The way I look at solar generation is it supplements the gas generators period. you run your gas generator for an hour ,charge the solar generator and use all the electricity you can plus the electricity extras then go use the solar panels as much as you can . That’s it .
Not a bad way to look at it. I wish the power bank and RV companies would pitch it as a supplement vs. the typical "LOOK! This single 80W panel will 'virtually' power your entire 45' land yacht 'virtually' forever with 'virtually' no sunlight!!!"
i hear a lot of people doing this. hmm ecoflow i think has a battery which is a battery and gas generator but not work the way you said. They should make something that charges with gas.
Listening to this makes me happy that I built my own chonky 4.25kWh portable power pack. Just crazy how much these companies are charging for moderately large packs.
I think the idea of "unlimited power from the sun!" is so compelling, both on these personal generators and even at scale. Everyone wants "free unlimited power" but the reality isn't quite up to the expectations. Unfortunately, on both solar and battery technology, the "next big innovation" that makes everything affordable, fast, and cheap always seems to be 2 years away. that's been the case for at least the last 20 years that I've been following this stuff!
I totally agree with you. My first realization of the process happened when I fell for the hype to buy a solar oven. I can cook my meals in it every day. Where I live the amount of good sun shine is minimal. It is great for rain water catchment, but not so much for solar power. Lesson learned.
Your intro description at opening is spot on. My RV solar to these new solar generators, they market that they run anything forever. Lucky power generation was in my background, i realize the industry big lie. so good eyeopener for your audience.
Thank you for the review, after watching your video my wife and I have considered getting a natural gas generator to power the entire house. Buy once cry once.
Yeah, i thought about the same thing. Partial solution for me was buying a fast charging battery. Camp places i go to have showers and power plugs. I take my fast charging battery that takes 1hr for 1024wh to the facility and charge while i am there.
Thank you for bringing this to surface. Solar Panels are not what most people expect them to be. It is somewhat of a pain in the backside to have to keep on re-positioning them for many hours at a time under ideal sunlight exposure. Then when you experience cloudy days the power output of the panels becomes very disappointing. Most times, if you want reliability, it's best to have the old tried and true loud gas generator.
Utah Jeff ….here ….,I do totally agree with most of your video presentation…. Having used a power bank and solar panels this summer on 2 week vacation to Oregon for the first time. Overall it worked pretty well for me…. It is nice having lights etc. but the weather and surroundings does present some challenges. I have 2 - 100 watt panels and if you get 120-140 wats between 10 am - 2 pm in many cases that is as good as it gets …. that is summertime …If I were to do it again I probably would purchase a 1000 watt power station
Yeah, solar is more of a “top up” than a primary power source. I think a lot of the marketing on these devices is a bit unrealistic in that regard. Even if you had massive/lots of panels you’re only going to have a short window of max power generation unless you out in a wide open space and willing to move them around several times over the course of the day.
Generating shade is an option. There are many videos showing how to achieve this. There also an instruction on how to build a simple platform with a timed mechanism, flow or intermittent, that allows your panels to track the sunlight.
I've seen the platforms (Ecoflow makes a commercial one I believe) but eventually you get to a point where you're spending more time babysitting your solar setup than you are enjoying the outdoors. I have seen manufacturers drop the "Solar Generator" terminology, which I think is a move in the right direction. I don't want people to pay fairly significant money for one of these things with the expectation it magically charges to full every day without accounting for things like shade, sun movement, etc.
They frequently run sales, but I'd tend to agree that at "sticker price" they're a bit high these days. When it was just Goal Zero Jackery pricing looked really good, but the competition has really heated up in this space in the past couple years.
That's the Achilles heel of these power banks if you're going to rely on solar. Per your other post, having a backup gas generator is a good idea, and there's always the option of firing up the generator for a few hours to recharge your power bank and then shutting it down. I'd look at solar as a backup option unless you're headed to AZ or NV. With the F-150, I have what amounts to a built-in generator, so my first order backup is to hook the bank to the truck and charge it up with that capability.
I like the little 2 stroke generators. I take chain saw any ways. My tech addicted teen would get good usw of it. I have power tools and somw companies make inverters for power tool batteries.
These are nice for power tools. I've got another video out there somewhere where I ran my miter saw off some of my different power banks. A solid day of work barely drained 15% of the battery, which makes sense, considering you're probably only running the saw for 30-60 minutes all in if you're working alone or in a small team. It's nice not to have a genny droning along all day and you can also charge your tool batteries although it's not super efficient since you're doing a DC-AC-AC-DC conversion. In that scenario, just make sure you have a big enough inverter peak load on your power bank. The Jackery banks I have (1000 and 1500) both couldn't handle the startup voltage of the saw, but the others (Bluetti, Ecoflow) did fine.
Hello there, I just purchased a Rockpals 300w solar generator. The manual says to completely discharge it before the first charge . That sounds wrong but states that clearly. I don’t want to damage it but I do want to treat it with optimum care. Is this information correct? Thanks in advance
Sounds odd as you’re generally not supposed to completely discharge Lithium batteries, but maybe it helps calibrate the BMS? Presumably the manufacturer that wrote the manual knows what’s best?
@@TheBigHeavy thanks for the reply. I searched their material online about this and there it also stated to completely discharge it. Seems counterintuitive, but I went with that. Your idea of doing that to calibrate it is probably exactly that. They should state that in the manual in order to clarify the reason. Learn something new everyday ha
There doesn’t seem to be any consistency across the brands I’ve looked at beyond “plug them in and charge every few months.” Generally I try to power my banks on every 4 months max, and give them some juice if they’ve gone below 50% battery. Lithium batteries are pretty resilient and there’s nothing to lubricate or adjust, so beyond a regular “check and charge” to make sure you’re ready when you need backup power I haven’t seen anything specific or noteworthy.
Buy a second jackery panel so you get a new purchase order. Then complain that the new one doesn't work and send back the first one. My rule for dealing with companies that act like dicks ---- treat them like the dicks they are.
I don’t know… after years of freeze dried and “meat in packets” having a fridge is money when car camping. I also don’t miss the “Day 3 cooler” where you’ve got that funky water from the melted ice, soaked food, and “ice bergs” of random food floating around in the goop. Might not be worth it for some but works for me.
@@TheBigHeavy Well this is what I do for a cooler, I have like 6 16oz. soda bottles of water frozen at home with 20% of that water squeezed out and collapsed for expansion and a 1/2 inch thick closed cell foam sheet undersized by an inch for the cooler interior. I put it over the ice bottles. All the food is on top of the foam. This works well for about a week. I should make a video about this.
EcoFlow has a gas generator that connects to their power banks, and communicates charge state so when the power bank runs low, it fires up the gas genny. Pretty interesting (albeit expensive) solution.
I believe deeply in the universal law of the universe, which says that there's no such thing as a free lunch. EVs and solar "generators" are fine, as long as you know the limitations and applications but as you said, once you get into dishonest marketing and/or pushing an agenda things start to fall apart.
Nice camping spot for a human? Trying to ignore the down talk on ppl who want to live a different lifestyle while living more simply and then you go into speaking about yourself as a human...kinda weirding me out
Ummmm, I am indeed a human, and I was trying to convey that it’s a great spot if you’re a person, not great if you’re a solar panel that performs best in full sun. Not sure what you’re referring to about different lifestyles.
I’d do just a tiny bit of research before posting a video like this. First off, the Jackery 100 watt solar panels are crap when it comes to shade. There are far superior products that handle shade much better. With their panels being wired in series, opposed to parallel, of course they are going to perform poorly in a shaded campsite. Typical click bait video hoping to get some views, yet you clearly don’t understand basic electrical theory.
You shouldn’t need to “understand basic electrical theory” to figure out products that promise to be integrated and function well together. I’m a consumer that loves the outdoors, not an electrical engineer, and I don’t believe any of these companies market these devices as requiring that level of understanding. If you’re a consumer that believes the marketing that this stuff “just works,” I’m here to help. If you’re an EE that wants details of how panels are wired then I’m not your huckleberry.
The way I look at solar generation is it supplements the gas generators period. you run your gas generator for an hour ,charge the solar generator and use all the electricity you can plus the electricity extras then go use the solar panels as much as you can . That’s it .
Not a bad way to look at it. I wish the power bank and RV companies would pitch it as a supplement vs. the typical "LOOK! This single 80W panel will 'virtually' power your entire 45' land yacht 'virtually' forever with 'virtually' no sunlight!!!"
i hear a lot of people doing this. hmm ecoflow i think has a battery which is a battery and gas generator but not work the way you said. They should make something that charges with gas.
Listening to this makes me happy that I built my own chonky 4.25kWh portable power pack. Just crazy how much these companies are charging for moderately large packs.
DIY is definitely a good solution although not everyone has the skills/time/patience to pull it off.
Thanks for being real. So many focus on unrealistic expectations. Don’t understand why but I have some ideas. Kudos to you!
I think the idea of "unlimited power from the sun!" is so compelling, both on these personal generators and even at scale. Everyone wants "free unlimited power" but the reality isn't quite up to the expectations.
Unfortunately, on both solar and battery technology, the "next big innovation" that makes everything affordable, fast, and cheap always seems to be 2 years away. that's been the case for at least the last 20 years that I've been following this stuff!
I totally agree with you. My first realization of the process happened when I fell for the hype to buy a solar oven. I can cook my meals in it every day. Where I live the amount of good sun shine is minimal. It is great for rain water catchment, but not so much for solar power. Lesson learned.
Solar is great, but it's not the "magic bullet" that too many companies make it out to be.
Your intro description at opening is spot on. My RV solar to these new solar generators, they market that they run anything forever. Lucky power generation was in my background, i realize the industry big lie. so good eyeopener for your audience.
Thank you for the review, after watching your video my wife and I have considered getting a natural gas generator to power the entire house.
Buy once cry once.
Yeah, i thought about the same thing. Partial solution for me was buying a fast charging battery. Camp places i go to have showers and power plugs. I take my fast charging battery that takes 1hr for 1024wh to the facility and charge while i am there.
Thank you for bringing this to surface.
Solar Panels are not what most people expect them to be. It is somewhat of a pain in the backside to have to keep on re-positioning them for many hours at a time under ideal sunlight exposure. Then
when you experience cloudy days the power output of the panels becomes very disappointing. Most times, if you want reliability, it's best to have the old tried and true loud gas generator.
I love the "idea" of solar, but the practice just doesn't quite get there with the current technology.
Utah Jeff ….here ….,I do totally agree with most of your video presentation…. Having used a power bank and solar panels this summer on 2 week vacation to Oregon for the first time. Overall it worked pretty well for me…. It is nice having lights etc. but the weather and surroundings does present some challenges. I have 2 - 100 watt panels and if you get 120-140 wats between 10 am - 2 pm in many cases that is as good as it gets …. that is summertime …If I were to do it again I probably would purchase a 1000 watt power station
Yeah, solar is more of a “top up” than a primary power source. I think a lot of the marketing on these devices is a bit unrealistic in that regard. Even if you had massive/lots of panels you’re only going to have a short window of max power generation unless you out in a wide open space and willing to move them around several times over the course of the day.
Check the BBB on all solar companies. Haven't found a good one yet!
Generating shade is an option. There are many videos showing how to achieve this. There also an instruction on how to build a simple platform with a timed mechanism, flow or intermittent, that allows your panels to track the sunlight.
I've seen the platforms (Ecoflow makes a commercial one I believe) but eventually you get to a point where you're spending more time babysitting your solar setup than you are enjoying the outdoors. I have seen manufacturers drop the "Solar Generator" terminology, which I think is a move in the right direction. I don't want people to pay fairly significant money for one of these things with the expectation it magically charges to full every day without accounting for things like shade, sun movement, etc.
Very refreshing honesty ❤
Thank you 😊
Honestly these power stations from Jackery are really quite expensive when compared to other power stations.
They frequently run sales, but I'd tend to agree that at "sticker price" they're a bit high these days. When it was just Goal Zero Jackery pricing looked really good, but the competition has really heated up in this space in the past couple years.
My last camping/hunting trip it rained for 5 days. We camp central u.p. and temps really bring the bank down. Usually 9 day minimum trips.
That's the Achilles heel of these power banks if you're going to rely on solar. Per your other post, having a backup gas generator is a good idea, and there's always the option of firing up the generator for a few hours to recharge your power bank and then shutting it down.
I'd look at solar as a backup option unless you're headed to AZ or NV. With the F-150, I have what amounts to a built-in generator, so my first order backup is to hook the bank to the truck and charge it up with that capability.
Love your videos!
Thank you! Still figuring out this TH-cam stuff, and am glad to hear someone finds it useful! Be well!
Good info! Thank you
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for stopping by and hope you always find the wind at your back and the sun shining on your solar panels!
Thanks
Thanks for stopping by. Be well!
I like the little 2 stroke generators. I take chain saw any ways. My tech addicted teen would get good usw of it. I have power tools and somw companies make inverters for power tool batteries.
These are nice for power tools. I've got another video out there somewhere where I ran my miter saw off some of my different power banks. A solid day of work barely drained 15% of the battery, which makes sense, considering you're probably only running the saw for 30-60 minutes all in if you're working alone or in a small team. It's nice not to have a genny droning along all day and you can also charge your tool batteries although it's not super efficient since you're doing a DC-AC-AC-DC conversion. In that scenario, just make sure you have a big enough inverter peak load on your power bank. The Jackery banks I have (1000 and 1500) both couldn't handle the startup voltage of the saw, but the others (Bluetti, Ecoflow) did fine.
Hello there, I just purchased a Rockpals 300w solar generator. The manual says to completely discharge it before the first charge . That sounds wrong but states that clearly. I don’t want to damage it but I do want to treat it with optimum care. Is this information correct? Thanks in advance
Sounds odd as you’re generally not supposed to completely discharge Lithium batteries, but maybe it helps calibrate the BMS? Presumably the manufacturer that wrote the manual knows what’s best?
@@TheBigHeavy thanks for the reply. I searched their material online about this and there it also stated to completely discharge it. Seems counterintuitive, but I went with that. Your idea of doing that to calibrate it is probably exactly that. They should state that in the manual in order to clarify the reason. Learn something new everyday ha
Does anyone know what the maintenance on these are? What’s involved?
There doesn’t seem to be any consistency across the brands I’ve looked at beyond “plug them in and charge every few months.” Generally I try to power my banks on every 4 months max, and give them some juice if they’ve gone below 50% battery. Lithium batteries are pretty resilient and there’s nothing to lubricate or adjust, so beyond a regular “check and charge” to make sure you’re ready when you need backup power I haven’t seen anything specific or noteworthy.
Great video!
Thanks!
One thing to point out is that these power stations charge quite slow from the AC outlet aside from being quite expensive.
Yes, charge rate from AC depends on a whole bunch of factors, and even within the Jackey line some units charge faster than others.
Mine charges fast. Not sure what your using
My Jackery Panel drops to zero watts within 15 minutes in the sun, Jackery won’t replace it without my purchase order ??? #BoycottJackery
That's a bummer, sorry to hear!
Buy a second jackery panel so you get a new purchase order. Then complain that the new one doesn't work and send back the first one. My rule for dealing with companies that act like dicks ---- treat them like the dicks they are.
@@Peace2all4vr I like the way you think 😀
Rethink the fridge and forget it.
I don’t know… after years of freeze dried and “meat in packets” having a fridge is money when car camping. I also don’t miss the “Day 3 cooler” where you’ve got that funky water from the melted ice, soaked food, and “ice bergs” of random food floating around in the goop.
Might not be worth it for some but works for me.
@@TheBigHeavy Well this is what I do for a cooler, I have like 6 16oz. soda bottles of water frozen at home with 20% of that water squeezed out and collapsed for expansion and a 1/2 inch thick closed cell foam sheet undersized by an inch for the cooler interior. I put it over the ice bottles. All the food is on top of the foam. This works well for about a week. I should make a video about this.
Good strategy!
Waiting for the gas charged battery. Bam
EcoFlow has a gas generator that connects to their power banks, and communicates charge state so when the power bank runs low, it fires up the gas genny. Pretty interesting (albeit expensive) solution.
Jackery makes THE WORST powerbank.
How so?
It's dumber than electric cars and more dishonest.
I believe deeply in the universal law of the universe, which says that there's no such thing as a free lunch. EVs and solar "generators" are fine, as long as you know the limitations and applications but as you said, once you get into dishonest marketing and/or pushing an agenda things start to fall apart.
Nice camping spot for a human? Trying to ignore the down talk on ppl who want to live a different lifestyle while living more simply and then you go into speaking about yourself as a human...kinda weirding me out
Ummmm, I am indeed a human, and I was trying to convey that it’s a great spot if you’re a person, not great if you’re a solar panel that performs best in full sun.
Not sure what you’re referring to about different lifestyles.
@TheBigHeavy no worries. I enjoyed your video😊
They are not generators, they are storage devices.
For a while the companies were calling them “solar generators,” which I agree is a misnomer. Hence, the truth behind the marketing jargon.
You talk to much much
, you must be an engineer!!
Even worse… consultant!
I’d do just a tiny bit of research before posting a video like this. First off, the Jackery 100 watt solar panels are crap when it comes to shade. There are far superior products that handle shade much better. With their panels being wired in series, opposed to parallel, of course they are going to perform poorly in a shaded campsite. Typical click bait video hoping to get some views, yet you clearly don’t understand basic electrical theory.
You shouldn’t need to “understand basic electrical theory” to figure out products that promise to be integrated and function well together. I’m a consumer that loves the outdoors, not an electrical engineer, and I don’t believe any of these companies market these devices as requiring that level of understanding.
If you’re a consumer that believes the marketing that this stuff “just works,” I’m here to help. If you’re an EE that wants details of how panels are wired then I’m not your huckleberry.
👀👀👀 make a video about the finger
It’s kinda nasty but maybe I’ll do a short on it.