Best All-In-One, plug & play 1500W output system (besides Goal Zero)

[OffGrid-BL]

Hey all, I’m planning to build a full off-grid DIY solar setup, but in the meantime I’d like to buy an easy plug & play all in one system to power everything while the DIY system and tiny home is being built. (And it would also serve as a great backup system)

key point: 1500W output or more is important to power all the power tools and appliances. Also 1,000 Wh or more, and costs not exorbitant. Budget target is between $0.60 and $1.00 per Wh.

I’ve done a lot of searching, watching review videos, etc and out of all the options out there (Goal Zero, Jackery, Bluetti, etc) it seems that Goal Zero is the only one with a 1500W inverter. Goal Zero is too damn expensive (especially after the MPPT and high speed charging add ons), so I’m holding off on them.

Does anyone know of any good all in one, plug & play options out there that are 1000+ Wh, 1500+ W continuous output, reasonably affordable (between $0.60 and $1.00 per Wh), and with a decent solar charge rate? Does such a thing exist or am I better off just going the DIY route?

The bluetti 1500 or 2400 would be perfect if they had 1500W output but sadly they’re limited to 1000W.

Appreciate any feedback.

 

[OffGrid-BL]

Or as a possible alternative... has anyone manually swapped the inverter on one of these all in one systems? Because if that’s possible then I could buy a Bluetti 2400 and swap their 1000W inverter for a 1500W or 2000W inverter.

 

[dgjonesy]

The Titan solar generator (https://www.pointzeroenergy.com/titan-solar-generator/) is able to do 1500 watts but is not cheap ($3000). Will did a video on this unit.

Is 1000Ah for real? That's at least 12 KWh.

 

[OffGrid-BL]

The Titan solar generator (https://www.pointzeroenergy.com/titan-solar-generator/) is able to do 1500 watts but is not cheap ($3000). Will did a video on this unit.

Is 1000Ah for real? That's at least 12 KWh.

Oops, meant to write 1,000+ Wh not Ah. I edited the post to make it more clear.

Looks like the Titan is $1.50 per Wh so that’s around the same cost as Goal Zero (i.e. too much). By comparison, Bluetti is around $0.80 per Wh after Amazon discounts. So to me it only makes sense to get something that’s below $1.00 per Wh.

If only Bluetti made their 2400Wh with a better inverter...

 

[New Member1]

Off topic a bit on this: I got a Amazon email today (Based on your recent activity, we thought you might be interested in this.) a "Go Power! Solar-AE 960 Watts All Electric Solar Charging Kit". I went to the seller's page and it cost over $4,000. If I bought each component separately on my own it would add to less than $1,000 (no batteries). Buyer beware in this case.

 

[OffGrid-BL]

Off topic a bit on this: I got a Amazon email today (Based on your recent activity, we thought you might be interested in this.) a "Go Power! Solar-AE 960 Watts All Electric Solar Charging Kit". I went to the seller's page and it cost over $4,000. If I bought each component separately on my own it would add to less than $1,000 (no batteries). Buyer beware in this case.

Wow that’s a ridiculously high price. That’s why I typically do a quick “price per Wh” check on all these systems so you can get apples to apples comparison (at least on the Wh storage side of things)

 

[Bob142]

I know you state (besides Goal Zero) in your subject, but perhaps monitor their open box page for a deal that suits you (you have to catch it just right when items are in stock). Or watch the gz-warehouse eBay store for deals. Right now they've got this deal on a Yeti Lithium 1400. That's how I got a cheap GZ Yeti 1250.

 

[OffGrid-BL]

I know you state (besides Goal Zero) in your subject, but perhaps monitor their open box page for a deal that suits you (you have to catch it just right when items are in stock). Or watch the gz-warehouse eBay store for deals. Right now they've got this deal on a Yeti Lithium 1400. That's how I got a cheap GZ Yeti 1250.

Good tip @Bob142, we’re on the same wavelength because I actually just signed up for GZ open box notifications. I’ll check out that eBay page too, the GZ 1400 is the one I have my eye on if the price were more reasonable. Thanks.

 

[tictag]

Don't know much about all-in-ones, save for the fact that Will seems to be happy with the various MPP Solar models. He recommends a few models on his website. No idea on pricing, sorry.

 

[OffGrid-BL]

Don't know much about all-in-ones, save for the fact that Will seems to be happy with the various MPP Solar models. He recommends a few models on his website. No idea on pricing, sorry.

I like MPP solar too, and plan to get the LV2424 for my full DIY system. But for this plug & play situation I was referring to all-in-ones that include batteries like Goal Zero Yeti or Bluetti 1400.

 

[tictag]

Ahhh, you mean 'Solar Generators'. Sorry, my misunderstanding.

 

[Craig]

Is 1500 watts enough to run your power tools? I found that I needed at least 2500 watts to run chop saws, table saws, and vacuums. And that was barely enough ended up with a 3500 watt unit that worked best. I dont want to discourage you but learned the hard way myself

 

[OffGrid-BL]

Ahhh, you mean 'Solar Generators'. Sorry, my misunderstanding.

No worries, the whole “solar generator” marketing term is confusing anyways because they don’t actually generate anything. Manufacturers just used that term in the early days because customers were familiar with gas powered generators. But now it looks like they’re starting to rebrand them as “power stations” which makes more sense.

 

[Supervstech]

“Solar generator” arguments aside, I think if you need above 1000w output, you are far and away better off building one.
But if you think 3000 is a lot, and you need a useful tool able to power a load beyond an hour...
your cheapest decent easy kit would be a pair of battleborn 24v batteries, and an mpp solar 5048 and bolt it all to a hand truck.
Then you would have 5000W output, split phase, with 50Ah 48v or, 2600Wh of battery.
Cheaper alternatives are out there for batteries, but quality suffers...
So, for about 3K, you have a simple portable homemade, but fairly plug and play “solar generator”, that can take two solar arrays, charge your batteries off of, also, can use grid power, and has decent warranty...

 

[OffGrid-BL]

Is 1500 watts enough to run your power tools? I found that I needed at least 2500 watts to run chop saws, table saws, and vacuums. And that was barely enough ended up with a 3500 watt unit that worked best. I dont want to discourage you but learned the hard way myself

I haven’t done hands on testing yet but most info I found said 1500W continuous with surge up to 3000W should cover the majority of power tools. Most of them are 1500W or less with a few 1800W quick usage (e.g one cut from a table saw) that should be covered by the surge. So I figured that as long as I’m only running one at a time, the 1500W/3000W power station would be able to handle it. But it sounds like you’ve actually tried this out and found 2500W to 3500W continuous is needed, so that’s actually really useful to know. Were you running more than 1 power tool at a time?

All things considered, looks like I’ll be best off creating a DIY system to power everything. Doesn’t appear to be a plug & play power station that will cover all my needs yet. Maybe in a year or 2, but in the meantime it’s DIY, with a GZ 1400 as a backup (on sale / open box)

 

[Supervstech]

No worries, the whole “solar generator” marketing term is confusing anyways because they don’t actually generate anything. Manufacturers just used that term in the early days because customers were familiar with gas powered generators. But now it looks like they’re starting to rebrand them as “power stations” which makes more sense.

I never understand things that irritate people...
Up in arms about “solar generator” but gasoline or propane generators are fine to be called that...

 

[Supervstech]

I haven’t done hands on testing yet but most info I found said 1500W continuous with surge up to 3000W should cover the majority of power tools. Most of them are 1500W or less with a few 1800W quick usage (e.g one cut from a table saw) that should be covered by the surge. So I figured that as long as I’m only running one at a time, the 1500W/3000W power station would be able to handle it. But it sounds like you’ve actually tried this out and found 2500W to 3500W continuous is needed, so that’s actually really useful to know. Were you running more than 1 power tool at a time?

All things considered, looks like I’ll be best off creating a DIY system to power everything. Doesn’t appear to be a plug & play power station that will cover all my needs yet. Maybe in a year or 2, but in the meantime it’s DIY, with a GZ 1400 as a backup (on sale / open box)

The problem with 120V motorized power tools is the startup current... it’s huge. The normal sub 3000W budget inverters simply cannot handle the surge.
The older 14” long 8x8” monsters handle it fine, with their ferrite transformers... mosfets, just can’t take the huge long duration draw.

 

[OffGrid-BL]

I never understand things that irritate people...
Up in arms about “solar generator” but gasoline or propane generators are fine to be called that...

I hear you, I think their main gripe is that gas generators actually generate electricity but don’t store any electricity, while power stations don’t generate any electricity but they do store it. So if a newbie were to buy a GZ “solar generator” and expect it to generate energy on it’s own, they’ll be in for a surprise when they have to buy hundreds of dollars of solar panels to generate any electricity.

Also, you can recharge the power station using the grid, or from driving a vehicle, or wind power, or geothermal, etc. So calling it a “solar generator” would ignore all that and make it confusing for people that are new to this world (the plug & plan target market).

Power station makes more sense, but in the end it’s just a name.

 

[Supervstech]

Yeah, I guess someone buying a solar generator, but not getting any solar panels would be kinda confused.

then again, the gasoline or propane generators don’t come with gasoline or propane tanks....

 

[OffGrid-BL]

“Solar generator” arguments aside, I think if you need above 1000w output, you are far and away better off building one.
But if you think 3000 is a lot, and you need a useful tool able to power a load beyond an hour...
your cheapest decent easy kit would be a pair of battleborn 24v batteries, and an mpp solar 5048 and bolt it all to a hand truck.
Then you would have 5000W output, split phase, with 50Ah 48v or, 2600Wh of battery.
Cheaper alternatives are out there for batteries, but quality suffers...
So, for about 3K, you have a simple portable homemade, but fairly plug and play “solar generator”, that can take two solar arrays, charge your batteries off of, also, can use grid power, and has decent warranty...

Good tips and my build was pretty similar to what you’re suggesting. I was leaning towards getting a MPP LV 2424 hybrid which has 2400W continuous output. With a step down to 120V, and probably some cheap lead acid batteries to store it. In the long run I’d like to use Lithium but prices are dropping so quickly (especially with Tesla getting in the battery game) so a cheap lead acid system that lasts 3-5 years will get me through to a point when Lithium batteries are 5x - 10x cheaper.

Do you think the MPP LV 2424 with 2400W continuous output would be able to handle the majority of power tools?