Solar Generators?

[Mirna]

We have researched generators and thought we were going to buy the Honda EU2200i & EU2200i Inverter (CARB) Companion Kit with Parallel Cables & Covers until we discovered the Patriot Power Generator 1500 or 1800. Does anyone have any experience with the solar generators? 

We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time.

Mirna.

[BackofBeyond]

kinda, sort a, another battery back up it appears to me - powered by solar. In my case, if I have sun, I don't need back-up- other than for AC - and this device won't handle that. 1500 watts - for how long? May be exactly some may need, but not something I could use. 

RB

[Overland]

Took me forever to find any sort of specs or price on that web site.

Looks like it's a 60 Ah battery and a 100w portable panel for $2500.  

You can get the same thing, but better quality and more capacity from the much more reputable Goal Zero for about $1,000 less.  Personally, while I think that the battery packs have their place, I don't consider them alternatives for a generator.  If you're trying to do without a generator, then better to just spend that money on more batteries for your trailer.  The only advantage of the battery packs is their portability, so unless you plan to use it away from the trailer, then I wouldn't even be considering one.  

Edited January 6, 2020 by Overland

[SeaDawg]

I agree. The value isn't there, if I read the specs correctly.  

The "generator " part is the 100 watt solar panel. The battery is simply storage, with ourlets. Though it does claim some pretty high peak power, it's not going to run your ac for long, if at all. And, I'd be skeptical about being able to recharge daily with only a single 100 watt panel.

I looked at the Goal Zero Yeti last year, when it was on sale at Costco online. Nice, but still pricey, and if I were personally going to spend another $1000 to $2500 on powering my trailer, I'd seriously be looking at swapping my agms for battleborns, and beef up my portable solar capacity.

I guess the real question is, what do you want to accomplish with auxiliary power/generator? Just recharge batteries? Run your ac? Have reserve power for electronics?

Edit to add: having something around like a goal zero yeti or jackery can useful at home in power failures, too, to run essential systems, for a short while. If that's part of your goal. 

Sherry

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by SeaDawg

[Mirna]

This is excellent feedback!  Thank you for taking the time to write.  We were considering solar generator for the following reasons:

1. No noise

2. No pollution

3. Both for the Ollie and for home in case of emergency.

You have offered very good alternatives.

Thank you,

Mirna and PK

[ScubaRx]

As a "thank you" for helping a friend with a trailer project, I was gifted a Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer 500.  I'd never heard of it but it has turned out to be a pretty cool gadget.  I'm still playing around with it and to see what its capabilities are, I'm taking it with us when we leave tomorrow for Quartzsite.  Initially, I'm going to see how long it will power our new Dometic CFX 75DZW Electric Cooler/Freezer.  Tests at home have it working fine, but the problem will be recharging it on the road.  We'll see. 

[SeaDawg]

Steve, looks like the Jackery and your dometic cooler/freezer will make a great combo. 

Do you have a portable solar panel to charge the jackery at Quartzite? 

Sherry

[SeaDawg]

As a side note, we camped our way  around Iceland a few years ago, in a fairly barebones vw van. Our refrigerator was a small Dometic portable cooler. We ran it off a cigarette lighter type plug during the day. Most nights were cold, in the 30s and low 40s, and we unplugged it, set the cooler under the van at night, mostly to make room to pull out/ unfold the bed. 

I grew to love that little cooler, as fresh groceries are far and few between in the small villages outside towns and cities in the outer regions of Iceland. At least my food stayed fresh, and cold. It was not good for chilling warm items, however. 

It was almost silent,  just a tiny hum. Reliable.  Efficient.  

Looks like your Dometic,  Steve, could use  around 400 watts in a 24 hr day. I'd plug it into the truck when driving, on dc. (Most efficient on native dc). If nights are cool, cover it with a coat or blanket, and unplug, maybe. 

You should be able to recharge 400 watts in 7 hours of good sun, with a 100 watt panel, theoretically. But usually,  we only get 4 to 5 hours of good sun.  If you don't run it on battery all day, you'll recharge faster, as you know, and save on cycle life. I think your jackery is rated to 500 full cycles, then dropping to something like 80 per cent. 

I'll be interested in your observations after this season. I like the combo. And love the features of the Dometic.

Sherry 

[ScubaRx]

Sherry, the plan is to mount 2x100 watt panels on the top of the camper shell to charge a 100Ahr AGM battery in the back of the truck. This will be used to power the Dometic full time. I just didn’t get it all done prior to leaving yesterday for Quartzsite. We should have it finished by the rally. 

[Mirna]

Thank you to Sherry and ScubaRx! I look forward to hearing how your system worked, lessons learned, and recommendations. 

Best,

Mirna and PK

[SeaDawg]

I came across this review and test of the Jackery 500. Max input from solar is a100 watt panel. Probably not possible to recharge in a single day, if you ran it down by 400 watts, because of the slow rate of charge. Looks like you'd have to get some additional charge from the truck battery, or an ac outlet, to cycle through that much power, daily, Steve.

Mirna, that seems to be the common complaint on all the battery packs/solar generators.  They're great for small devices, and an emergency backup, but their charging time is generally quite slow. Probably for safety reasons, as high speed charging generates a lot of heat, that has to be managed. 

The solar panel test begins around 20:45 in this video.

Sherry

Edited January 10, 2020 by SeaDawg

[Overland]

Depending on the time of year, weather, and where I park, I sometimes have trouble with 200w of panels keeping up with our fridge.  That's only when the truck is sitting at home - we have zero issues when traveling, and could probably (?) get away with 100w.  

We just use a 120Ah Lifeline battery and let the truck's electronics take care of the charging, with a relay to prevent charging when the truck isn't running.  The drawback to that arrangement is that you have to run heavy cables to the battery to prevent voltage drop.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Overland

[Mirna]

Sherry, thank you for posting on the Jackery Explorer 500.  I will review it tomorrow. Learning is an adventure! 

Thank you,

Mirna

[AndrewCoates]

I ordered this Jackery 1000 in March and so far I'm very happy with my purchase.
1000 watts is more than what I need for my type of camping. It can ran my space heater for over 1 hr. or more if I do it intermittently.

[Airedales]

Lots of Great reviews on the Jackery 1000... I would be interested in updates on its function and how long it takes to charge from TV charging..if you have any experience with that.... Thinking on getting one for Christmas to run my ARB fridge in my truck...Thanks

[NCeagle]

I carry one (or a couple) of Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) battery backup units when I need to have some temporary 120V electricity for smaller devices when traveling / camping.  I have a bunch of them around the house protecting sensitive electronics, so I can usually take one or two of them if I need to.  The one I tend to carry with me most is a 1500VA / 900W APC UPS unit.  Same concept at the Jackery although the Jackery is purpose built with handles, etc.

[Airedales]

- NCeagle .... interesting... much cheaper per/watt... how do you recharge it on the road?... can you use a cigarette outlet adapter?

[MovingVistas]

Something to be cautious about when comparing battery powered inverter solutions such as a Jackery vs. APC UPS is that they have different design goals and their labeling/marketing typically does a poor job in clarifying those goals.

APC provides a runtime graph for the performance of the APC Smart-UPS C 1500VA under varying loads.  At its max load of 900 watts, the graph indicates its runtime at 4.7 in minutes.

Jackery indicates that the Jackery Solar Generator Explorer 1000 will power a 900 watt electric grill for 50 minutes.

I found the APC Smart-UPS C 1500VA on Amazon for $377.54 and the Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer 1000, 1002Wh Solar Generator for $999.99.

So the APC UPS is 37% of the cost of the Jackery but with only 9% of the capacity at a 900 watt load.

Still, considering all that, if what you have meets your needs then you've solved the equation but if you want to cook breakfast on an electric grill with the APC UPS you may need to consider having cereal instead.  🙂

[John E Davies]

The reason the APC UPS has such a low run time is that it has a reliable but primitive SLA Sealed Lead Acid battery, which is dirt cheap and simple to find a replacement for when it dies in a few years. Ideal for sitting around your office for months on end, with an occasional use when the 120 VAC power sags. It needs to be plugged into the wall all the time to stay healthy and charged. I have one attached to my home modem and router.

The Patriot (I don't know about other brands) has a LiFeFPO4 lithium iron phosphate battery, which is a totally different chemistry, and is ideal for transport (no risk of fire like regular lithiums) and long term storage (minimal self discharge). It can be discharged way down repeatedly and not be damaged. It is just like the big lithium house batteries for RVs, like the new Ollie lithium purchase option. Good stuff..

Here is an old discussion about these lithium iron batteries, but it is focussed on an emergency car jump starter box, not a portable inverter power supply. ...  https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2171-need-recommendation-for-a-lithium-battery-jump-starter/?tab=comments#comment-18819

I would never even consider taking along my UPS, it just isn't designed for the task. I do carry a cheap 20,000 milliamp lithium ion battery pack to connect my iPad and iPhone to, it works fine. Just saying....

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited November 16, 2020 by John E Davies

[NCeagle]

Definitely the UPS is not "purpose built" as it doesn't have near the capacity, but it can obviously be used for some smaller mobile AC capabilities.  For example, it's great to use to power a small dog heating pad for the entire night.  I also use it at car shows (I have a Mustang GT that I take to shows with my son) to power a plasma globe that only accepts AC under my hood for hours.  I've used it to charge my electric toothbrush...  I can go on and on.  It has always been one of the most useful items to have along on a long road trip.  I have used a UPS when traveling by car - not travel trailer.  The way I see it I'll be towing an 80K Jackery soon and I won't need the UPS any longer!

@Airedales, I recharge at hotels, etc. while on the road or just bring it back dead and recharge it at home.

While some may not consider taking along a UPS, I never considered spending more money on a Jackery or something like that when all I needed was AC that a small UPS that I already owned could provide.   😏

[John E Davies]

3 hours ago, NCeagle said:

I recharge at hotels, etc. while on the road or just bring it back dead and recharge it at home.

I am glad it is working for you but the manufacturer would consider that to be abuse. How long does the battery last before it will no longer perform well? OTH generic replacements are everywhere, cheap and simple to change. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by John E Davies

[MovingVistas]

7 hours ago, NCeagle said:

While some may not consider taking along a UPS, I never considered spending more money on a Jackery or something like that when all I needed was AC that a small UPS that I already owned could provide.   😏

For sure.  The old saying holds true, "A solution in hand is worth two at Amazon."  🙂

[topgun2]

If anyone is interested - Jackery has all of their in-stock products on sale today and tomorrow at 15% off.

https://www.jackery.com/products/explorer-1000-portable-power-station?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhs79BRD0ARIsAC6XpaVnCcDYR_DPy_Ae92yoa-OrcbX2sXuRhDl0iS5InMHVx-4kkAEZnrUaAsjIEALw_wcB

 

Bill

[Airedales]

🎅..... Merry Christmas... to me 😉... Thanks Bill

[SeaDawg]

Deal!