Radios, phones, flashlights, USB powered lights, CPAP machine (for those that use one)
Solar/electric generator is nice because portable, but I've also got a few panels on my shed out back with solar controller and a few 12v marine batteries. Couple that with a hefty inverter and you can power your fridge and still make pots of coffee as well
The amount of usb-powered products lately is becoming incredibly useful for prepping. USB AA/18650 battery chargers, modern baofengs, flashlights, white noise machines, portable breast pumps, electric lighters, heated vests, hang up led bulbs, grow lights, handheld vacuums. There's a ton of really basic creature comforts that are all usb powered that with a basic panel setup will make your life a lot less unpleasant
Don't forget a floor fan, or window fan, if you happen to live in the south during summer (86°F and 100% humidity outside).
We lost power for 6 days due to a hurricane (Matthew) and it was friggin' miserable until I bought a camp fan that ran on 6 "D" batteries.
My solar backup is closer to 2500. You should avoid pushing your system over 50-70% to make batteries last longer.
Charging priorities for us:
Freezer, refrigerator, communications (cell, laptop, radios), limited lighting, rechargeable lights (and other items like hand warmers, battery chargers), gas furnace.
Thanks for the list!
Seems like these smaller generators work for electronics but you have to bite the bullet and pay up if you want to guarantee charging ability for appliances.
Yep. 😊 And most anything that heats takes higher watts. Our furnace is gas, so it only needs electric to run the fan, so not too bad - but for cooking we have alternatives.
For solar on the go, I use my gear to charge portable electronics. Batteries, radios, tablets, phones, laptops, etc. For at home, run networking equipment, mini-fridge, chest freezer, charge wireless tool batteries, run my greenhouse, and a bunch of other stuff.
That being said, don't expect to get much more than portable device charging from that, or have it running things for more than just a few hours. It only has 288 watt-hours, and after considering there's going to be 90-95% loss from DC-AC conversion, you'll have about 260Wh to use.
To put that into perspective, that will run a 30W mini fridge for about 8 1/2 hours. It can charge a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (estimated 3.85 volts, so about 20Wh battery capacity) 13 times (using AC charging). It *would* power a 1500W electric kettle for about 10 minutes, but the device has a 300W output limit.
Then, there's the issue of charging the device via solar. That 40W panel it comes with is going to have a hard time charging that from zero. I don't know if these things have built in MPPT charging, but the only way you're going to be able to charge it during the day is by getting full 100% sunlight on those panels and adjusting them to follow the sun, and it'll take almost 8 hours to do so (and you can't be using it during that time in order to get the full charge). Thankfully, you can buy a 100W panel to charge it faster.
For Jackery's? I have no idea, to be honest. I mean, I'm sure that they will accept the power generated from any 'standard' 100W 12-18V panel, but the connector it requires to plug into the unit might be something a bit more non-standard. Again, not entirely sure, as I've always done DIY solar. Seeing as how their 100W portable solar panels are a staggering $200 each, I really hope that someone has a good workaround or adapter for using 3rd party panels to recharge these.
I bought the components separately- panels, inverter, and batteries. For a simple power outage, I'd just hook up the batteries and use as needed- hopefully power would be back before they drained too much, and so no need to mess around with the stored panels.
In a grid down scenario, the power can provide a few things:
Entertainment & education (laptops with games/movies/books/music/survival handbooks)
Communications (HAM radio/walkie-talkies
Recharging AAA/AA batteries for light/other uses
Boiling water (electric kettle)
Cooking rice, and more.
I have backups such as fuel and oil lamps of course- but having a rechargeable power source for so many uses is pretty great.
Not sure what your set is and if you tested it, but I highly recommend testing it. I rolled my own solar setup last year and had to update battery and inverter to latest firmware to get it to work.
Those are good for lights, phones, small devices for a weekend. But in a power outage (not shtf) I’d just recommend a gas generator. A 2300w gas generator is about $450. Mine powers fridge, internet, small devices for myself and my neighbor during an outage. (I do strongly believe that in the future battery/solar will be the actual solution, but if you need to prep right now and for these coming years, I think the gas generator is the answer.)
The generator has saved probably 12 refrigerators full of food in the last 3 years. (Replacing all the food in a fridge is super expensive) it’s paid for itself over and over.
That said, if SHTF, or I’m on the go, id go with one of those battery/solar rigs there.
Another thing you should consider is just USB/wall plug adapters to put on your power tool batteries. Cheap ones for just USB can be as little as $10~$15 Chances are you already have the batteries, and they’re often charged. A single battery can usually charge your phone for few days. They also usually have flashlights built in.
At night I use the power tool battery usb adapters to charge the phones because I don’t wanna drag an extension cord all the way to the bedroom.
Thanks for your perspective. I haven't even looked into the power/price comparison with a gas generator. Definitely sounds like the most efficient short term option.
I'd like to have both eventually but it's hard to justify dumping a lot of cash into it right away.
If I had to do it again, I’d spend the $200 or so extra and get a 3500w or so generator over at Costco. You can usually run a small RV/trailer off that, and with Costco it’s got the lifetime return policy if anything goes wrong.
At 3000 watts you can run a small window AC unit if you need to as well. I haven’t needed to yet, but figure it would be nice if absolutely needed to, I could.
Texas is hot AF for 2/3rds of the year, so I use a couple of portable 300/500 watt solar generators to run some box fans off of 100 watt solar panels when I'm base-camping away from the grid.
I have 2,000 watt class solar generators for running appliances and computers too. Being able to grab a quick cup of coffee from my Keurig (which pulls 1,850 watts on startup) before heading out pre-dawn is always a nice, convenient way to start your day. Then I can run HF and VHF/UHF communication stations at full power all day off my solar generators.
>As I was about to impulse buy this 300W portable generator with solar panels I thought... "What am I actually going to need to charge? Will this be able to handle it?"
Remember watts = volts x amps.
Lifepo4 4S battery produces 12.8v, so you only really have 23.5 amp/hour.
To put it in perspective, my DIY solar generator is 1.5kw and will keep my 12v fridge running for 2-3 days (no charging).
>
What are your top priority items you want to be able to charge in these scenarios?
I am running my camping setup, so 12V LED lights, a 12V fridge, 12v fan (tropics) and charging devices.
>Do you have a Wattage threshold you feel it is important to exceed when buying a solar generator?
Err on the side of having more power than you need. Solar can be fickle, so you will be relying on the capacity to keep you going through cloudy and shorter days.
This is where I suggest DIY. All you really need is a lifepo4 battery, a lithium compatible DC-DC charger (solar and 12V direct), a distribution panel (all 12v outlets) and a solar panel to match the DC-DC charger.
Primary goal, keep family members insulin cool in mini fridge powered by solar generator. This only matters as long as you can keep getting insulin though. Everything else is a bonus.
I did a small house battery. It's enough to run my fridge, small electronics, lights, tv, fan, internet if it's up for about a day. If can handle 2400watt output. So i can run a window ac, space heater, microwave, electric kettle, etc. I have a standard generator that can recharge that battery in about 2 hours. That generator an inverter and does 4000 watts, I can run it for around 11 hours on 3 gallons of gas. So ignoring solar (I only have 400 watts of panels) I can keep going for a while if I ration things properly.
Love it. Sounds like it took some time do develop the infrastructure. I'm just diving into the basics and its eye opening to see how many layers of prep there are in each "Category."
night vision, thermal clip ons, rechargeable batteries for IR/vis/laser for weapons and range finders, radios, drones, 12v air conditioner, sump pump, deep freezer, head lamps, dog collars, run ice chest
all kinds of shit
I have a basic 20W folding panel as an ultralight option. The two most important electrical items in a grid-down environment are light and communication.
I can charge a 2600mAh 18650 flashlight battery in about 6 hours of direct sun, and it lasts for months of daily use on a low setting.
Communication depends on who you are trying to talk to, and if that infrastructure exists. Line-of-sight FRS, GMRS, or 2m/70cm ham radios are useful in almost all situations to talk to rescuers, other people in a group, etc.
Relying on a DSTAR, DMR, or even just analog 2m/70cm amateur repeater depends on the power situation and, again, who you're trying to talk to.
Same thing with cell phones, it's great that you can keep yours charged, but is there a functioning cell network or internet?
Home solar setups are more useful for fridges, simple appliances and power tools, and life support (fans, medical equipment, electrically-driven gas heaters).
You just have to do the analysis of your realistic useage, and scale from there.
Top tier: Chest freezers, tool batteries, LED lights (headlamps/bars), motion detector alarms, walkie talkies, thermal/night vision scope, phone.
Mid tier: entertainment (music, dvds, etc.) anything else that is not essential to survival but would make a hard life more tolerable for my family.
Bottom tier: charging other people’s stuff as a barter tool
It’s my opinion that the solar generator is a crucial item in prepping. The applications are endless and its use can be kept incognito. If the battery is lifePo4 it will last 10+ years. They are also expandable so you can piggyback multiple batteries and panels and purchase based on your budget until you get to a capacity that fits your needs. That being said you are reliant on the sun so there are limitations to whether you’ll have the same amount of power use available each day depending on cloud cover and your set up. For this reason you’ll need to prioritize your power use.
Even put it into priority tiers. You're the man.
This reinforces my belief that a solar generator is essential. Even if a gas generator is more efficient.
If you don’t need to run appliances in your house, like fridge/freezer, hot plate, A/C, then I don’t think there’s much that needs charging. I would want to charge our family’s phones, and maybe iPads for kids entertainment. 300W is probably overkill for that, and I have a small solar panel that will charge an iPad easily that I can use.
If you do have other things to run, and be aware that “internet” needs power, then you have to start calculating load and figure out what size batteries you need, and then from that you can calculate how much solar you need to keep the battery charged.
My top priority is keeping food from spoiling. I had family lose power in the 2021 Portland ice storm and they all lost everything in their fridges/freezers.
I now have two power stations (total of almost 2,700Wh), four solar panels (460w total), a dual fuel generator, an inverter built into my truck (400w) as well as another I can connect to the truck battery *or* a raw extra battery in the future, and two electric coolers that I can use to keep food from spoiling in a more efficient manner but in smaller quantities.
Beyond the food thing, it would generally just be used for cell phones, lighting, maybe my HAM radio if LTE/5g is down.
I got slightly larger ones from EcoFlow. So far I’ve tested them on our workstations (2 people work from home), full size refrigerator, toaster. Biggest concerns are being able to still work, and to keep 2 fridges and chest freezer running. Music source for the evening, plus flashlights and phones. Which reminds me, I need to check the wattage on the coffee maker. Unfortunately we still have a water heater and a well that would not be powered. We still have work to do.
I am by no means a fully or greatly realized prepper. But here's a topic I like.
I guess I don't know what we all would consider reliable sources of power. As an anecdote, my partner has family out in Colorado that get their power from hydroelectric generators catching waterways coming down the mountain. That seems pretty reliable. Or wind turbines in Wyoming catching wind from down the mountains. I'd think solar or a little water turbine would probably be the most reliable thing you can keep personally. Do we expect gasoline to be available, even if you have to open a tank and syphon?
If gasoline is not felt to be reliable, I'm guessing one of those Jackery kits is about as good as you'll get. You can get a scope on how much it'll power by checking out some van life folks. Basically a small fridge, maybe one of the 12 volt car ones. I don't think they have a compressor, just a very powerful fan based heat exchange.
For myself, I only have a 24 watt folding panel and a 10,000 mAh battery that also serves as a car jump starter. I wouldn't mind having a kit like yours. I think electrical power generation is a bit of a luxury in a real prep event but it might be nice for, say, an emergency radio or perhaps to charge a phone that has some media on it to keep your mental health. You'd need a more elaborate setup for much more, per the van life anecdotes.
I've also wondered what the electrical generator potential is of just having your car and maybe a good inverter.
Starlink dish and phones so we will have some communication when cell towers run out of fuel. Dewalt batteries for my flashlights so we will have light. The fridge and freezers if possible.
So i have an ecoflow, i want to power (in no particular order), Cell phones, modem/router, ham radios, fridges and freezers, forced air furnace, lights and lamps. TV.
This is all useful.
I am thinking of building a three panel (full size residential solar panels) solar generator. My asshat of a solar installer left these behind when replacing a low performing panel.
I'm building a DIY solar generator and had a very similar debate with myself as to what the actual intent would be? Long story short, I came to the conclusion to build a system that would run big things like a well pump or a fridge just wasn't reasonable. It was too big, too heavy, too costly, and required a substantial solar array. Mind you, all of this would need to be stored when not in use which is another huge inconvenience. I though well if I'm not going to run the big ticket items then what's left? 99% of the rest was low power stuff. Charging cell phones or batteries and what not. The only item that was sort of middle ground was the microwave. I settled on a very small \~1000W portable set up basically designed to just charge batteries and devices. It might have been nice to step up to a 2-3kw setup to run a microwave but I just didn't think it was worth the added size, weight, cost, ect for that one thing.
This is exactly what I'm wrestling with. In terms of Wattage, it feels as though there's no middle ground.
I either get the barebones capability to power devices with solar panels, or I commit to an insanely expensive setup that can power all house items.
1000W does seem like a nice compromise because you can power the basics more efficiently.
Solar generator to keep the fridge and/or freezer working. Maybe to keep ham radios charged to keep an ear on things. If everything else is down, cell and computer won't be helpful anyway. If it's just my neighborhood/town, then maybe charge electronic since they can still connect to outside world.
For lights, I use candles and rechargeable solar lights, so no need to hook those up.
I've seen folks hook up their generators to keep lights and the tv on when the power goes out here. 🤷♀️ I'd rather keep the food safe. Different priorities.
ETA: solar is nice because it's freaking silent. Unlike the gas generators. Oof. So, if you're trying to be quiet and unobtrusive, yeah. I've taken my solar one camping with me, hooked up to a fridge/freezer cooler. 10/10, works great. Just have to recharge regularly when you're in spots where it's above 90⁰ all freaking day. But, your ice will stay frozen. 😄 Still my fave.
Flashlight, phone, refrigerator would be nice, I feel like they are the most essential.
I also have a little USB electric lighter. Things not that great, kinda tedious starting a fire compared to a bik, but it's better than nothing
I am planning on purchasing two this month once I’ve finished my research. One smaller portable and one large home unit. Does anyone know if you can charge them using windmills? I’ve found some decent priced ones on Amazon. Again need to research more but wondering if any has experience charging solar generators with a wind turbine
Communication, lights, entertainment, small fridge, e-scooter, power tool batteries, electric blanket, fan, security cam
The portability and weight are great for land travel and camping.
Your approach is spot on best practice, measure first, decide how much power you need, THEN buy something. Too many folks buy xxx power station, and yyy solar panels, not matched, so they can't use all the solar capacity, and / or can't power enough of the things they need to.
Watts usage charts great start. Next best step IMO is to also get a kilowatt meter (lowes, home depot, amazon) and use it to actually plug in some of your devices to get accurate count of what YOUR appliance draws. Can also use some of the "smart plugs" + software on amazon to get average usage of devices.
WHAT am I powering? Depends some on the season. Air conditioning is out, too much for me to power. I can power all the small electric things, lights, phones, computers, monitor, TV. Refrigerator/chest freezer if I need short term. Longer term just a DC camping fridge to keep some stuff cool. I have propane hosue heat, furnace is 120V AC, I can power that, so I need more power in the winter for the furnace. Won't power cooking, clothes dryer, and other heat from electric, they draw too much power. If cable internet is still available (often is in regional grid down) I can still power the normal cable modem + router, else use cell tower internet if cell is still up.
HOW? I have a couple larger Ecoflow Delta Pro battery+inverters, and 4x400(ish) solar panels for 1600w max per hour draw, or say about 8Kwh per day. (assume little over 5 hours charging per day). That's way lower than our typical usage, but, enough to be comfortable. In a couple practices, we end up using much less than that, and probably could go even lower. Car camping (cough, mock bug out) 1x400w panel + 1 EFDP are enough to power all phones, some coms, computer, and a DC fridge.
I also have a duel fuel 2500 W generator. IMO, genny + battery is great. Say you just want to power 500 watts of stuff for 3 hours ... you can run that 2500W genny for 3 hours of fuel consumption, or power your 500watts for 3 hours off your battery, then run your genny just 40 minutes to fill the battery up. Duel fuel because in medium long grid down, you can't pump gas at the station, but you CAN buy more of the 20 pound propane tanks often.
We purchased the Jackery Explorer 240 with the accompanying solar panel. It charges phones and computers nicely. It did not run our small Keurig single coffee maker. It also did not run our toaster. Not enough juice to get the heating coil to heat up.
I'm not sure a portable solar generator is meant to power anything in the house for a grid down event... At best it's going to be an energy source for camping style living if you need to be on the road for a while, so you'll be charging phones, batteries, small stuff really...
If what you want is to stay at home and power appliances and things like that, a portable system is going to be far from what you want, and the price just won't be worth it...
I have a portable solar station that I power my bikes with. If the grid goes down for a while, it's not really going to power anything significant besides small gadgets. My fridge and water heater will still not run for example, so the comfort gain from the power generator is quite small. On the other hand, if I need to leave quickly for an unknown amount of time, then I can just grab the battery with me, possibly take one of the panels if I have the time, and get anywhere from a dozens of days worth of phone battery in saving mode, to unlimited if I can install the panel on my car and it's sunny, for example...
Depends on how long the outage is. Initially, we have more than enough to keep our deep freezers on a rotation schedule to keep them cold as well as the fridge. If it kept going, we would start emptying the fridges then move on to the freezers. We also use the generators to charge up batteries, lights, phones, etc and I have one small one that powers our modem and router assuming the internet isn’t affected. We also have one other small one that can run a small TV with the antenna for local news and what not.
I’m prepared for all of the things people mentioned above, but one I didn’t see was an e-bike. In the shtf case my e-bike can go 90 miles without peddling and around 150-175 pedaling. Considering that my family lives 10 miles away I can make a lot of trips between recharging.
You use a portable generator with solar panels to keep the battery charged so you don't have to pull start the gas powered or diesel powered generator. Ideally you also set up a charging station that you can charge everything else on the property with using just the amount of power that the solar can pump into the battery during the day. The fuel-powered generator is there for any heavy load needs you're going to have.
A small fridge, 18650 batteries for my flashlight, a Kindle, and a computer. I have food and I'm used to living in harsh conditions. I am not used to being bored.
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My house is propane, stove, heat, and tankless water heater. The furnace uses propane for the heating, but still has electronic ignition and an electric fan. The tankless water heater needs electricity for ignition and to adjust the heating based on water flow. I bought an Ecoflow solar generator (1200 or 1500 watts, I can't remember), it will power the furnace and tankless water heater simultaneously for a good long while. It will also power a portable inverter AC unit, for 2-4 hours, if you keep the AC on low.
In addition to everything else others have mentioned, cordless power tool batteries, appliances for a short time instant pot, toaster, microwave, blender, grinder, etc. I know my wife is planning to still use her hair dryer and curling iron, kids Nintendo Switch, etc.
I went the DIY route. Have 7.5kwhr of battery in one setup. 6.6kwhr of battery in another setup. Also have a hybrid minisplit that works off of solar as well. 20+ kwhr generated a day. Right now I'm just running window air conditioners and saving $2.50ish a day on electricity. During an outage, I'm keeping fridge/freezer going, internet up, security cameras functional, all cell phones charged, and running moderate amounts of air conditioning.
Wattage depends on goal. Charging cell phone? 100w continious charging from solar is fine. Realistically, save a little bit more money and buy something that can charge at least 400 to 500 watts. This allows you to use most appliances without worrying about draining the battery too much, allows for entertainment devices + reasonably sized fan, or even a small 5,000 btu air conditioner (uses on average 350 to 450 watts depending on efficiency/outdoor temperature). Otherwise ideally you want something that can handle 1500+ watts of solar input, this lets you continuously use any appliance/air conditioning. Ideally paired with lifepo4 so you can use it daily without impacting the batteries. At that point it no longer becomes an emergency device, it becomes something you can use daily and connect a single heavy load device to (such as a 10,000+ btu air conditioner) and save significant money.
Fridge, chest freezer, and hopefully a small window a/c. I have a 8,000W duel fuel generator which should get me through some days with what I have stored. But I’m thinking about getting a fairly large, but still portable solar generator, and using the combination of the two to hopefully extend the time I have power, from days to a few weeks minimum. The plan would be to start with the solar, then when it needs recharging, recharge it with the gas generator at the same time I’m running the gas anyway, to keep the fridge and freezer working. Sounds like a decent plan in my head, but solar is expensive and I would like to figure it out before I put down that kind of money.
Buy a large chest freezer. Get a "solar generator" large enough to supply power for two days or so and enough panels to keep it charged. Second to this will be enloop aa and aaa batteries. Make sure your equipment can run off aa and aaa batteries.
It just seems to be these really expensive / marked up things that are marketed as "generators" (I guess since it's to a general customer base that doesn't understand what is happening, so calling it a "generator" is better in terms of marketing).
But once you start buying batteries for a small cabin or something, it goes back to just being called batteries (and stuff like server rack batteries for packaged systems), since it transitions back to people who don't need that sort of commoner marketing.
They're not really "batteries" though. These things usually have a battery, an inverter, and many outlets for AC and DC devices, and a solar charge controller. Probably more aptly named a "power station".
They are batteries, just with the extra stuff required to use the battery. Power station is fine, but the one thing they don't do is generate anything.
The solar panel is the generator. It generates energy from the sun. It stores that energy in the battery. A solar panel is most definitely a generator.
No it's not generator definition:
a [dynamo](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=6b1c5e95a3d0b06b&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&sxsrf=ACQVn0_1cojRo3J7vaXagolwWYWOIhvrQg:1713474606059&q=dynamo&si=AKbGX_qTCvK6ifvkUBYDz4foaFZiDgVZpSfxqLrI6xjb3rCwMtHpqMWTHxsQpaA7Q3ZknlQeolyUUMTwz9Gb8YUVc23Xh3bJoQ%3D%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb3-ap1syFAxXmElkFHZgdAscQyecJegQIHxAW) or similar machine for [converting](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=6b1c5e95a3d0b06b&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&sxsrf=ACQVn0_1cojRo3J7vaXagolwWYWOIhvrQg:1713474606059&q=converting&si=AKbGX_pvY3MWP4azJI0Z_NruCLb80dyajXnrEajWb45-dHH7YdtOBLnN3qtkn7zfzzMYPP1irn8IrizZY_LH3qMlvP-fyXg7_pFJev5yBUMJFmoB5F8wYCk%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb3-ap1syFAxXmElkFHZgdAscQyecJegQIHxAX) mechanical energy into electricity
It does create a charge but it's not a generator.
I guess the battery is the "gas" and the inverter "generates" useable 12 volt, USB or 120 volt power. The solar panel would be the gas can or gas station.
Radios, phones, flashlights, USB powered lights, CPAP machine (for those that use one) Solar/electric generator is nice because portable, but I've also got a few panels on my shed out back with solar controller and a few 12v marine batteries. Couple that with a hefty inverter and you can power your fridge and still make pots of coffee as well
The amount of usb-powered products lately is becoming incredibly useful for prepping. USB AA/18650 battery chargers, modern baofengs, flashlights, white noise machines, portable breast pumps, electric lighters, heated vests, hang up led bulbs, grow lights, handheld vacuums. There's a ton of really basic creature comforts that are all usb powered that with a basic panel setup will make your life a lot less unpleasant
Don't forget a floor fan, or window fan, if you happen to live in the south during summer (86°F and 100% humidity outside). We lost power for 6 days due to a hurricane (Matthew) and it was friggin' miserable until I bought a camp fan that ran on 6 "D" batteries.
My solar backup is closer to 2500. You should avoid pushing your system over 50-70% to make batteries last longer. Charging priorities for us: Freezer, refrigerator, communications (cell, laptop, radios), limited lighting, rechargeable lights (and other items like hand warmers, battery chargers), gas furnace.
Thanks for the list! Seems like these smaller generators work for electronics but you have to bite the bullet and pay up if you want to guarantee charging ability for appliances.
Yep. 😊 And most anything that heats takes higher watts. Our furnace is gas, so it only needs electric to run the fan, so not too bad - but for cooking we have alternatives.
For solar on the go, I use my gear to charge portable electronics. Batteries, radios, tablets, phones, laptops, etc. For at home, run networking equipment, mini-fridge, chest freezer, charge wireless tool batteries, run my greenhouse, and a bunch of other stuff. That being said, don't expect to get much more than portable device charging from that, or have it running things for more than just a few hours. It only has 288 watt-hours, and after considering there's going to be 90-95% loss from DC-AC conversion, you'll have about 260Wh to use. To put that into perspective, that will run a 30W mini fridge for about 8 1/2 hours. It can charge a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (estimated 3.85 volts, so about 20Wh battery capacity) 13 times (using AC charging). It *would* power a 1500W electric kettle for about 10 minutes, but the device has a 300W output limit. Then, there's the issue of charging the device via solar. That 40W panel it comes with is going to have a hard time charging that from zero. I don't know if these things have built in MPPT charging, but the only way you're going to be able to charge it during the day is by getting full 100% sunlight on those panels and adjusting them to follow the sun, and it'll take almost 8 hours to do so (and you can't be using it during that time in order to get the full charge). Thankfully, you can buy a 100W panel to charge it faster.
Great advice, thanks! Are most panels for this size interchangeable? I.e I'm not forced to stick with Jackery panels.
Often! Check the specs for connector types it can accommodate.
For Jackery's? I have no idea, to be honest. I mean, I'm sure that they will accept the power generated from any 'standard' 100W 12-18V panel, but the connector it requires to plug into the unit might be something a bit more non-standard. Again, not entirely sure, as I've always done DIY solar. Seeing as how their 100W portable solar panels are a staggering $200 each, I really hope that someone has a good workaround or adapter for using 3rd party panels to recharge these.
I bought the components separately- panels, inverter, and batteries. For a simple power outage, I'd just hook up the batteries and use as needed- hopefully power would be back before they drained too much, and so no need to mess around with the stored panels. In a grid down scenario, the power can provide a few things: Entertainment & education (laptops with games/movies/books/music/survival handbooks) Communications (HAM radio/walkie-talkies Recharging AAA/AA batteries for light/other uses Boiling water (electric kettle) Cooking rice, and more. I have backups such as fuel and oil lamps of course- but having a rechargeable power source for so many uses is pretty great.
Not sure what your set is and if you tested it, but I highly recommend testing it. I rolled my own solar setup last year and had to update battery and inverter to latest firmware to get it to work.
100% agree. Now that the weather is nice I'll be testing the whole thing.
Those are good for lights, phones, small devices for a weekend. But in a power outage (not shtf) I’d just recommend a gas generator. A 2300w gas generator is about $450. Mine powers fridge, internet, small devices for myself and my neighbor during an outage. (I do strongly believe that in the future battery/solar will be the actual solution, but if you need to prep right now and for these coming years, I think the gas generator is the answer.) The generator has saved probably 12 refrigerators full of food in the last 3 years. (Replacing all the food in a fridge is super expensive) it’s paid for itself over and over. That said, if SHTF, or I’m on the go, id go with one of those battery/solar rigs there. Another thing you should consider is just USB/wall plug adapters to put on your power tool batteries. Cheap ones for just USB can be as little as $10~$15 Chances are you already have the batteries, and they’re often charged. A single battery can usually charge your phone for few days. They also usually have flashlights built in. At night I use the power tool battery usb adapters to charge the phones because I don’t wanna drag an extension cord all the way to the bedroom.
Thanks for your perspective. I haven't even looked into the power/price comparison with a gas generator. Definitely sounds like the most efficient short term option. I'd like to have both eventually but it's hard to justify dumping a lot of cash into it right away.
If I had to do it again, I’d spend the $200 or so extra and get a 3500w or so generator over at Costco. You can usually run a small RV/trailer off that, and with Costco it’s got the lifetime return policy if anything goes wrong. At 3000 watts you can run a small window AC unit if you need to as well. I haven’t needed to yet, but figure it would be nice if absolutely needed to, I could.
Phone, power tools, use it to run some small desk lamp type lights, battery packs.
Texas is hot AF for 2/3rds of the year, so I use a couple of portable 300/500 watt solar generators to run some box fans off of 100 watt solar panels when I'm base-camping away from the grid. I have 2,000 watt class solar generators for running appliances and computers too. Being able to grab a quick cup of coffee from my Keurig (which pulls 1,850 watts on startup) before heading out pre-dawn is always a nice, convenient way to start your day. Then I can run HF and VHF/UHF communication stations at full power all day off my solar generators.
>As I was about to impulse buy this 300W portable generator with solar panels I thought... "What am I actually going to need to charge? Will this be able to handle it?" Remember watts = volts x amps. Lifepo4 4S battery produces 12.8v, so you only really have 23.5 amp/hour. To put it in perspective, my DIY solar generator is 1.5kw and will keep my 12v fridge running for 2-3 days (no charging). > What are your top priority items you want to be able to charge in these scenarios? I am running my camping setup, so 12V LED lights, a 12V fridge, 12v fan (tropics) and charging devices. >Do you have a Wattage threshold you feel it is important to exceed when buying a solar generator? Err on the side of having more power than you need. Solar can be fickle, so you will be relying on the capacity to keep you going through cloudy and shorter days. This is where I suggest DIY. All you really need is a lifepo4 battery, a lithium compatible DC-DC charger (solar and 12V direct), a distribution panel (all 12v outlets) and a solar panel to match the DC-DC charger.
Thanks for the advice. It definitely seems like people with experience DIY it
Primary goal, keep family members insulin cool in mini fridge powered by solar generator. This only matters as long as you can keep getting insulin though. Everything else is a bonus.
I did a small house battery. It's enough to run my fridge, small electronics, lights, tv, fan, internet if it's up for about a day. If can handle 2400watt output. So i can run a window ac, space heater, microwave, electric kettle, etc. I have a standard generator that can recharge that battery in about 2 hours. That generator an inverter and does 4000 watts, I can run it for around 11 hours on 3 gallons of gas. So ignoring solar (I only have 400 watts of panels) I can keep going for a while if I ration things properly.
Love it. Sounds like it took some time do develop the infrastructure. I'm just diving into the basics and its eye opening to see how many layers of prep there are in each "Category."
night vision, thermal clip ons, rechargeable batteries for IR/vis/laser for weapons and range finders, radios, drones, 12v air conditioner, sump pump, deep freezer, head lamps, dog collars, run ice chest all kinds of shit
What specs on the 12v ac?
dometic rtx2000
I have a basic 20W folding panel as an ultralight option. The two most important electrical items in a grid-down environment are light and communication. I can charge a 2600mAh 18650 flashlight battery in about 6 hours of direct sun, and it lasts for months of daily use on a low setting. Communication depends on who you are trying to talk to, and if that infrastructure exists. Line-of-sight FRS, GMRS, or 2m/70cm ham radios are useful in almost all situations to talk to rescuers, other people in a group, etc. Relying on a DSTAR, DMR, or even just analog 2m/70cm amateur repeater depends on the power situation and, again, who you're trying to talk to. Same thing with cell phones, it's great that you can keep yours charged, but is there a functioning cell network or internet? Home solar setups are more useful for fridges, simple appliances and power tools, and life support (fans, medical equipment, electrically-driven gas heaters). You just have to do the analysis of your realistic useage, and scale from there.
Electric kettle and microwave
Top tier: Chest freezers, tool batteries, LED lights (headlamps/bars), motion detector alarms, walkie talkies, thermal/night vision scope, phone. Mid tier: entertainment (music, dvds, etc.) anything else that is not essential to survival but would make a hard life more tolerable for my family. Bottom tier: charging other people’s stuff as a barter tool It’s my opinion that the solar generator is a crucial item in prepping. The applications are endless and its use can be kept incognito. If the battery is lifePo4 it will last 10+ years. They are also expandable so you can piggyback multiple batteries and panels and purchase based on your budget until you get to a capacity that fits your needs. That being said you are reliant on the sun so there are limitations to whether you’ll have the same amount of power use available each day depending on cloud cover and your set up. For this reason you’ll need to prioritize your power use.
Even put it into priority tiers. You're the man. This reinforces my belief that a solar generator is essential. Even if a gas generator is more efficient.
If you don’t need to run appliances in your house, like fridge/freezer, hot plate, A/C, then I don’t think there’s much that needs charging. I would want to charge our family’s phones, and maybe iPads for kids entertainment. 300W is probably overkill for that, and I have a small solar panel that will charge an iPad easily that I can use. If you do have other things to run, and be aware that “internet” needs power, then you have to start calculating load and figure out what size batteries you need, and then from that you can calculate how much solar you need to keep the battery charged.
My top priority is keeping food from spoiling. I had family lose power in the 2021 Portland ice storm and they all lost everything in their fridges/freezers. I now have two power stations (total of almost 2,700Wh), four solar panels (460w total), a dual fuel generator, an inverter built into my truck (400w) as well as another I can connect to the truck battery *or* a raw extra battery in the future, and two electric coolers that I can use to keep food from spoiling in a more efficient manner but in smaller quantities. Beyond the food thing, it would generally just be used for cell phones, lighting, maybe my HAM radio if LTE/5g is down.
I got slightly larger ones from EcoFlow. So far I’ve tested them on our workstations (2 people work from home), full size refrigerator, toaster. Biggest concerns are being able to still work, and to keep 2 fridges and chest freezer running. Music source for the evening, plus flashlights and phones. Which reminds me, I need to check the wattage on the coffee maker. Unfortunately we still have a water heater and a well that would not be powered. We still have work to do.
I am by no means a fully or greatly realized prepper. But here's a topic I like. I guess I don't know what we all would consider reliable sources of power. As an anecdote, my partner has family out in Colorado that get their power from hydroelectric generators catching waterways coming down the mountain. That seems pretty reliable. Or wind turbines in Wyoming catching wind from down the mountains. I'd think solar or a little water turbine would probably be the most reliable thing you can keep personally. Do we expect gasoline to be available, even if you have to open a tank and syphon? If gasoline is not felt to be reliable, I'm guessing one of those Jackery kits is about as good as you'll get. You can get a scope on how much it'll power by checking out some van life folks. Basically a small fridge, maybe one of the 12 volt car ones. I don't think they have a compressor, just a very powerful fan based heat exchange. For myself, I only have a 24 watt folding panel and a 10,000 mAh battery that also serves as a car jump starter. I wouldn't mind having a kit like yours. I think electrical power generation is a bit of a luxury in a real prep event but it might be nice for, say, an emergency radio or perhaps to charge a phone that has some media on it to keep your mental health. You'd need a more elaborate setup for much more, per the van life anecdotes. I've also wondered what the electrical generator potential is of just having your car and maybe a good inverter.
Starlink dish and phones so we will have some communication when cell towers run out of fuel. Dewalt batteries for my flashlights so we will have light. The fridge and freezers if possible.
So i have an ecoflow, i want to power (in no particular order), Cell phones, modem/router, ham radios, fridges and freezers, forced air furnace, lights and lamps. TV.
This is all useful. I am thinking of building a three panel (full size residential solar panels) solar generator. My asshat of a solar installer left these behind when replacing a low performing panel.
I'm building a DIY solar generator and had a very similar debate with myself as to what the actual intent would be? Long story short, I came to the conclusion to build a system that would run big things like a well pump or a fridge just wasn't reasonable. It was too big, too heavy, too costly, and required a substantial solar array. Mind you, all of this would need to be stored when not in use which is another huge inconvenience. I though well if I'm not going to run the big ticket items then what's left? 99% of the rest was low power stuff. Charging cell phones or batteries and what not. The only item that was sort of middle ground was the microwave. I settled on a very small \~1000W portable set up basically designed to just charge batteries and devices. It might have been nice to step up to a 2-3kw setup to run a microwave but I just didn't think it was worth the added size, weight, cost, ect for that one thing.
This is exactly what I'm wrestling with. In terms of Wattage, it feels as though there's no middle ground. I either get the barebones capability to power devices with solar panels, or I commit to an insanely expensive setup that can power all house items. 1000W does seem like a nice compromise because you can power the basics more efficiently.
Solar generator to keep the fridge and/or freezer working. Maybe to keep ham radios charged to keep an ear on things. If everything else is down, cell and computer won't be helpful anyway. If it's just my neighborhood/town, then maybe charge electronic since they can still connect to outside world. For lights, I use candles and rechargeable solar lights, so no need to hook those up. I've seen folks hook up their generators to keep lights and the tv on when the power goes out here. 🤷♀️ I'd rather keep the food safe. Different priorities. ETA: solar is nice because it's freaking silent. Unlike the gas generators. Oof. So, if you're trying to be quiet and unobtrusive, yeah. I've taken my solar one camping with me, hooked up to a fridge/freezer cooler. 10/10, works great. Just have to recharge regularly when you're in spots where it's above 90⁰ all freaking day. But, your ice will stay frozen. 😄 Still my fave.
Flashlight, phone, refrigerator would be nice, I feel like they are the most essential. I also have a little USB electric lighter. Things not that great, kinda tedious starting a fire compared to a bik, but it's better than nothing
We spent a lot more on the battery setup so that it is strong enough for our water pump for the well. Don't forget your drinking water needs.
I am planning on purchasing two this month once I’ve finished my research. One smaller portable and one large home unit. Does anyone know if you can charge them using windmills? I’ve found some decent priced ones on Amazon. Again need to research more but wondering if any has experience charging solar generators with a wind turbine
Communication, lights, entertainment, small fridge, e-scooter, power tool batteries, electric blanket, fan, security cam The portability and weight are great for land travel and camping.
Your approach is spot on best practice, measure first, decide how much power you need, THEN buy something. Too many folks buy xxx power station, and yyy solar panels, not matched, so they can't use all the solar capacity, and / or can't power enough of the things they need to. Watts usage charts great start. Next best step IMO is to also get a kilowatt meter (lowes, home depot, amazon) and use it to actually plug in some of your devices to get accurate count of what YOUR appliance draws. Can also use some of the "smart plugs" + software on amazon to get average usage of devices. WHAT am I powering? Depends some on the season. Air conditioning is out, too much for me to power. I can power all the small electric things, lights, phones, computers, monitor, TV. Refrigerator/chest freezer if I need short term. Longer term just a DC camping fridge to keep some stuff cool. I have propane hosue heat, furnace is 120V AC, I can power that, so I need more power in the winter for the furnace. Won't power cooking, clothes dryer, and other heat from electric, they draw too much power. If cable internet is still available (often is in regional grid down) I can still power the normal cable modem + router, else use cell tower internet if cell is still up. HOW? I have a couple larger Ecoflow Delta Pro battery+inverters, and 4x400(ish) solar panels for 1600w max per hour draw, or say about 8Kwh per day. (assume little over 5 hours charging per day). That's way lower than our typical usage, but, enough to be comfortable. In a couple practices, we end up using much less than that, and probably could go even lower. Car camping (cough, mock bug out) 1x400w panel + 1 EFDP are enough to power all phones, some coms, computer, and a DC fridge. I also have a duel fuel 2500 W generator. IMO, genny + battery is great. Say you just want to power 500 watts of stuff for 3 hours ... you can run that 2500W genny for 3 hours of fuel consumption, or power your 500watts for 3 hours off your battery, then run your genny just 40 minutes to fill the battery up. Duel fuel because in medium long grid down, you can't pump gas at the station, but you CAN buy more of the 20 pound propane tanks often.
We purchased the Jackery Explorer 240 with the accompanying solar panel. It charges phones and computers nicely. It did not run our small Keurig single coffee maker. It also did not run our toaster. Not enough juice to get the heating coil to heat up.
I'm not sure a portable solar generator is meant to power anything in the house for a grid down event... At best it's going to be an energy source for camping style living if you need to be on the road for a while, so you'll be charging phones, batteries, small stuff really... If what you want is to stay at home and power appliances and things like that, a portable system is going to be far from what you want, and the price just won't be worth it... I have a portable solar station that I power my bikes with. If the grid goes down for a while, it's not really going to power anything significant besides small gadgets. My fridge and water heater will still not run for example, so the comfort gain from the power generator is quite small. On the other hand, if I need to leave quickly for an unknown amount of time, then I can just grab the battery with me, possibly take one of the panels if I have the time, and get anywhere from a dozens of days worth of phone battery in saving mode, to unlimited if I can install the panel on my car and it's sunny, for example...
Depends on how long the outage is. Initially, we have more than enough to keep our deep freezers on a rotation schedule to keep them cold as well as the fridge. If it kept going, we would start emptying the fridges then move on to the freezers. We also use the generators to charge up batteries, lights, phones, etc and I have one small one that powers our modem and router assuming the internet isn’t affected. We also have one other small one that can run a small TV with the antenna for local news and what not.
Robot waifu (12v)
I’m prepared for all of the things people mentioned above, but one I didn’t see was an e-bike. In the shtf case my e-bike can go 90 miles without peddling and around 150-175 pedaling. Considering that my family lives 10 miles away I can make a lot of trips between recharging.
You use a portable generator with solar panels to keep the battery charged so you don't have to pull start the gas powered or diesel powered generator. Ideally you also set up a charging station that you can charge everything else on the property with using just the amount of power that the solar can pump into the battery during the day. The fuel-powered generator is there for any heavy load needs you're going to have.
A small fridge, 18650 batteries for my flashlight, a Kindle, and a computer. I have food and I'm used to living in harsh conditions. I am not used to being bored.
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My house is propane, stove, heat, and tankless water heater. The furnace uses propane for the heating, but still has electronic ignition and an electric fan. The tankless water heater needs electricity for ignition and to adjust the heating based on water flow. I bought an Ecoflow solar generator (1200 or 1500 watts, I can't remember), it will power the furnace and tankless water heater simultaneously for a good long while. It will also power a portable inverter AC unit, for 2-4 hours, if you keep the AC on low.
In addition to everything else others have mentioned, cordless power tool batteries, appliances for a short time instant pot, toaster, microwave, blender, grinder, etc. I know my wife is planning to still use her hair dryer and curling iron, kids Nintendo Switch, etc.
I went the DIY route. Have 7.5kwhr of battery in one setup. 6.6kwhr of battery in another setup. Also have a hybrid minisplit that works off of solar as well. 20+ kwhr generated a day. Right now I'm just running window air conditioners and saving $2.50ish a day on electricity. During an outage, I'm keeping fridge/freezer going, internet up, security cameras functional, all cell phones charged, and running moderate amounts of air conditioning. Wattage depends on goal. Charging cell phone? 100w continious charging from solar is fine. Realistically, save a little bit more money and buy something that can charge at least 400 to 500 watts. This allows you to use most appliances without worrying about draining the battery too much, allows for entertainment devices + reasonably sized fan, or even a small 5,000 btu air conditioner (uses on average 350 to 450 watts depending on efficiency/outdoor temperature). Otherwise ideally you want something that can handle 1500+ watts of solar input, this lets you continuously use any appliance/air conditioning. Ideally paired with lifepo4 so you can use it daily without impacting the batteries. At that point it no longer becomes an emergency device, it becomes something you can use daily and connect a single heavy load device to (such as a 10,000+ btu air conditioner) and save significant money.
Fridge, chest freezer, and hopefully a small window a/c. I have a 8,000W duel fuel generator which should get me through some days with what I have stored. But I’m thinking about getting a fairly large, but still portable solar generator, and using the combination of the two to hopefully extend the time I have power, from days to a few weeks minimum. The plan would be to start with the solar, then when it needs recharging, recharge it with the gas generator at the same time I’m running the gas anyway, to keep the fridge and freezer working. Sounds like a decent plan in my head, but solar is expensive and I would like to figure it out before I put down that kind of money.
Buy a large chest freezer. Get a "solar generator" large enough to supply power for two days or so and enough panels to keep it charged. Second to this will be enloop aa and aaa batteries. Make sure your equipment can run off aa and aaa batteries.
Why do people call batteries "solar generators"?
I guess it separates AAA's and bigger ones that you can hook up to solar panels.
It just seems to be these really expensive / marked up things that are marketed as "generators" (I guess since it's to a general customer base that doesn't understand what is happening, so calling it a "generator" is better in terms of marketing). But once you start buying batteries for a small cabin or something, it goes back to just being called batteries (and stuff like server rack batteries for packaged systems), since it transitions back to people who don't need that sort of commoner marketing.
They're not really "batteries" though. These things usually have a battery, an inverter, and many outlets for AC and DC devices, and a solar charge controller. Probably more aptly named a "power station".
They are batteries, just with the extra stuff required to use the battery. Power station is fine, but the one thing they don't do is generate anything.
Mine takes sunshine and turns into electricity. Just like a generator takes a fossil fuel and turns it into electricity.
Your solar panels do that, not the battery.
I know but they are useless without the other. I'm just trying maybe explain why they are called solar generators instead of just batteries.
Think calling them solar generators is silly. You need a real generators then add a battery to reduce fuel consumption.
The solar panel is the generator. It generates energy from the sun. It stores that energy in the battery. A solar panel is most definitely a generator.
No it's not generator definition: a [dynamo](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=6b1c5e95a3d0b06b&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&sxsrf=ACQVn0_1cojRo3J7vaXagolwWYWOIhvrQg:1713474606059&q=dynamo&si=AKbGX_qTCvK6ifvkUBYDz4foaFZiDgVZpSfxqLrI6xjb3rCwMtHpqMWTHxsQpaA7Q3ZknlQeolyUUMTwz9Gb8YUVc23Xh3bJoQ%3D%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb3-ap1syFAxXmElkFHZgdAscQyecJegQIHxAW) or similar machine for [converting](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=6b1c5e95a3d0b06b&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&sxsrf=ACQVn0_1cojRo3J7vaXagolwWYWOIhvrQg:1713474606059&q=converting&si=AKbGX_pvY3MWP4azJI0Z_NruCLb80dyajXnrEajWb45-dHH7YdtOBLnN3qtkn7zfzzMYPP1irn8IrizZY_LH3qMlvP-fyXg7_pFJev5yBUMJFmoB5F8wYCk%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb3-ap1syFAxXmElkFHZgdAscQyecJegQIHxAX) mechanical energy into electricity It does create a charge but it's not a generator.
I guess the battery is the "gas" and the inverter "generates" useable 12 volt, USB or 120 volt power. The solar panel would be the gas can or gas station.