So NW Indiana got smacked pretty hard by Ma Nature on Tuesday. Thunderstorms, high winds, torrential rains, that sort of thing.
Fully 2/3 of Merrillville, Gary, Portage, Valparaiso, Michigan City, Schererville, Laporte, and Chesterton are without power even 36 hours later. Many will be without power until Saturday.
Lots of people have those tiny “Solar Power Generators” because they don’t want to mess with real gas or propane or diesel power gensets….they have bought these battery banks with a tiny solar panel and think that it will power the Fridge, microwave and other items for days because Solar Panel.
Their fridge might run on one of these for a day, maybe two if it is a big enough battery (But the ones that have a handle and can be picked up easily won’t power your fridge and freezer for all that long).
And the solar panels are great, as long as you have direct sunlight (which we didn’t for most of the day) to get the full wattage from the solar cells….which aren’t enough to fully charge the internal battery in a single day anyway, even on a bright summer day with full sunlight….,
These things aren’t “Generators”: they are batteries with an inverter.
And people are starting to learn that lesson. It’s a hard lesson, and one that will leave you in the dark with spoiling food if you are depending on it for more than a day or two. The batteries will run dry, as the solar panels can’t keep up long term, even on a long summer sunny day
For the money for one of these (tiny) battery banks “Solar Generators” you can make one by buying several deep cycle batteries and an inverter and have about 4x the capacity of the little handy battery box that you can pick up and carry..
Or you can buy a small inverter generator and have 4x the power for days on 5 gallons of fuel.
The Solar Power Generators are about to be proven a false hope.
You don’t get something for nothing, (despite what the socialists will tell you).
If the power is still off at the end of today, there’s gonna be a lot of unhappy people.
“These things aren’t “Generators”: they are batteries with an inverter”.
Don’t forget the switches and blinking lights, without those it would be just batteries and an inverter!
I have one with 3 panels. It will barely keep up with my frig. These are nice, but unless you are used to living off grid, you’re in for a big letdown.
B: You make some excellent points.
Rob: you are absolutely correct.
I moved into a new-to-me house and the power went out on day one with zero weather happening. Three or four times for an hour at a time over a few weeks. Then the derecho hit…
Since buying a so-called solar generator (a pox on the inventor of the term) and a real generator, the power has gone out twice for about 5 seconds each time.
Here’s the real kicker: if you’re using the magic box to supply 240vac for, oh, say, a water pump, you can only charge it using solar panels, not by using a real generator. I am less than pleased with Jackery making that little nugget of information less than obvious as it isn’t in the operating manual.
I ran the entire house (without the central air) for 19 hours before needed to recharge.
Bottom line: not entirely useless and better than nothing.
As I listen to the thunder rolling its way toward me, it occurred to me that a LOT of people in the clobbered Chicongo-area and the Hoosiers aren’t living where it would be possible to have/use a generator. Think 2nd floor apartment where a genny without an armed guard would vanish in minutes.
B’s original points are still valid, though. A little battery-in-a-box is rather limited and it is disingenuous as hell to market it as a solar generator. On the upside, no noise to attract desperate neighbors and/or predators. I fully expect most of my neighbors to arrive with extension cords in hand, asking to plug in if they hear my generator running. They will be disappointed. “Sorry, it’s barely big enough for my needs”.
once they see lights they will know anyway though…
True. Same answer, “generator t’aint got enough juice for us both”, though that’s not exactly true if everybody is frugal. The Jackery is a just-in-case short-term outage measure as trying to go whole house full time solar just ain’t economically realistic.
A little tangent: two neighbors have their roofs covered with solar panels but they’re grid-tie so grid down means lights out. 20 year pay back for the panels and it’s doubtful either will live that long.
As we get Nor’easters almost every year (one year three) bad enough to knock down the grid I have a “Solar Generators”.
Actually, I have two a one-handed model that runs my wife’s CPAP machine for over 3 nights without recharge AND I have 200 watts solar panel just for it that recharges it in about 8 hours bright direct sunshine.
And a 6KW Ecoflow unit with 1600 watts of solar power set up with it. It HAS 240 volts as well as 110 volt and various cell phone style plugs. I HAVE run my deep well pump, microwave, coffee pot, plenty of lights, two large refrigerators and a chest freezer for 3 solid days with ZERO Solar Recharge.
I also have a nice 7500 watt continuous gasoline generator.
I’ve checked it take almost the same amount of gasoline to run a few lights, some electric heaters and the fridges as it takes if you’re just running it in test if it works mode. Heavy o load, NO Load almost same gasoline eaten.
I can AT the SAME TIME run the house AND Fully Recharge the Ecoflow in about 4 hours. No real change in refueling times.
THEN Run like a diesel submarine for 3 days (more If I get any decent sunshine) before firing up that Gasoline generator again.
I’ve also lent out my tiny solar generator to an elderly couple down the hill. Their propane heat will not work without electricity. My little unit gives them a few days (with ZERO Solar Recharge) of heat and a couple of lights until the power company comes back online. Yes, I’ve had to troop it back home for a recharge one really bas Nor’easter week.
Spend at least as much on a “solar generator” that you’d spend on a gasoline generator, and you’ll be surprised at its ability.
But they aren’t SOLAR if you are recharging them via a genset. Which is my whole point.
And you need sunlight, not clouds, to charge with solar. We haven’t had a day with 4 hours of good sun yet this week.
Your small unit may run a Cpap for days,, but it won’t run a fridge or freezer for all that long unless you get a big one, and LOTS more solar panel.
200 watts of sun for 8 hours is 1600 watt hours, or 1.6 KWH… Which is assuming you have full sun and have it pointed precisely at the sun. Likely you have much less. What is the actual battery capacity? 500 WH? That will run a fridge for 6 hours at a 50% duty cycle (maybe). A Cpap maybe longer, but not a fridge and freezer.
And for the money (and space) you can have three or more times the battery if you use deep cycle batteries and an inverter. Still just a power bank, not a “solar GENERATOR”
Modern inverter gensets burn fuel almost exactly relative to the electrical load. Old alternator style units burn 1/3 just for cooling, the rest is somewhat proportional to the load.
I’m glad you have found a system that works for you, but I think (know) that most folks who think that the little box is gonna save them are finding out that it isn’t what they thought.
i think you’re looking at this in the wrong way. sure, solar energy has a tough time competing with a full gas tank. petroleum is one of the most energy dense substances in common use, solar is intermittent and subject to several limiting factors. grid power, or a generator win hands down in a contest as long as fuel is available, and the grid remains intact. solar comes into it’s own when those conditions no longer exist. as regards the power stations, in some ways they are superior to lead-acid deep cycle batteries and an inverter. since they use li-po batteries, they are about 1/5 the weight of deep cycles. and since li-po batteries can be run down to zero power without significent damage, you get twice the power available from deep cycles, which can only be discharged to 50% without damage. my power stations (ud power 1200s) charge from solar input, 120v grid power, or from automotive 12v systems. they output 120v ac, 12v dc and 5.5v dc with a sufficiency of multi-type sockets. plus a modern mppt solar charge controller that uses the maximun power available from the solar panel. to get that much utility from deep cycles you would likely end up spending more than the cost of the power station, plus have the inconvienience of having to wire all the components in. the biggest problem, for me with the power station is it’s vulnerability to below freezing temperatures. power stations are not meant to fully power a standard american home, but to power essential moderate loads.
Michael: Good for you being so well equipped and double plus good helping the elderly couple.
“Heavy load, NO Load almost same gasoline eaten.”
Inverter gennies are most efficient at 30% of full load. How heavy is your heavy load?
Can you program your setup to keep your state-of-charge between 20% and 80% to maximize battery life?
LiPo batteries are not under flooded or sealed Lead acid batteries.
They can cycle almost 80% of capacity without harm compared to the traditional 20% Best cycle and 50% max almost damaging lead acid batteries.
I grew up building Solar Electric systems with the “hippies” and can work well with lead acid BUT my Ecoflow unit while pretty heavy at about 160 pounds @6 KW hours available power is portable enough with my SUV I could take it elsewhere.
Cannot do that with “Home Made” Lead Acid systems.
One could use LIPO batteries for the inverter system just as easily as Lead Acid batteries. I didn’t specify the type of batteries, Your argument is invalid.
Watt-hour storage vs portability is a great point though.
Glad you are happy with your system. But the folks here who have been running a fridge and a freezer on their tiny “Solar Generator” are out of electrons now and are finding out that they AREN’T Generators.
Which was, if you look back, my original point.
Door to door Solar salesmen gave up on this development. About 50% of the bread winners are engineers, mostly electrical, and not one of them has bought into the solar scam.
Called a prominent Real Estate firm to market our house, they asked all the usual questions. “Oh, one more question; are you selling or buying solar?” When the realtor showed up, I asked why they asked about solar. He replied, “if you’re into solar, we’d ask you to call someone else.”
I have one to run my CPAP, I can go two days on my fridge/freezer if I don’t open it every hour. No genset, because I don’t ‘want’ to be known for having power. I can live without it.
We’ve gone a week so far without seeing the sun. If solar panels were as efficient as the weeds in my yard, grid-down power would be no problem. If I wanted to piss off my neighbor, I’d ask him how his grid-tie system is working.
I’ve got a 3kW Honda inverter generator, and it’s served me well in the 20 years I’ve owned it.
Hank Hill was right, I tell you whut.