Share Your "Real World" Solar Generator Stories

[Sun Tzu]

Don't know if the mods would consider making this a sticky but, we're all talking about watts and amps and this unit and panel over that unit and panel but, how about share some "real world" experiences where you used your "solar generator" for things such as during or after storms/wild fires/extended power outages/extended camping and boondocking trips.

Some info that might be nice for you to include: 1.) brand/model/wattage "solar generator" you used 2.) what appliances/devices you ran off it 3.) how long were you able to run them 4.) What you used to recharge your unit and how long it took to recharge.

Hopefully, this thread will give others a better idea of what to expect during theses types of outages and what "solar generator" and solar array they might consider owing for emergency back up power.

 

[Sun Tzu]

I'd like to be the first to tell "my story" but, I escaped without any power outage thanks to a near miss by Hurricane Isaias. Had my Bluetti EB150 all ready to rock and roll but, didn't need it.....this time. It's still early in the hurricane season on the east coast of the US so.......film at 11!

 

[WSix]

I agree that this would be a great sticky!

 

[raybythelake]

Great idea. Haven't made a purchase yet, but would welcome the kind of real world experiences you proposed sharing.

 

[mattleonard]

My real-world usage is that I provide mobile sound systems - everything from marches, rallies, parades, press conferences, floats, weddings etc. I generally smaller-scale events and I'm not providing full concert-level systems - but it's professional, quality gear. JBL SRX, QSC K.2 series, subwoofers, Sennheiser wireless mics, digital mixers etc.

For power - I have an older Kodiak Inergy (which has been rock-solid for me), I've actually got (2) of their new Flex systems on pre-order. And I've got a home-made rig I built in a rolling toolbox -210ah of LiFeP04 at 24v, 3000w pure sine wave inverter, 40a Epever charge controller. I also have some smaller lead-acid/1000w inverter rigs in a box too. Various solar panels - 200w of rigid monos built into a folding suitcase, and 220w of flexible mono - both can be mounted on top of a tripod speaker stand for field deployment. And some 100w poly's that I built a PVC kick-back frame/stand for. I'll likely be adding another 220w of the flexible monos to let me easily take 440w on a gig and remain portable and light.

For larger events - I do sometimes use multiple power sources on the same event - but to avoid ground issues I isolate everything wirelessly - meaning the Kodiak might power a pair (or more) of satellite speakers that are connected via a wireless transmitter/receiver kit, while my 3kw rig provides main power. This also allows me to do events that have speakers in the middle of a crowd without creating trip hazards.

I do take the Inergy car camping regularly - the form factor is great, and it's pretty solidly built. For phones, laptops, camp lights etc - it's great.

I also took it on a winter RV rental - and didn't use the onboard generator once. Plugging the 30a shore power plug into the Inergy (and 200ah of external lead-acid batteries) worked great for small RV needs - microwave, water pump, heater, lights etc. I had 200w of panels to charge it when parked, otherwise used the 12v cig lighter on the RV to charge it while driving (~120w, which wasn't bad!)

 

[Sun Tzu]

My real-world usage is that I provide mobile sound systems - everything from marches, rallies, parades, press conferences, floats, weddings etc. I generally smaller-scale events and I'm not providing full concert-level systems - but it's professional, quality gear. JBL SRX, QSC K.2 series, subwoofers, Sennheiser wireless mics, digital mixers etc.

For power - I have an older Kodiak Inergy (which has been rock-solid for me), I've actually got (2) of their new Flex systems on pre-order. And I've got a home-made rig I built in a rolling toolbox -210ah of LiFeP04 at 24v, 3000w pure sine wave inverter, 40a Epever charge controller. I also have some smaller lead-acid/1000w inverter rigs in a box too. Various solar panels - 200w of rigid monos built into a folding suitcase, and 220w of flexible mono - both can be mounted on top of a tripod speaker stand for field deployment. And some 100w poly's that I built a PVC kick-back frame/stand for. I'll likely be adding another 220w of the flexible monos to let me easily take 440w on a gig and remain portable and light.

For larger events - I do sometimes use multiple power sources on the same event - but to avoid ground issues I isolate everything wirelessly - meaning the Kodiak might power a pair (or more) of satellite speakers that are connected via a wireless transmitter/receiver kit, while my 3kw rig provides main power. This also allows me to do events that have speakers in the middle of a crowd without creating trip hazards.

I do take the Inergy car camping regularly - the form factor is great, and it's pretty solidly built. For phones, laptops, camp lights etc - it's great.

I also took it on a winter RV rental - and didn't use the onboard generator once. Plugging the 30a shore power plug into the Inergy (and 200ah of external lead-acid batteries) worked great for small RV needs - microwave, water pump, heater, lights etc. I had 200w of panels to charge it when parked, otherwise used the 12v cig lighter on the RV to charge it while driving (~120w, which wasn't bad!)

Thanks, Matt and congrats on being the first one out of the box. Hope your story and others will give us "solar generator" folks a better idea of what to expect in the real world.

 

[amaclach]

I guess if you want to test your solar generator to see what it can really do, switch the power off to your home for 24h to simulate a power outage and see what you can do without and how long it lasts powering the essentials like fridge etc...

Without solar input, most home fridges / freezers are going to kill most solar generators pretty quickly...

For reference, My Snomaster 40L fridge in the car set to 4c consumes about 450Wh per day with the car parked in the Dubai summer sun. If I brought it inside it would use about 50% less I guess.

If you could get 24h out of a mid-size solar generator just running your home fridge, I'd consider that a major success. You might need to increase the temp in the fridge to reduce the amount of power usage.

The more you practice, the more you learn, and when the time comes to do it for real you'll be better prepared, because you will have the right balance of experience and equipment to sustain whatever outage you anticipate as realistic. maybe you need a bigger inverter, maybe more battery, maybe more solar, maybe more of everything...
Personally I have no idea how I'd sustain the fridges & freezers inside the house if we lost power right now - I know I don't have enough capacity as it stands, but if my R600 Pro + solar ever arrives I'll put it to the test

 

[Sun Tzu]

I guess if you want to test your solar generator to see what it can really do, switch the power off to your home for 24h to simulate a power outage and see what you can do without and how long it lasts powering the essentials like fridge etc...

Without solar input, most home fridges / freezers are going to kill most solar generators pretty quickly...

For reference, My Snomaster 40L fridge in the car set to 4c consumes about 450Wh per day with the car parked in the Dubai summer sun. If I brought it inside it would use about 50% less I guess.

If you could get 24h out of a mid-size solar generator just running your home fridge, I'd consider that a major success. You might need to increase the temp in the fridge to reduce the amount of power usage.

The more you practice, the more you learn, and when the time comes to do it for real you'll be better prepared, because you will have the right balance of experience and equipment to sustain whatever outage you anticipate as realistic. maybe you need a bigger inverter, maybe more battery, maybe more solar, maybe more of everything...
Personally I have no idea how I'd sustain the fridges & freezers inside the house if we lost power right now - I know I don't have enough capacity as it stands, but if my R600 Pro + solar ever arrives I'll put it to the test

Also, I recommend folks buy a Kill A Watt meter and plug it onto everything they want to run during an outage, write it down, and stick it on their kitchen fridge. The result will be usage at the inverter and not the battery but, it should get you in the ballpark.

 

[WSix]

Sun Tzu, Thats a good idea. I may do that!

 

[Sun Tzu]

TTT

 

[acesk8er]

My real world use case is hurricane backup but we've been fortunate this year. I tested my Ecoflow Delta with a full-size Whirlpool double door refrigerator and was disappointed that the Delta ran it for only 9 hours. The Kill-A-Watt showed that the Whirlpool consumed only 800 Wh, which is a testament to the refrigerator's efficiency and to the Delta's AC inverter inefficiency. Recharging with a Honda generator takes about an hour, which is just as quick as plugging into a wall socket. The bottom line is that I'll have to run the generator more than I had planned but the Delta is still good to have.

 

[Sun Tzu]

My real world use case is hurricane backup but we've been fortunate this year. I tested my Ecoflow Delta with a full-size Whirlpool double door refrigerator and was disappointed that the Delta ran it for only 9 hours. The Kill-A-Watt showed that the Whirlpool consumed only 800 Wh, which is a testament to the refrigerator's efficiency and to the Delta's AC inverter inefficiency. Recharging with a Honda generator takes about an hour, which is just as quick as plugging into a wall socket. The bottom line is that I'll have to run the generator more than I had planned but the Delta is still good to have.

Thanks for sharing that. I'm in the same boat as you but, with a Bluetti. Nine hours should get you through most if not all of a hurricane unless the things does a stall. That's really good efficiency on the fridge. I thought my Samsung was doing good at 109wh but, you got me beat.

 

[Leo3]

Also, I recommend folks buy a Kill A Watt meter and plug it onto everything they want to run during an outage, write it down, and stick it on their kitchen fridge. The result will be usage at the inverter and not the battery but, it should get you in the ballpark.

Agree. I started doing this. One fan consumes twice as many watts as another which is a huge eye opener. Bosch side by side fridge consumes 80 watts. Those are great things to know.

 

[acesk8er]

I got to use my EcoFlow Delta IRL during tropical storm Eta. It ran my refrigerator and TV like a champ. I had already planned to set up the generator to recharge it but fortunately the power outage was only 3 hours long.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Thanks for sharing, acesk8er. I had my Bluetti EB150 out and ready for Eta but, never lost power. My AC charger came up missing. I didn't pack it away from the last time I had it out and we think it got mixed in with some stuff my wife took to Goodwill. My fault, not hers.

I contacted Bluetti and they want $35.00 for a new one. I asked Bluetti if the AC200 charger will work on the EB150 and they said it will. I'm waiting for an email back with the price and ordering info.

 

[Leo3]

I asked Bluetti if the AC200 charger will work on the EB150 and they said it will. I'm waiting for an email back with the price and ordering info.

They do still have one on the IGG page. It comes w/ an extra cable that you may not need though.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Well, a test but, real world too......

Today, I ran a test to see if my Bluetti EB150 would handle the 5,000 BTU A/C in my little camper. The outside temp was too cool (70 degrees) to get the compressor really kicking on/off like I needed it to but, decided to let it run for a while anyway.

When the A/C ran on low fan only it pulled 58w. When it ran on high fan only it pulled 67w. When I manually turned the dial to kick on the compressor, it surged up to 1200w + then ran about 325w while the compressor was on. Unfortunately, two out of the four attempts I made to kick on the compressor surged too high and the unit popped an E013 code (Inverter overload protection). Given the specs of the unit I suspected that might happen. Thankfully, I could reset the code without issue and decided after two E013's to leave well enough alone and not press my luck.

Possible solution is to buy a "soft starter" and install it in my A/C. We normally camp in the cooler months and where shore power is available so this is not a big deal for me.

If I install a soft start in the A/C I'll run another test and post the results. Thought I'd pass this along for those who may interested.

 

[Bud Martin]

I always wonder how well these units handle motor and compressor loads, I wish the tester will always test with motor/compressor load to find out how well the inverter can handle such loads since surge can be 3 ~ 5 times the running load and the surge may last 500mS or more..
There also article abut hard start kit for compressor: https://www.hvacrschool.com/start-capacitor-inrush-facts-myths-part-4/

 

[Bob]

There is no such thing as a "Solar generator".

 

[Forbisher]

There is no such thing as a "Solar generator".

You better complain to Google you troll.

Solar generator - Google Search