I despise the "solar generator" marketing BS. It's a battery and a solar panel.

That said, Bluetti/Jackery/Goal Zero/etc are all pretty similar.
Prices have come down a good bit but still prohibitively expensive to run things like air conditioning in the summer.

Bag said:

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so, it is your opinion that all the brands are likely comparable?

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Yes.

You can watch the entire video but here's a link to the results:

Bag said:

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so, it is your opinion that all the brands are likely comparable?

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If you wouldn't mind someone else's opinion -- IMO all brands are definitely *not* comparable. There is what I would call an "upper tier" of manufacturers, and then there is the "Amazon" tier. Upper tier makers are Jackery, Bluetti, Anker, Ecoflow, Goal Zero, Yoshino. Pecron might be in that list too, but I don't know much about them other than the small one I have been using for around five months or so. Seems to be working just fine. AFAICT, these brands are made quite well, and are very reliable.

The other brands so easily found on Amazon are more or less a crap-shoot.

You could always just buy a battery charger, an inverter, and a few 12v batteries from Walmart, but the solar generators mentioned above have many advanced features, and very safe battery chemistries that can withstand a great number of charge cycles over many years.

If you can wait until the next Amazon Prime Days, many of the brands above have some great sales.

hth,
C

Harbor Freight is clearancing their jackeries to make room for their own predator line of portable power stations.

Got a new lease this year that has no electric hook-up, so decided to make a solar set-up to use if I didn't want to use the gen. Harbour Freight had a 100 watt set-up with controller wires and all, so got that, and then 2 deep cycle marine batteries. Got a 750 watt inverter and added it so it would just run the outlets. Put it together at the trailer there, and it seemed to work well. Would run the lights and TV ok, if you didn't run them more than around 3 hours, so you would have some battery left for morning. Didn't realize that a coffee maker used more than 750 watts, so had to go with instant coffee. Had to use the generator when the grands came out tho, constant charging phones. All in all, it worked ok, but really need more solar panel watts to keep things charged, and I understand the lithium battreies are better, but crikeys, they are pricey.

there are so many models and types, it feels like the innovation is coming (too) fast and furious.

I think the big question you need to start with is, obviously, what are you trying to do? Are you car camping? are you trying to power a hunting cabin or are you trying to live off the grid. From there you can begin to tackle the questions around how much wattage, voltage and mWHs you need to do what you want to do.


for me, right now, its car camping in Big Bend's most remote region with the ability to stay connected (for work) so that means

• Starlink
• Phone Charging
• Electric Griddle
• Coffee Maker
• Lights

Honesty, the griddle and coffee maker are easily replaceable with propane options, but I would still like the convenience of electric if I can bring enough power / solar to provide what I need

This fellow has been doing reviews for a few years and explains things very well. His spread sheet for each one is also helpful.

Best Home Solar Generator for 2024 (The Ultimate Guide)