designed. In that case, you get the best of both worlds where they’re lighter and have a lot of cycles.

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Charging

Charging the Jackery 1500 is where the most issues arise. It can be charged in many different ways including from a wall outlet at home, solar panels while camping, RVing, or during a blackout, or while on the road through the DC car charger.

The solar charging capability on the Jackery 1500 is where this whole unit begins to fall apart. It may have a good inverter and battery, but the MPPT solar charge controller is a problem. Jackery advertises that it can charge up to 500w of solar power at once which means it could recharge the battery in about 3 hours.

3 hours or less is the preferred amount of time for solar recharge. That is because there are only about 5 or 6 hours a day in the USA where you can get maximum output from solar panels.

To clarify, a 100-watt solar panel will generate 100 watt-hours of battery capacity in one hour of charging.  Watt-hours is the unit of measurement for showing stored energy in a battery.

If the Jackery 1500 could put in 500w that would be great, but it can’t. Its max input rating is actually only 400w according to the user manual. But wait, Jackery also says 500w is the max input? So how does that work? It doesn’t. This is where the advertised specs are a big problem. It is simply impossible to get 500w of power into the Jackery 1500.

But 400w of solar power is still pretty good, right? Well, sort of. A 1,534wh battery will take about 4 hours to charge up from 0% if you put 400w into it from the solar panels. The way Jackery likes to accomplish this is with their SolarSaga 100w solar panels. The SolarSaga 100w solar panels are portable folding panels that can be taken anywhere and used with ease.

But, I have yet to personally see a SolarSaga 100w solar panel generate more than 67 watts. I have that panel and have watched and read many other reviews of that solar panel and 67 watts seems to be the max that anyone can get out of it. I have heard rumors that Jackery has made some upgrades to their most recent generation of SolarSaga 100 panels and that some people have gotten upwards of 80w per panel, but I haven’t seen that repeatedly in any other reviews. Hopefully, it’s true though.

The Jackery SolarSaga 200 solar panels were made to work with the Jackery 1500 and Jackery 2000 units, but Jackery exclusively shows that the Jackery 1500 should only be used with the SolarSaga 100 panels. That is, again, very confusing.

One of the biggest difficulties of using the SolarSaga panels is that they need to be near the unit to charge because there is no long charging cable. Since they use proprietary 8mm connectors as well it’s basically impossible to get a longer cable to be between the panels and the Explorer 1500. That makes it really hard to charge the unit while using the unit at the same time without long extension cords to the fridge or whatever device.

In addition to that, they claim that in just four hours the Jackery can be charged from 0% all the way up to 80%. Let’s break down the math: 1,534wh is the total battery capacity. 80% of that would be 1,227wh. If we take 1,227wh and divide that by four hours (1,227wh ÷ 4hrs) we get 306 watts of solar charge coming in.

The claim was 500w solar input, but that wasn’t true so it got dropped to 400w absolute maximum input, but then at its very best, they’re saying 306 watts is what it will do with four SolarSaga 100 panels? That is beyond misleading. Reading the fine print is an absolute “must” for this solar generator power station.

The user manual also says that it is necessary to use at least two SolarSaga 100 panels to charge the Jackery 1500. But then why do they say the SolarSaga 200 panels are best for it if they also say only use the 100w version. Again, more confusion, that’s not okay.

The charge controller has an input rating from 12-30v and up to 10.5a. That means panels have to be connected in parallel, not series, in order for it to work. And there are two charge controllers so each one will have two panels connected to the 2 to 1 adapters that come with the system.

FYI, you cannot use your own solar panels. I’ll go over that in a minute down below.

Hopefully, you can see why this is such a problem. People will spend $1,600 on a solar power station thinking they will be able to recharge it in 3 hours, but in reality, it takes over 5 hours in ideal conditions to get it fully charged, that’s not good at all. In fact, that puts in the category of “not good enough” solar generators.

But don’t worry, the solar charging may be completely incorrect and hard to follow the but charging from AC power off of a wall outlet is all good, right? Wrong. Jackery clearly says that the Explorer 1500 will charge at 500w from a wall outlet using the AC power brick charger and I have yet to see it charge above 261 wats. That’s effectively half of what is advertised.

Either there is some serious miscommunication between the technical department and the sales department at Jackery or they’re intentionally trying to trick people into thinking they’re getting something that it’s not.

That is wrong. Period.

It has a car charger and that’s all great, but it is rare that anyone will use a car charger with any solar generator system. It simply takes too long because you can’t draw a lot of power from a cigarette lighter port in a vehicle. Jackery says it takes nearly 16 hours to charge it from a car charging port in a vehicle.

On a good note, the Explorer 1500 is capable of charging while it is running other equipment. Just as long as you have extension cords running to those devices since the Explorer 1500 has to be near the solar panels outside.

By the way, the Jackery 1500 is not waterproof. Not that you’d get much power from solar panels if it’s raining but, what if you left it outside charging and then forgot about it at night, and the sprinklers came on or it rained. That could be catastrophic to the system. Really the point isn’t it needs to be waterproof or resistant, the point is that it should be possible and easy to put a long distance between the panels and the unit like the Titan has so it can be kept safe.

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Outlets and Connectors

It has three 120v 15a rated outlets. Jackery calls it 110v at 16.4a but they’re essentially the same thing. It has two USB A type outlets for smartphones, tablets, and charging cables. Then a single USB C plug that is rated up to 60w output. It would’ve made sense and been preferable to have a 100w USB C outlet, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

No solar generator or power station is complete without at least one 12v DC cigarette lighter port. The Jackery 1500’s DC port is rated at 12v and up to 10a. Meaning that it can run up to 120w of power out of that single port.

Jackery has used the 8mm barrel connector for a very long time. But there’s an issue with it. There are two types of 8mm barrel connectors. One has a small inner pin and the other has a larger inner pin. The Jackery comes with a travel box for all of its accessories and includes two 8mm adapters that can be used with the SolarSaga solar panels.

But what this means, is you cannot use your own solar panels with a typical 8mm to PV Connector adapter. This is my number one complaint with any solar generator, compatibility. Many people already have their own solar panels.

For almost all of my solar generators, I use the Rigid 100 panels because they are the highest wattage producing 100w solar panels we have tested at Powered Portable Solar. If I am not using the Rigid 100 panels I am using the Flexx 100 panels. Why would I want to spend $300 for a single SolarSaga 100 solar panel that only makes about 67w when I can get a Rigid 100 solar panel that has multiple reports of getting 85-95w power output for about half of the price? I wouldn’t.

Jackery does have, in secret, an 8mm small pin to large pin adapter but you have to ask for it. They do not advertise or have it for sale anywhere. I also have been unsuccessful in finding that same connector anywhere else on the internet which makes me feel like Jackery knows what they’ve done and wants to require people to use their panels, or it won’t work. Not cool.

Warranty and Customer Service

Jackery provides a 2-year warranty for the Explorer 1500 which is great. 1-year warranties used to be the norm and then when the Titan came out a 2-year warranty was provided so now many other companies provide at least 2 years. This is great for us consumers and users so we have more coverage.

I have called and emailed Jackery many times and have always received a response to my emails and had my phone calls answered. When I would speak with someone, they were competent and knew how solar works, and were very helpful. In regard to their customer service, I personally have zero issues with it and have found it to be very good.

Expandability, X-Factor, and Weaknesses

The Explorer 1500 has zero expandability. You cannot add more batteries, charge controllers, link two systems together, or even connect to an RV with a 30amp RV plug since one isn’t built into the system. What you get is what you get, nothing more.

Expandability is important and oftentimes underappreciated because people often do not think about how their situations will change over the years. Some people will get a freezer and now need to run both their fridge and freeze during a blackout but cannot increase their solar input or battery capacity to be enough to fully do that. Or some will just want to use it for basic camping needs one weekend and then there’s a power outage the next and they have different needs.

That is why the Titan has been the reigning king of solar generators because it can expand up to any size of battery with the Titan batteries or other batteries. It also has 2,000w of solar input, the highest of any portable solar generator system, and can be “over-paneled” (connect more than 2,000w of solar panels) in order to get more power output longer each day.

As far as anything for the Explorer 1500 that makes it stand apart from the rest of the power stations and solar generators out there, I could only come up with one. It does have the ability to run a higher number of watts than what the battery capacity wattage is. That’s not specific only to the Jackery 1500 but it is not always common so it’s a good extra feature.

It does however do a very good job of not charging below freezing. A lot of systems will still charge below 32-degree Fahrenheit and that can damage lithium cells. Jackery put in a good level of protection there. So it’s not specific to the 1500 but is a very key feature in safety.

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Weaknesses, there are many. Obviously, solar charging and wall charging is completely misrepresented and make this system not a good choice because it cannot be charged in a single day. It takes longer than 5 hours to recharge with solar panels, and that’s if you’re not running anything off of it while charging. Most people need to run a fridge, lights, fans, chargers, or something off of the Explorer 1500 while it’s charging, which will increase the charge time. It cannot be charged in a day is indeed a deal-breaker.

Another weakness is being required to use the SolarSaga solar panels which are very expensive at $300 each, and not the highest output. The SolarSaga 200 is $600, very pricey. That’s not fair to us consumers and people who need to use this for emergency power, RVing, camping, or just portable power.

The screen will not stay on. After 10 to 15 seconds, it will turn off which is really annoying when I just want to see the state of charge from a distance or when I am walking by it. And the AC outlets are really close together making it hard to charge camera batteries, radio batteries, and other things at the same time because those have large plugs.

Those things along with only having 500 cycles make it hard to be a top choice, especially for $1,599.

The EcoFlow Delta is most similar to the Jackery 1500 in terms of specs. The Delta has a 1,800w pure sine wave inverter. It has a 1,260wh battery which is smaller than the Explorer 1500’s but not by much. But the Delta can input the full 400w that it’s rated to and can use any solar panels that you want. Plus, the Delta is quite a bit more affordable.

Price vs Value

I have come up with a way to calculate the true value of a solar generator. It includes comparing the total battery capacity, inverter output capacity, and solar input capacity vs how much it costs.

This unit of measurement I refer to as “Price per Unit Wattage” since it includes all watts and watt-hours compared to the price.

The Explorer 1500 has a Price per Unit Wattage of $1.71 which is definitely not bad at all. For comparison, the EcoFlow Delta has a price per unit wattage of $1.54. That means that you’ll get more value of the EcoFlow Delta than you would the Jackery 1500 for their current prices.

The Jackery Explorer 1500 is also very similar to the Goal Zero Yeti 1500x and the GZ 1500x has a price per unit wattage of $2.76 which is much higher than the Explorer 1500. The Titan once again has the best rating with a price per unit wattage lower than any other system on the market at $1.42!

What’s It Good For?

The Jackery 1500 I think will work well for car camping and VanLife. It’s not ideal to use Jackery solar panels but for what most power needs are for car camping and VanLife, it should get the job done.

I do not recommend it at all for emergency backup power or for RVing. It simply does not have enough battery capacity or solar recharge capability to run a fridge nonstop for days or run real RV power needs.

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The Bottom Line

In conclusion, I do not recommend the Jackery 1500. If I had to go with something of a similar size, keeping in mind that it would still be very limited, I would go with the EcoFlow Delta. But truly, I would rather save my pennies and get the Titan solar generator because it will allow me to run my house, power my RV, or run a full VanLife setup. Car camping will work too but is probably overkill for car camping unless you have lots of e-bikes that need to be charged up or something.

Jackery needs to step up their game and their honesty. Don’t tell people it can charge 500w but can only realistically do 306w, that’s just not right to do to people. Honestly, if Jackery had an MPPT charge controller that would do 500w of real-world input and could use any solar panel, this would be a pretty decent unit even with a $1,599 price tag. But it doesn’t, so I’ll pass on recommending this unit.

Continue ReadingUnbiased Review – Jackery Explorer 1500 Portable Solar Generator Power Station

Full Review of the Pecron Q3000S Solar Generator Power Station

There are many different companies and brands that have started to push out different solar generators and power stations. Solar generators are simply becoming more popular and as well more powerful. Pecron has been around for many years and has had many different products that they’ve launched over that time.

The Pecron Q3000S solar generator power station is their biggest unit they’ve released so far and has quite an impressive battery capacity. In fact, it has one of the largest battery capacities of any solar generator in terms of base-sized batteries, or in other words, the standard battery size that comes in the unit.

In this full review of the Pecron Q3000S we will go through all the specs and find out if this is a unit worth looking into.

Battery

Featuring a 3,024wh Lithium NMC (lithium-ion) battery the Pecron Q3000S can run quite a bit of equipment for a long time. For example, a typical home fridge will use about 80-100wh per hour of normal use. That means the Pecron Q3000S can run a standard home fridge for approximately 30 to 40 hours without stop and not needing any solar power. That’s incredible.

And because it is a 24v system, not a typical 12v system it will be a bit more efficient than normal solar generators that use 12v battery configurations. This is one of the big features that everyone has loved in their Titan solar generator since the Titan was the first unit to use 24v instead of 12v in the market.

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For some reason though, the battery inside the Pecron Q3000s is truly only capable of pushing out about 1,700w off of it continuously before it begins to have issues. That’s not very good since the inverter is rated to 2,000w continuous output. Although many people have not had any issues with it only being able to push out 1,700w continuously because most people aren’t using 1,700w continuously.

The Pecron Q3000S battery will last longer than most solar generator batteries since it’s rated to last up to 1,000 lifecycles before it reaches 80% efficiency. That just means that after it’s been fully drained and recharged 1,000 times the battery will have about 80% capacity left in it. At that point, it will no longer be a 3,024wh battery but basically a 2,420wh battery. Either way, most people don’t use these to live off of full time and so it will take years if not decades to reach that point.

The battery will stay charged for up to 6 months but after that, it needs to be plugged in and recharged. There is no way to add more batteries to the Pecron Q3000S.

Inverter

As mentioned before the Pecron Q3000S has a 2,000w inverter that is rated to surge up to 4,000w if necessary. It is a pure sine wave which means it is capable of running any type of electronic or device just like you can at home off of the power grid.

Even though it has a 2,000w pure sine wave inverter, the battery doesn’t seem to be strong enough to keep up with the 2,000w demand as previously mentioned. It should be considered a 1,700w output unit since that’s all the battery can muster up when needed.

It’s not as bad as the Inergy Apex which has a 1,500w inverter but can only push out 800w non-stop until the battery is depleted. That’s basically a 50% reduction in power usage from what is advertised. But Inergy is releasing their new solar generator called the “Flex” and they now say that the 1,500w inverter will push out 1,500w continuously until the battery reaches 20%. Needless to say, Pecron has done a better job than Inergy in that regard of matching the right battery to the inverter.

Still, nothing beats the long-proven Titan with its 3,000w inverter that can truly push out 3,000 until the batteries are empty. Not to mention that the Titan has 2,000 cycles per battery which are twice as many as the Pecron Q3000S.

Charging

One of the most important features of a solar generator is the ability to recharge quickly. Most often, solar generators are compared to gas generators. During an emergency, a gas generator uses a lot of fuel and there are often fuel shortages during emergencies. But if you have fuel on hand then refueling the gas generator only takes a minute or two to fill up the gas tank. This is why a solar generator needs to be able to recharge quickly since people are depending on it every day that the power is out during an emergency. That or they’re using it for power while camping, RVing, or doing some large activity.

The Pecron Q3000S sadly does not have a fast solar rechargeability. It doesn’t even have an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) charge controller which is pretty basic these days. It has a PWM (older tech) charge controller and has a charge parameter of 30-40v & 10a. The voltage rating is quite slim which makes it really hard to find solar panels that fit within that charge parameter.

Either way, once you find a solar panel configuration that will fit that charge parameter you will still be maxed out to 300w of solar input. Sadly, since PWM charge controllers are not very efficient it’s next to impossible to get the full 300w of solar power to go in. Either way, it’s rated to 300w solar input.

Since the battery is just over 3,000wh and the solar input is 300w, the best charge time possible is 10 hours. That is a minimum of two days to recharge by solar panels while not running anything off of the Pecron Q3000S. It’ll take two days because there are 5 solar peak hours per day on average in the USA. That means the Pecron Q3000S is capable of making up to 1,500wh of battery capacity per day.

This is the biggest shortcoming of the Pecron Q3000S since it cannot recharge quickly. That means that because it has a large battery it is a good option to have a battery pack that can run essentials for a day or more, but beyond that, it’ll be hard.

If the power is out for 3 days, the Pecron Q3000S will have run out of power long before then. The only saving grace is that most people won’t drain a 3,024wh battery down every single day if they’re just running a fridge at home. This means if they can get 300w of solar input then they can stretch the battery to last a few days which may be enough to get them through the blackout.

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This is why so many people prefer the Titan solar generator because it has 2,000w of solar input. It can be fully recharged within a few hours tops while still running lots of equipment. Meaning that it can last for months on end if necessary which is great for people preparing for long-term camping, RV life, or long-term power outage like an EMP.

Since the Pecron Q3000S uses a not-so-common aviation connector, it’ll be a little trick to replace the solar charging adapter if it’s ever lost.

Outlets

The Pecron Q3000S is a simple system in terms of outlets in that it has three 110v AC outlets like what people use at home. You can run a fridge, freezer, microwave, toaster, coffee machine, CPAP machine, small A/C unit, hairdryer, or whatever you want on those plugs since they can push out 1,700w nonstop. Of course, you can only do that as long as the battery lasts.

With one cigarette lighter, 12v DC plug and two USB A plugs it’s easy to run basic electronics as well and recharge tablets, phones, and small electronics. There are no fast charging USB C plugs for newer electronics that have the extra fast charging capability.

No 30a RV plug is included either since this system is not designed for RVs nor would I recommend it be used for RVs since it can’t recharge quickly from solar panels. Weighing in at 62lbs it’ll be quite the beast to take inside the RV and put somewhere easily too.

Pricing

To compare all solar generators to each other fairly I came up with a special way to break down the total watts, watt-hours, and cost of the three most important parts of a solar generator. The three parts are battery capacity, inverter output, and solar input. All three of those specs divided by the total cost of the unit gives us a “unit wattage” price.

The Pecron Q3000S costs about $2,199 typically but sometimes there are coupons but not too often. When we take the $2,199 price tag and divide that into those important specs we get a total price of $3.05/unit wattage. That may not sound like a lot at first but when you compare it to the #1 rated the best price per unit wattage solar generator, it sounds bad.

The Titan is the #1 unit for its capability as well as its price. The Titan breaks down to be only $1.33/unit wattage. That’s 57% cheaper for what you get than the Pecron Q3000S! Needless to say, I don’t think the Pecron Q3000S is truly a highly recommended unit because you’ll end up paying A LOT more than you would for something like a Titan which is far stronger.

At minimum that second-best solar generator currently is the Bluetti AC200P and that breaks down to $1.58/unit wattage and is very comparable to the Pecron Q3000S. The AC200P has a 2,000wh battery, 2,000w inverter, and 700w solar input. It has a smaller battery, to begin with, but works much better than the Pecron Q3000S.

Conclusion

There are definitely better options than the Pecron Q3000S. Just by this review and looking at many other reviews, it’s easy to see that it is a decent unit, but nothing amazing. The only great thing about the Pecron Q3000S is that is has a very large battery, to begin with so it will last quite sometime before needing a charge, depending on what is being run off of it.

I would definitely spend just a little bit more and have far more options and capabilities with the Titan solar generator over the Pecron Q3000S.

Since Pecron has been around for such a long time I am sure they will release new units over the years and maybe they will eventually catch on to what people really want and need. But for now, they’re still a bit behind.

Continue ReadingFull Review of the Pecron Q3000S Solar Generator Power Station

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.

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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.

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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

Sungzu 500-Watt Portable Solar Generator SKA500 Review

Sungzu 500 Solar GeneratorIf you just started looking at solar generators, you may have noticed the Sungzu 500, and its bigger brothers the 1000 and 1500. These solar generators are tempting for a lot of people because they draw you in with their affordable prices. In comparison with some other well known solar generators out there such as the Patriot 1800, they are a steal of a deal. But you don’t have to be a genius to know that you get what you pay for. 

The Sungzu 500 really is an okay unit for the price, but I do make sure to clarify it with “for the price” because there are some improvements that Sungzu could definitely make. These improvements are both in appearance and functionality. This unit is more focused on portable power for camping, at the beach, or traveling. Not for emergency backup power, long-term power outages, natural disasters, or anything like that. It’s great for charging phones, drones, laptops, and lights.

Here is a detailed list of all my favorite features in the Sungzu 500 and all the improvements that it could make. 

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*You can also check out my video I just made about the affordable Sungzu 500 here! 

Good Features

12 V plug

One thing that Sungzu updated on the Sungzu 500 model is they put a 12v plug onto the actual generator. Before they had an adapter that you could connect to make a 12v outlet. This is much more convenient if you are planning on using your generator on the go. It makes the Sungzu 500 much more valuable as a portable generator. It is worth noting that the 12v plug is not regulated which for some people will be an issue. All that means is that as the battery in the Sungzu 500 gets lower, the voltage in the 12v DC plug also gets lower.

It’s still possible to run 12v equipment off of it, but it may run slower like on an air pump, or the lights may be dimmer because it’s not getting the same amount of voltage as when the Sungzu 500 battery is Sung500 with Solar Panelfull.

Portable Panel

I was pretty impressed with the Sungzu portable solar panel that works with the Sungzu 500. It folds up really nice and small so it’s easy to take on the go. There is quite a bit of padding on the back of each panel section, so I know that it isn’t getting damaged in transport and it makes it a bit more sturdy when setting it up in each new location. There is a hard enough back on each of the cells that it doesn’t crack the cells if you grasp it firmly, which can be a problem for other flexible panels. 

There is also another cable so you can connect another solar panel to the Sungzu 500 if you want to that comes with the system. 

Extra Fuses

Sungzu seems to like to have accessible extra fuses on the back of their generators and it is a feature that I actually like. Many solar generator or power station manufacturers put the fuses inside the unit which makes them near impossible to swap out if they blow. If you blow a fuse on the Sungzu 500 power station you can pop open the back fuse box, grab an extra fuse and install it right away. There are two working fuses and two extra fuses available for you. 

The Titan solar generator is another generator that has this feature, as well as the Inergy Apex, but most other solar generators do not have their fuses easily accessible. 

Weight

When people want a portable generator, one feature that is important is the weight and how easily portable it is. The Sungzu 500 solar generator is only 17 pounds, most of that being battery weight. This is a very low weight compared to many of the other generators on the market. It also has a heavy-duty handle on the top and it’s easily portable for anyone at any strength level. 

The Jackery 500 weighs in at 13lbs which is a bit lighter than the Sungzu 500, but that’s because it is encased in plastic. The Sungzu has a very strong metal case instead of plastic.

The other close competitor is the EcoFlow River 600 Max (extra battery) which is also 17lbs. The River 600, also has a plastic exterior.

Simultaneous Charging

Many people wonder if the Sungzu 500 can charge while it is also being used and the answer is “yes!” This generator can handle input and output at the same time. It may need to use the fan feature on it if you are running it at its peak and also charging it, but it seems to regulate temperature very well. I have not had any overheating issues of any kind unlike the EcoFlow series of units.

If you want to charge it from the wall, it takes about 4 hours to get a full charge. From a 100w solar panel, it will charge in about 5 to 8 hours depending on sun conditions.  

Sungzu 500 What can it runRun Time 

For a smaller portable generator, this runs very well. At a full 500w discharge, the Sungzu 500 will run for just under 50 minutes.  

Best Price

For what you get in the Sungzu 500 it is definitely the best price, hands down. This is not the prettiest unit out there but it works pretty well. It competes primarily with the Jackery 500 portable unit and the Ecoflow River 600. It has comparable watt-hours and it is by far the most affordable. The other two models have other features that I like, the design being a big one, but if you’re looking for a portable unit, the Sungzu is a good option.  

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Areas For Improvement

Flaw With Inverter

One of the most inconvenient things about the Sungzu 500 is that it has some kind of flaw in the generator. The inverter runs well when I have my devices plugged in, but for some reason, the whole generator will shut off when I plug my laptop directly into the generator. This only happens every now and then, not every time. I find it hard to believe that my laptop would create a big enough surge to overload it. 

I have found a way to get around it by plugging in the charger first but disconnected to my laptop and then connecting the laptop to the charger. This doesn’t seem to cause a problem with the generator, but it’s something that I don’t think about often and can be annoying if I forget to do. 

Screen Needs Updating

Another thing that the Sungzu 500 needs is a better screen. The resolution is low, though that is not a huge deal. But it is very small and only includes battery life percentages in 20% increments and if I have the output for the 12v and USB outlets turned on. It also has the internal temperature noted. This is something that is interesting to know, but the screen is so small, it seems odd to use the limited space on the temperature that you don’t necessarily need to know. 

The screen is by far the worst part about the Sungzu 500. There is very little beneficial information on it. They need to install a screen that shows the actual battery percentage, solar power wattage coming in, estimated charge/discharge time, and have the screen stay on, not time out.

Silicone Flaps

This may be a little ticky tacky, but I find the silicone flaps for the outlet covers to be very annoying and I wish they had updated them in the Sungzu 500 model. There are two silicone flaps on the generator and the one that covers the 120v outlets has a flap that goes up instead of comes down. I find it to get in the way and it honestly doesn’t need to be there. If I have the generator out in the rain, then I am likely not using the plugs anyway. I would never have it in the rain.

Sungzu 500 CapabilitiesBattery Calibration 

The battery calibration shown on the screen seems to be off in the Sungzu 500. You can see in my video at about 9 minutes that the battery life has gone down considerably after little to no use. This is just another reason that I distrust the screen and wish that it had accurate readings rather than the 20% increments that it shows. 

What To Use It For

The Sungzu 500 is meant to be a portable generator for small gadgets. That means that it isn’t ideal for running big equipment on or using in an emergency necessarily. This is more ideal for camping, using drones, and small appliances while away from the main power source. 

I personally use it for a portable DC refrigerator that I can take with me camping or while traveling. It works great and it can run something small like that for up to 20-30 hours depending on size and weather. Some people also prefer to use it for a CPAP machine and it has no problem handling a device like that throughout the night. 

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Conclusion

Overall the Sungzu 500 is a good basic solar generator for small portable electronics. It is lightweight and portable and has all the functions that you would want in a smaller solar generator. It is great for “on the go” as it is small and takes up very little room. It can easily run small appliances for several hours at a time and is great for trips and such. For emergency power use, I would probably go with something like the Titan because it has more power and is more convenient for regular use. 

Continue ReadingSungzu 500-Watt Portable Solar Generator SKA500 Review

Maxoak Bluetti AC200P 2000w/2000wh Solar Generator Power Station

Maxoak Bluetti AC200PThe Bluetti AC200P has made quite the splash in the solar generator/power station world. With it being one of the top-rated solar generators, on paper, people have been wondering what the differences are between the AC200 and the AC200P are.

The Bluetti AC200P sits very comfortably at the #2 position for one of the best solar generators available. It has one very distinct advantage over the #3 solar generator, the ElecHive by Zero Breeze. The Bluetti AC200P has 3,500 cycles which is very impressive since it has a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) battery.

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It is #2 only to the Titan solar generator. But we’ll get more into how it differs from both the Titan and the ElecHive later.

The basic difference between the Bluetti AC200 and the Bluetti AC200P is that the AC200 has a slightly smaller battery. The AC200 has a 1,700wh battery. The AC200 was available on pre-order on the IndieGoGo and the AC200P is available much faster on Amazon.

The Bluetti AC200 was also about 57lbs and the AC200P is 61lbs. The AC200 used Lithium NMC (Lithium Ion) batteries and the AC200P uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries.

Battery

The Maxoak Bluetti AC200P has one of the largest battery capacities of all solar generators at 2,000wh. It is a 50v and 40ah battery (50v x 40ah = 2,000wh | volts x amps = watts). 2,000wh has been shown to be a pretty good size battery for emergencies, RVs, camping, and blackouts.

LiFePo4 Battery in Bluetti AC200PFor emergencies, natural disasters, and blackouts the most common things that people run are a fridge, a freezer, a couple of LED lights, and possibly a fan. At least those are the constantly running items.

It’s very common to run other items such as toasters, microwaves, coffee machines, blenders, TVs, CPAP machines, radios, water pumps, etc…

In RVs and Vans it’s common to run the fridge, possibly a DC fridge/freezer, A/C, LED TV, DC fans, DC lights, and small kitchen appliances.

This is why it’s important for a solar generator to be able to have a large enough battery to run the essentials during the night when there is no sun. As well as have a large enough inverter to run those items when needed. And then of course the system must be able to be fully recharged during the day while running equipment, so the solar input has to be large enough to handle that.

The Maxoak Bluetti AC200P is one of those units! For basic emergency power, it has all the right specs. The battery is large enough to get through a night while running a fridge (80wh), or freezer (80wh) and a fan (70wh) or heated blanket (120w).

The math is quite simple. You start with 2,000wh and you have to last about 12 hours without using more than 2,000wh. A fridge, freezer, and fan will use a combined value of 230wh/hr. That means we take 12hrs of darkness x 230wh = 2,730wh. So that may not work.


The easiest way to figure this out is to take 2,000wh ÷ 12hrs = 167wh/hr on average. We can run up to 160wh per hour and get through the night without draining the battery to 0%. That means a fridge and freezer. Or a fridge and a fan. Or whatever combination of equipment to run all night.

This is where I find having the outlet timers is very useful. The outlet timers allow me to use my fridge and freezer, or whatever device is plugged into it, whenever I decide. I can have them run for 15 minutes of every hour or 30 minutes of every hour or whatever I want. This reduces power usage and keeps the fridge and freezer cold without having to worry about using up more of my battery.

For the Bluetti AC200P, I would definitely keep a couple of those outlet timers around for the purpose of getting through the night easier and not draining the battery as far during emergencies. Especially if it’s not perfectly clear skies every day.

As previously mentioned, the AC200P’s battery is rated to 3,500 lifecycles which is an exceptionally long time. That means if I did one cycle, going from 100% down to 0% and back to 100%, per day it would last 3,500 days. That is until the battery became 80% efficient. That’s nearly 10 years of daily use before the battery reaches 80% efficiency. At that point, I can still use the battery, but it would be equal to a 1,600wh battery, not a 2,000wh battery.

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Inverter

The Maxoak Bluetti AC200P has one of the highest outputting inverters on the market. It has a pure sine wave inverter that can push out 2,000 watts continuously and up to 2,500w for 2 mins. The standard used to be 1,500w out of an inverter but the AC200P beats that.

Bluetti AC200P charging equipmentIt makes a big difference when you are running lots of equipment to have the extra-sized inverter. Or even if I’m just running a toaster oven for a few minutes while running the fridge. I don’t have to unplug the fridge just to run the toaster.

Since it’s a pure sine wave it will easily run anything safely. Modified sine wave inverters are truly a thing of the past just like lead-acid batteries.

The Bluetti AC200P’s inverter can peak up to 4,800w. That is almost 2.5x the continuous output rating. The norm is to have the peak output be twice as much as the continuous output, and the AC200P beats that again.

But there is some conflicting information about the true peak capability of the AC200P because in the user manual it clearly says “Overload Capacity = 2,000w <load<2,500w 2 min. & 2,500w<load immediately.

From my understanding, that means it can run 2,000w nonstop until there’s no more power. Or it can run about 2,500w for up to two minutes. But anything over 2,500w it will shut off immediately.

When testing this I didn’t have anything that could go up to 4,800 peak but I did go over 3,000w and it shut down immediately.

I feel like the peak is truly 2,500w not 4,800w as advertised since that is what my testing has roughly shown.

Solar, Car, and Wall Charging

In any solar generator, there are three important factors. Large battery, powerful inverter, and high solar input. Most systems out on the market can allow up to 400w of solar input, some others are starting to get higher up to 600 watts of solar input like the Goal Zero systems.

1400w Solar on Bluetti AC200PThe Bluetti AC200P has all of those beat with a 700w solar input. But what’s even better about the 700w input is that it can be “over-paneled.” Since the solar input charge parameter is 35-150v and 12a I can very easily install 1,400w of solar panels on the system and safely charge it.

That being said, even if I’m making 1,400w of power, only 700w of it will be allowed to go into the MPPT charge controller. But the advantage of doing that is I can greatly increase my “peak solar hours” per day from 5 hours to much more.

For example, if I have 700w of solar panels installed on the Bluetti AC200P, I will not be making 700w of power until the brightest part of the day, which is usually about 5 hours. So, at 8 am, I could be making roughly 350w instead of 700w. Then by 10 am I could be making 700w. Then by 4 pm making 500w, and at sundown be down to 0w solar input.

If I have double the amount of solar panels then I can make 700w sooner and later in the day. So rather than only making 350w at 8 am, I would actually be making 700w and not have to wait until 10 am to start making 700w. The same would go for later in the evening. Since I have more panels making more power, I will be able to get a full 700w charge later in the evening.

Bluetti AC200P Charging PortsThis means I can realistically increase my daily peak solar hours from 5 hours to 7 or 8 hours. This means instead of only being able to make 3,500wh (700w x 5 peak hours = 3,500wh) per day, I can make much more like 5,600wh (700w 8hrs = 5,600wh).

Being able to make that much power in a day makes it a lot easier to keep running equipment like my fridge, freezer, fans, and so on all day long. Then at night, I can go into “eco mode” and only run the bare essentials.

The solar panels go through the AC200P’s SA20 Aviation plug which has an adapter that converts it from SA20 to XT90. And then from there it also includes an XT90 to PV Connector adapter. I’m not huge on the SA20 plug, but it gets the job done. I feel that Maxoak was just trying to be different and should’ve used more common connectors.

My biggest issue with proprietary or uncommon connectors is if I lose my adapter, I have to wait on them to get a new one after buying it from them. I would much rather have the option to go to a local store and make them or order one quickly on Amazon. Even better would be to have extras, because I have lost my adapters before and that means I can’t recharge at all from solar.

With the battery being 2,000wh and the solar input is 700w, I can recharge my Maxoak Bluetti AC200P in just under three hours (2,000wh ÷ 700w = 2.85hrs). That’s great news because that would mean that even on semi-cloudy days, with 1,400w of panels connected, I should still be able to get a full charge each day.

Maxoak Bluetti AC200P Car ChargingOne feature some people care about is being able to charge from the wall charger and solar at the same time. The AC200P can do that. For me, the only time I see that as being relevant is when it’s cloudy, and I’m unable to make 700w of power from solar, but at least a little bit of power is being made from the solar panels. I can use my gas generator to help recharge the Bluetti AC200P faster along with the solar panels.

The reason that is a good backup plan is if the Bluetti AC200P allows me to have at least 12 hours of running my appliances, and it only takes me 3 hours to charge it up, then it saves me a lot of gas. Essentially, instead of running my appliances off of my gas generator for 12 hours and using up all the gas, I can recharge the AC200P in 3 hours and save 9 hours’ worth of gas while running the appliances off the AC200P.

It does have a car charger as well, but it takes about 20 hours to charge it up from 0%. It is not surprising it takes that long because a car battery is 12v and the Bluetti AC200P is 50v. That means when I plug in the car charger on it that it’s converting the energy from 12v to 50v. The average car cigarette lighter plug is rated to about 10amps. 12v x 10a = 120watts. After the voltage gets converted from 12v to 50v there’s likely a power efficiency loss there which means it is probably charging at about 100w therefore 100w into 2,000wh equals 20hrs charge time.

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Outlets

I like how many outlets are on the Maxoak Bluetti AC200P. It has six 120v AC plugs (wall outlet plugs). It’s capable of running about 16amps through those plugs. Not out of each plug, but total.

Maxoak Bluetti AC200P Front and Side PlugsFor DC ports it has 4 USB-A ports and 1 USB-C fast-charging port. Along with a standard 12v/10a DC cigarette lighter port and two 5521 barrel ports rated to 3a. Then it has one huge SA20 12v/25a port that is awesome for high amperage 12v devices. The only issue is it doesn’t come with an SA20 adapter plug to use with that 25a port. They should have included that. The only other unit out there to include a 25a DC port is the Lion Energy Safari ME. The Titan solar generator has 20a output out of the 12v DC plugs.

One cool feature is that it does have two 15w wireless phone charger pads on top of the unit. If I were using this in my RV and had the unit next to the bed, I could easily use it to charge my phone at night just by placing my phone on top of it. Of course that only works with phones that have wireless charging though.

Sadly, I think Maxoak dropped the ball on not including an RV plug on it. I really love being able to grab a solar generator, grab my RV, and head out to go boondocking and enjoy nature. But because it doesn’t have a dedicated 30amp RV plug I just use this simple RV adapter. It takes up a lot of real estate on the AC plugs, but it allows me to run my RV much easier.

Shelf Life & Warranty

One thing that struck me as odd was that the system has a 3,500-lifecycle rating but can only sit for 6 months before it needs to be recharged. According to the user manual and their website, it says that the Bluetti AC200P should be recharged every 6 months to ensure the battery remains healthy.

I understand that the battery needs to remain healthy, but it seems like every 6 months is a bit of a hassle.

So, if I don’t use it all during the spring and summer, after 6 to 12 months what can I expect? Supposedly the battery will be run down. Would the screen even read out properly? If you watch my video on my Bluetti AC200P review you’ll see that I had issues with my screen reading the battery percentage properly. How will I know if it’s actually at 100% if the screen doesn’t even tell me properly after sitting for a long time?

AC200P Bluetti Maxoak Size

I assume that the unit I purchased was sitting in a warehouse in China, and then in a shipping container en-route to the USA, and then in a warehouse again for many months before it got delivered to me. So, is it safe to assume that it did not get charged up soon enough and the screen got uncalibrated? Who knows?

The Titan is able to hold a charge on their batteries for up to 5 years. It is recommended that the Titan batteries be slightly used and recharged once per year to keep them healthy. It would be nice for the Bluetti AC200P to have at least a 12-month shelf life since it is a LiFePo4 battery.

They include a two-year warranty which is longer than what most manufacturers have. Maxoak has grown a lot with the launch of their EB150 and EB240 solar generators which were much smaller in output capacity and solar input. They seem to be on the rise so they should be around for quite some time. They’ve been around for about 10 years now.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

Expandability

It would’ve been nice for Maxoak to include an optional battery expansion port for the Bluetti AC200P. I think that would’ve been a great up-sell product that allows users to double their battery capacity.

Review of the Bluetti AC200PI know in my off-grid cabin we like to keep at least 6,000wh of battery capacity on our Titan that runs the cabin 100% of the year. The Bluetti AC200P works for small trips to the cabin, but for long-term stays it’s much harder to make it work especially when weather systems come in.

Because the battery is not expandable on the AC200P I don’t think it needs expandable solar. The 700w solar input is plenty for it since the battery size is 2,000wh. But it is safe to over-panel the system and get up to 1,400w of solar connected. That’s a huge bonus.

If the Bluetti AC200P had the option to expand its battery capacity, I would think it would also need the ability to expand its solar input. Very similar to the Titan, since the Titan can have as many batteries as I want, I am able to expand my solar up to 2,000w of solar input on it.

Either way, the Bluetti AC200P still has decent capacity and great solar input for its size.

X-Factors

The one big thing that makes the Maxoak Bluetti AC200P special is its intelligent screen. It’s very user friendly and I love being able to see how much power is coming in from the solar panels.

Bluetti AC200P DC25aI would’ve thought that having such a smart screen would’ve also included some type of Bluetooth of WiFi option to connect my phone to the system wirelessly to monitor it. But that’s not a deal-breaker in any way, it just would’ve made a lot of sense to include that. The screen on the Bluetti AC200P is one of the nicest ones out there in my opinion when it reads out properly.

The other x-factor it has is the 12v/25a DC output. Again, they should include some sort of adapter with it but it’s incredible that they have added a 25a output DC plug. People with lots of DC equipment will love that.

It’s also very nice that it has LiFePo4 batteries which gives it an incredible lifespan of 3,500 cycles.

Weaknesses

It’s heavy. It’s very heavy. Right at 61lbs, it’s a lot to move around. I highly recommend that people get something like a furniture dolly to rest the AC200P on and make it easier to move around. That’s of course if it is staying on the same level/floor and not going up or downstairs. Otherwise, you’ll just have to carry it.

As much as the screen is its x-factor it’s also one of its weaknesses. When I first opened up my Bluetti AC200P I immediately started charging it from the wall so I could start testing and playing with it. The wall charger would not charge the system at all!

Furniture Dolly for Bluetti AC200PI turned it off and on again multiple times. I eventually changed the charge mode from car to solar and for some reason that allowed the wall charger to work. It’s a completely different plug being used to charge from so I don’t know how that affected it at all, but for some reason, it started working after that.

But what I found while turning the system off and on again was that the screen was changing what it said the battery percentage was at. When I first turned it on it was around 30% full. Then every time I turned it off and back on again, it would increase the percentage by 5%. I did that enough times that it said it was 100% full when the charger still wasn’t even working on it.

Either there is an issue with the shunt in the system or the screen got uncalibrated or something along those lines.

Pros

Good-sized battery.

Good-sized inverter continuous output.

A good amount of solar input.

Affordable.

A high number of lifecycles.

Cons

Very heavy.

Semi-proprietary adapters/plugs.

No expandability.

No RV plug.

Click Here for the Best Price on the AC200P

Conclusion

I like it. It’s definitely a solid #2 for the best solar generator available. It beats the ElecHive in lifecycles, the number of outlets, warranty protection, inverter peak, and DC output capability.

It loses to the Titan, which is in the first place position, because the Bluetti AC200P has a smaller inverter, no battery expandability, lower solar input, uses uncommon adapters, slower car charging, shorter shelf life, and no RV outlet.

I feel like it is a great system for people who need basic emergency power such as running a fridge, freezer, CPAP machine, light, and fan.

Is it something that can be used for off-grid locations? Perhaps, all depending on the power needs of the off-grid location. It is definitely well-sized for basic boondocking in an RV or Van.

Continue ReadingMaxoak Bluetti AC200P 2000w/2000wh Solar Generator Power Station

Maxoak Bluetti EB240 Portable Solar Generator 2400wh/1000w Review

If you are new to the world of solar generators, it can be a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of different products on the market and it can be difficult to know which one is the absolute best. Which ones meet your needs better than any of the rest? You want to be prepared, but don’t know where to start. Well, if this sounds like you, read on to find out why the Bluetti EB240 is one of the top-rated solar generators currently available. 

Price

You might immediately be wondering why I say that the Bluetti EB240 is one of the best priced solar generators. It really is a middling range when you compare it to other solar generators. But what it has to offer is much more impressive than some generators that are at a much higher price point. 

Even though this is not the absolute cheapest solar generator on the market, it is still a little over half the price of the Solar Geni 6000 that has a much lower capacity battery than the Bluetti EB240. 

Click Here for the Best Price on the Bluetti EB240

Battery

Bluetti EB240 High Quality BatterySpeaking of battery capacities, the Bluetti EB240 has a very high capacity battery at 2400 watt-hours. This should be good enough to run your essentials in a crisis. But this is also a really great battery size for the cost. 

Now, the cost does go up and down quite a bit over time, but currently, MAXOAK is charging about $.80 per watt-hour. Whereas another solar generator like the Solar Geni 6000 is charging $2.40 per watt-hour. Of course, there are other factors that go into this and you can view them on my updated comparison chart here: 

Usable Capacity

There is a difference between battery capacity and your actual usable capacity. Bluetti EB240 claims that it holds up to 2400 watt-hours in its battery. 

The usable battery ends up being slightly lower at about 83%. This is actually pretty impressive! You can watch my personal test of this at this link here: 

Regulated Volt Output

One of the really nice things about the Bluetti EB240 is that it has a regulated 12v output. This means that no matter how full or low the battery is, it will still output 12 volts for you. This is especially useful if you are running something like a refrigerator that needs a certain constant output. 

Regulated Input

Along with regulated output, the battery management system has a regulated input. Though it does not have a very fast recharging time, the Bluetti EB240 is only capable of accepting about 500 watts consistently. So this means, that even if you overload your input by setting up more than four solar panels to the Bluetti EB240, it will still only accept about 500watts at a time. You are unable to overload your system by inputting too much energy at a time. 

Pass-Through Charging

Another nice feature for the Bluetti EB240 is that it is capable of pass-through charging, or in other words, it can charge and be output at the same time. You can take in energy from solar or another charging input and use it to run things like a refrigerator at the same time. 

Click Here for the Best Price on the Bluetti EB240

Cons

As with any product, there are areas for improvement. Here are the areas where the Bluetti EB240 could improve. 

Bluetti SpecsInverter

The inverter on the Bluetti EB240 leaves a little to be desired. It has a continuous output capability of 1000 watts output. This is a little disappointing when the battery capacity is so impressive at 2400 watt-hours.

Weight

The Bluetti EB240 weighs about 48 pounds, which is definitely not the lightest of solar generators. It is very heavy duty and comes with a durable handle, but if you’re looking for something easily portable, this might not be the answer for you. 

Outlets

One of the most important things when it comes to any product is how convenient is it? Does it make your life easier or more difficult to use? The Bluetti EB240 has 4 USB outlets on it, but only has two standard 110v outlets. You can get an extension like these to remedy this, but it would be nice to not have to worry if your strip can handle the amount of energy. 

Maxoak Bluetti Included in PackagingAccessories

The Bluetti EB240 comes with a wall charger and the panel adapter, the DC7909 barrel port to an PV Connector connector. Of course it also comes with the user manual and a quality control note that says that it was checked before shipping it to you. 

It has the basic things that you need to come with it, but if you want to use it optimally, you might want to consider buying some of these accessories to make your life easier. 

Faraday Bag

If you have spent any time on my site then you know that I am pretty concerned about protecting my gear against EMPs. The best way to make sure all of your generators and technology are protected against these electromagnetic pulses is to use one of the Faraday bags that I discuss frequently. You can buy any size at my shop here. 

The Bluetti EB240 can fit into an XL bag, but if you want room to keep some of your extra accessories and cables, then go with the XXL for a little more room. 

Carrying Case

Another really important accessory that will make your life easier and more organized is a carrying case. Here is one that I personally use. You can keep all your extra cables, extension cords, adapters, you name it, in this bag. 

I try to stay organized, but if you’re anything like me, you probably have a million cords, and they can get mixed up quickly if you don’t have a good organization system. This bag will ensure that you will always have everything you need when you need it, which is especially important if you are using this generator while on the go. 

PV Connector Branch Connectors

These will allow you to connect four solar panels to your Bluetti EB240 ensuring that you have the optimal amount of power input to your generator. 

Heavy Duty Extension Splitters

Bluetti EB240 CapabilityThese are really important because the Bluetti EB240 only comes with two standard outlets on the side of the generator. If you want to be able to use your generator with more than two products, then you will need to have these. This is invaluable in an emergency when you might need to run several things on the generator at once. 

RV Adapter

If you are someone who likes to be on the go and stay off the grid, then an RV adapter is an absolute must. The Bluetti EB240 does not have an 30 amp RV outlet on the generator like the Point Zero Titan, the Inergy Apex, and the Solar Geni 6000. So an easy fix would be to buy the adapter which is a very inexpensive fix. 

Click Here for the Best Price on the Bluetti EB240

Conclusion

Overall, the Bluetti EB240 is a great generator for someone who has limited power needs. The inverter does not allow you to use more than 1000 watts continuously, but the battery stores a really good amount of wattage. So this is perfect if you want to charge during the day and have a generator to run during the night. You will have the battery capacity to carry you through the night as long as your energy needs are not too great. 

Continue ReadingMaxoak Bluetti EB240 Portable Solar Generator 2400wh/1000w Review

Why the Jackery Explorer 1000 May Not be Able to Compete with the Competition

Jackery Explorer 1000 Power Station Solar Generator

Jackery Power Outdoors, who makes the Jackery Explorer 1000, was founded in 2012 in Silicon Valley. The founder was a previous Apple battery engineer. They claim to be the first company to create a portable power station with a lithium battery in 2015. Whether they were the first or not, lithium batteries are the only way to go.

Jackery has made a name for themselves in the solar generator market, especially on Amazon. Go check out the reviews on their portable power stations and you’ll see thousands of satisfied customers. The Jackery Explorer 1000 is their newest and biggest model to date. Their previous models came in at 500, 240, and 160. The model number of course corresponds to the strength and size of the system in terms of battery capacity.

While the previous models were great for cell phones, laptops, Bluetooth speakers, etc, the 1000 opens the potential for more powerful electrical appliances. Let’s break it down and go over its features point by point.

Click Here for the Best Price on the Jackery 1000

Battery Capacity

The Jackery Explorer 1000 comes in fairly strong with a 1002Wh (21.6V, 46.4Ah Lithium Ion NMC battery. Having a 21.6V battery vs 12V comes with many advantages.

  • It keeps costs down. With a 1000W inverter and a 12V battery, you would have 83 amps running through the copper wiring inside of the unit. With a 1000W inverter and a 21.6V battery, you would only have 46 amps. That means the copper wire for a 12V would have to be almost twice as thick or doubled up. Copper wire is expensive so being able to use a smaller size saves money in production and saves money for the consumer.
  • Higher voltage runs more efficiently than a 12V. Why? A 21.6V battery is running 46 amps. A 12V battery is running 83 amps. Electrical current (amp) causes heat. The more current, the more heat. The more heat in the wiring wastes power, making your system run less efficiently. In this case, the 21.6V battery would be almost twice as efficient as a 12V battery. What this means is that whether you are charging your battery or using it to power your equipment, you will get a minimal waste of power so that your battery charges faster or has a higher output.Explorer 1000 Outputs

It’s good to see all these companies using high-quality lithium-ion batteries. One of the great things about Lithium-Ion batteries is the weight. They are so much lighter than the older lead-based batteries. 1002Wh is probably the bare minimum that you want for your basic generator tasks. Most people will buy small and quickly realize that they need more juice. Unlike the Titan, there is no battery expansion option for the Jackery. What you get is what you get.

The battery is good for 500 life cycles to 80%. A single cycle of the battery means when it goes from 100% down to 0% and then charged back to 100%. If you are running your battery down to 50% and back to 100%, then that 500 life cycles is actually 1000 half-cycles. And even after that, the battery still functions at 80% efficiency meaning you still have an effective unit. Don’t get hung up on the lifecycles. It’d be nice if it had 2,000 lifecycles like the Titan but 500 is pretty standard even though it’s lower.

Obviously, if you use it occasionally, 500 charges are going to last awhile. If you were using it daily, say to power your DC fridge in your RV, and only run it down to 50% before charging it, then it would be good for close to 3 years. It would still be useful after that, just running at 80% efficiency. 

Inverter

What will the Jackery1000 Run

The inverter for this model is a 1000W Pure Sine Wave with 2000W surge power. The benefit of having a 1000W inverter is that it pairs well with the 1002Wh battery. For some reason, certain companies don’t match the inverter size to the battery size.

For example, the Inergy Apex has a 1100Wh battery and a 1500w inverter. During my testing of it, I discovered that the battery was only capable of pulling 850 watts continuously. It doesn’t make sense to have such a large inverter if it can’t get a full draw on the battery. You are just paying for more expensive equipment that you can’t even use. The Jackery 1000 doesn’t have this problem, and the 1000w inverter can pull the full 1000Wh of the battery.

Weight/Portability

Jackery 1000 vs Bluetti EB150

One of the great features of the Explorer 1000 is the weight. It comes in at 22 pounds. Let’s compare that to similar generators. The Goal Zero Yeti 1000 comes in at 40 pounds. The MAXOAK Bluetti EB150 comes in at 38 pounds. It is definitely one of the lightest 1000W generators on the market.

The Inergy Apex comes in at 25 pounds with a 1100Wh battery, but as I said above, it’s limited in its output. It can only pull 850 watts whereas the Jackery 1000 can do the full 1000 watts.

It also incorporates an easy carry handle. If you are going for a lightweight 1000w generator, this is a good option for the weight. It is very portable for its output. Similar to the Bluetti EB150 as far as inverter capability but a smaller battery and less solar input.

Click Here for the Best Price on the Jackery 1000

Charge Speed

A big hang-up with this model is the charging speed. It is not very impressive. Plugged into an AC outlet, you’re looking at around 7 hours from 0 to 100%.

Using two of the Jackery SolarSaga 100w solar panels, you’ll be around 8 hours for a full recharge.

(2) 100w panels x 8 hours = 1600Wh. Seems like it should only take 5 hours right? Well, the Jackery SolarSaga 100w solar panels actually only charge at about 67w. Our formula would look like this:

(2) 67w panels x 8 hours = 1072Wh. Much closer to the 1002Wh battery.

The 67w seems a bit low especially since the Explorer 1000 has an MPPT charge controller. Typically, an MPPT charge controller will allow the panel to make much better power even in poorer conditions.

While I like the foldup design of the SolarSaga panels, their input is very lacking and really dampens the effectiveness of the unit.

One of my favorite features of the Jackery 1000 is that they put in an Anderson Powerpole input plug! Finally, they have started turning away from their proprietary 8mm plug that made it hard to get regular panels connected to their Jackery units. Now I can use a simple PV Connector to Anderson Powerpole adapter and get power into my Jackery Explorer 1000. That was not something I could do with my other Jackery units.

The average sunlight you can expect on a good day is about 5 hours. If it takes 8 hours of sunlight for a full recharge, you are looking at two days to charge it, and that is without using it at night also. If you could use traditional solar panels that pulled in a full 200w, then in a single day you could charge to full capacity. While they stepped up the performance of the Jackery Explorer 1000, their solar panels could use an upgrade to match the bigger battery.

Explorer running DC Fridge

It does have a car charging option. It takes about 14 hours to charge from your vehicle. That would mean the car charger is putting out about 70W of energy.

1000W/14Hrs = 71W. If you were driving across the country with a DC fridge that consumed 30W, then you could be slowly charging your Jackery 1000 at 41Wh/hr while still keeping your fridge running.

If you are using the Jackery Explorer 1000 on a daily basis for your electric needs, you might not be able to charge it to full capacity at the same time. That would be very frustrating while RVing or in an emergency situation.

Compared to similar models, like the Bluetti EB150 that can have a 400w input, it really underperforms in this area. Because of that, it might not be the best option if you plan on using it daily. If you needed something that you could use daily while charging to full capacity at the same time, you might want to look at the Titan.

Plugin Ports

Jackery 1000 Outlets

The amount of ports on your generator makes a big difference. The Jackery 1000 has a useful (3) 110v AC ports (big improvement over the Jackery 500 with only 2 ports), (2) USB-A ports, (2) USB-C ports, and (1) DC 12V car port. If you have read any of my other reviews, you know that one of my pet peeves is how close the outlets are to each other on many systems. Some companies like to cram the outlets too close to each other. If you have a power cord with a box on it the other outlets might get covered.

Thankfully, the Explorer 1000 doesn’t do this. There is a good amount of space between the outlets. And the USB ports and car port give you plenty of options for charging the smaller items, like phones, tablets, etc.  For the size and portability of the generator, it has a good amount of ports which means you can keep all the essentials up and running when needed.

 Price

I have looked everywhere to find the absolute best price for this unit. The best price I have been able to find for the Jackery Explorer 1000 comes in right at $999.99 on Amazon. It comes with 1 AC Adapter, 1 car charger cable, 1 SolarSaga Parallel adapter cable, and the user guide.

At one point Jackery was offering an option to get a free SolarSaga solar panel with the order of the Jackery 1000 unit but they have since done away with that and there are no coupon codes currently available.

Customer Service and Warranty

Some companies don’t make it easy to contact them. Jackery provided both a phone number and an email on their website if you have sales questions or issues. I gave them a call to see if I could talk to a representative and ask them a few questions.

Their opening message asks you to email them if you are calling about your order. Press 1 if you have any other questions. Press 2 for service. I pressed 1 and immediately went to an answering machine. I left my name, number, and email. It sounds like they prefer to do email, so I won’t be surprised if they email me back.

Their generators come with a 2-year warranty, which is plenty long for a solar generator. If it has been working fine in that time frame, it is unlikely for something to go wrong after that. It is non-transferable, so if you buy used, make sure you are aware of that.

Click Here for the Best Price on the Jackery 1000

Conclusion

The 3 cornerstones of solar generators are:

  1. Inverter Capacity
  2. Batter Capacity
  3. Solar Input Capacity

The Jackery Explorer 1000 has a good inverter and a good battery capacity for very basic power needs. They are equally matched with each other and use the latest technology for increased performance. But it does come short in the solar input category. Definitely something Jackery should consider upgrading in their next model. If they upgraded the input and had bigger solar panels, they could have a really effective lightweight unit. Beyond that, if they could make it to where you could add more batteries then it would be even better.

For the weight and the price, I think the Jackery 1000 will fit certain people’s needs. There might be better options out there, but everything is a compromise and while other ones might outperform in one area, they might underperform in another area.

It does not have enough juice to keep your house running on a daily basis so if you’re looking for something like that, check out my review on the Titan. It’s probably best suited for a weekend camping trip, a day at the beach, Vanlife, or as an emergency backup power supply for a fridge if there is a power outage.

Continue ReadingWhy the Jackery Explorer 1000 May Not be Able to Compete with the Competition

Portable Solar Generator

powered portable solar titan generator

Hey my name is Ben. I live in Idaho but I’m from Texas. In both places I experienced a lot of times where I went without power. In Texas I went through a 3-week long power outage due to Hurricane Ike. In Idaho during the winter power outages are not uncommon and last sometimes a few hours to a few days. It is for those reasons, and a desire to be more prepared, that I decided I needed to get a portable solar generator.

Click Here to Read my Full Review of Multiple Solar Generators

I have done research for a couple of years now trying to figure out which solar powered generators are the very best. I didn’t want one that couldn’t handle my work load or run the things I needed it to. For me I was looking to run my fridge, deep freezer, a couple of lights, maybe a fan and as well my LED TV.

The absolutely best portable solar generator that I have found to date is the Kodiak by Inergy. This unit does the exact same if not more amount of work as other solar generators. One large advantage though is that it is only 20lbs. The average solar generator has to come on wheels because of how heavy they are.

Mine Kodiak can run my fridge and freezer for about 8 hours if I’m not using any solar panels on it. When I’ve got my panels on it I can run my fridge and freezer for about 16 hours. During the day the energy is used from the panels to run my fridge and freezer and then at night the remaining amount on the battery keeps it going.

I have developed a new method to keeping my food cool though. I took an Outlet Timer which allows me to only run power to my fridge and freezer 15 mins per hour to conserve the battery. Now I can run my fridge and freezer for a couple of days using those.

I can run my TV, water pump, lights and everything else for many hours on end without the power of the sun. But the great part is I can have my portable solar generator sitting in my house. There’s no noise, no harmful emissions, or anything to keep it from being inside.

I bought their Golden Package kit which comes with a generator, wall charger and 5 panels of 50 watts each. The beauty of this thing is that I can add even more batteries and more panels that allow me to run many more things in my house without any difficulty.

The kit normally runs about $2,850 at retail. Luckily I’ve been able to work a special offer with Inergy where I can get a HUGE discount on the Kodiak. The savings is about 20% off of retail and includes the whole package or panels and everything.

The time to get prepared for power outages is now before they come. I don’t know when this price will go up so it’s imperative to get it while it’s at this amazing price!

Click Here to Read my Full Review of Multiple Solar Generators
Continue ReadingPortable Solar Generator