Official Solar Generator / Portable Power Station Thread

[Emptymag]

The GAS powered generator thread is down the hall on the left.

THIS thread is for power sources that can be recharged either by plugging in to electric, or connecting to a solar panel.
Most will be portable, while larger units are more permanent.

I just started looking into these recently. Unfortunately, it seems as though anything powerful enough to say run a refrigerator during a power outage is still going to be WAY outside of my price range. (I think)
Anything I can afford will be mostly not much more than a super-duper phone charging bank, or maybe a means to plug in a lamp.

Anyway, maybe we can all learn about these things.
Does anyone have any experience with them?

I watched a video about a newly released unit from Harbor Freight and that's what prompted me to start this thread.

$199.99
PREDATOR 350 Power Station, 350 Running Watts, 294 Wh Capacity

[Emptymag]

And since I know that "Jackery" is a well known brand (and I see that Walmart now carries them), I figured I'd post this video as a public service announcement.
I never would have known this if I hadn't watched the video.

HINT: Old battery technology vs new battery technology - selling at the SAME PRICE POINT.

[Walleye Hunter]

I understand electricity fairly well, I can wire a house from the Breaker box all the way out. Can figure out what wire I need for what amperage I'm running. But when it comes to watts and what uses what, I get lost. However, I do know that 100 W was my most favorite incandescent light bulb and I see that that horrible fright thing is 350 Watts. That tells me that it will run a 100 W light bulb for 3 1/2 hrs, probably less. If it helps you any, I nave a 2000 W unit and I can watch TV off of it for 18 hrs and run my refrigerator for a day or a day and a half (I forget which).

[Ronin]

And since I know that "Jackery" is a well known brand (and I see that Walmart now carries them), I figured I'd post this video as a public service announcement.
I never would have known this if I hadn't watched the video.

HINT: Old battery technology vs new battery technology - selling at the SAME PRICE POINT.

I bought the older Jackery 1000 on sale this past summer for $400. I bought it to use as a backup for my CPAP and other small electronics. I charged it in July and it's still fully charged.

The new version was on sale during Amazon's Black Friday sales for $400. Only a moron would pay $1k for one of those units. For >$500 either one is a good deal and will work for what most people need.

[Emptymag]

This 600W Bluetti is currently $200 on Amazon. Almost twice the watts as the Harbor Freight unit.

[Emptymag]

Like most people looking into these for emergency use purposes, I'm most interested in "Will it keep my refrigerator running", and maybe "Will it power an electric space heater?"

I don't really care about powering a cell phone - we have multiple small power banks scattered about in the house and in our vehicles that would suffice for that need.

I know that the electric heater "want" is a stretch, since most of them require 750 watts on low and 1500 watts on high, so probably not really an option.

Refrigerator info seems to be all over the place, but the vids I'm seeing boasting about "success", all seem to be from units in the "over $1,000" range, and that's not really practical for me.

That said, I'm still interested in learning, because I'm sure prices will come down as tech improves.

[Walleye Hunter]

The available discharge rates should be part of the specs, I believe that that should tell you how many amps you can get out of it when in use. For heat, go propane. You'll still only get several hours out of that for your refrigerator. But several hours might be all you need it for.

[Walleye Hunter]

BTW, if you don't run a heater, you won't have to worry about your refrigerator.

[Emptymag]

BTW, if you don't run a heater, you won't have to worry about your refrigerator.

LOL

[Emptymag]

The available discharge rates should be part of the specs, I believe that that should tell you how many amps you can get out of it when in use. For heat, go propane. You'll still only get several hours out of that for your refrigerator. But several hours might be all you need it for.

For the fridge, it sounds like the biggest concern is how many watts it takes when the compressor (?) kicks in. Sounds like even the smaller battery units will suffice while it "runs" - it's the "startup" that could be the issue.

I'd have to pull the fridge out from the wall and see what the power specs are. (or look them up online)
It's like 16 years old I think, but should be new enough that it doesn't require a lot of watts - at least from what I saw someone write in a comment who claimed to be an electrical professional.


We have a kerosene heater (which is a last resort) and we have two small propane heaters (a Little Buddy and a clone from a different mfg) so we can get by if we tape up some sheets over a few entryways to contain heat to the living room/dining room, but I get tired of buying food, then throwing it out after a power failure, so a means of keeping the fridge going for a while would be nice.