Jackery Explorer 300

[Bob142]

Looks like Jackery is finally releasing the new 300 into the wild (Sept 1?). Supposedly $300 with promo code "JackeryE300".

Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station

The Jackery Explorer 300 is the ideal portable power station for short camping trips, off-grid living, and for powering small appliances when power outages.

www.jackery.com

Sadly the solar charge rate is stuck at the 62W point that the Jackery 240 and 500 are at. Unless you live in a super sunny location it's going to be tough to fully recharge this in a day. They claim it's an MPPT charge controller but on paper it's not any better than the others and has an input voltage range of 12.6V-24V (still no putting panels in series).

Output capabilities look much better than the 240 and 500 though. Two AC outlets, USB-C, Quick Charge 3.0...

If only they could have given it a solar charge max of at least 80W this would be more compelling to me as a 240 replacement.

 

[Lewi]

Looks like Jackery is finally releasing the new 300 into the wild (Sept 1?). Supposedly $300 with promo code "JackeryE300".

Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station

The Jackery Explorer 300 is the ideal portable power station for short camping trips, off-grid living, and for powering small appliances when power outages.

www.jackery.com

Sadly the solar charge rate is stuck at the 62W point that the Jackery 240 and 500 are at. Unless you live in a super sunny location it's going to be tough to fully recharge this in a day. They claim it's an MPPT charge controller but on paper it's not any better than the others and has an input voltage range of 12.6V-24V (still no putting panels in series).

Output capabilities look much better than the 240 and 500 though. Two AC outlets, USB-C, Quick Charge 3.0...

If only they could have given it a solar charge max of at least 80W this would be more compelling to me as a 240 replacement.

Are you sure it is only 62 watts input? That seems like a step backwards since the newer 240's got the 80 watt input upgrade. I went to the website and found this.

Solar input is 90 watts or am I reading this wrong?

 

[Bob142]

Are you sure it is only 62 watts input? That seems like a step backwards since the newer 240's got the 80 watt input upgrade. I went to the website and found this.

Solar input is 90 watts or am I reading this wrong?

90W from their AC charger. Only 62W from solar panel.

From their site:



It's not a step backward for solar charging, it's the same as the 240 and 500. The 80W input upgrade to the 240s could only be achieved through a power supply, not via typical solar panels.

 

[Vizzini]

Are you sure it is only 62 watts input? That seems like a step backwards since the newer 240's got the 80 watt input upgrade. I went to the website and found this.

If you look at the User's Guide, they differentiate between wall charger, car charger and solar:


This gives some insight into their input circuit. And taking into account the I/V characteristics of a solar panel, you'll only get 62W as @Bob142 points out.

 

[Bob142]

It'll be interesting to see what the reviewers have to say once they do some testing. I'm not going to rush out and buy one based on the published 62W.

 

[Lewi]

I wonder what would differentiates the different charging speeds.... The on board MPPT? The power input is going through the same port. My reason for asking is because for example 100 watt solar panel I have noticed an average voltage of around 19-21 volts at 5 amps. That would give you a theoretical of around approx 95-100 watts. Factor in efficiency and amount of sun then that would drop it down to about 80 watts. What would be limiting the watts? Surely I don't think the unit knows the difference between which is solar and which is the adapter....

 

[Lewi]

What is the difference between this unit and the "Honda" licensed version that has 292 watt hours? Same thing but without the red Honda color scheme? Looks like one more watt hour and also the updated USB ports. USB-C PD and quick charge port. Curious cause the USB-C shows "In/Out". Does that mean can plug in the USB-C charger to charge up the unit?

 

[Bob142]

Curious cause the USB-C shows "In/Out". Does that mean can plug in the USB-C charger to charge up the unit?
View attachment 21104

No mention of using that as input in the manual. Not sure what advantage that would have anyway since it's 30W lower than the AC charger.

 

[Vizzini]

I wonder what would differentiates the different charging speeds.... The on board MPPT? The power input is going through the same port.
<snip>
What would be limiting the watts? Surely I don't think the unit knows the difference between which is solar and which is the adapter....

This got me thinking, so I took the range of input voltages and currents from the user's guide and the charge rates from the website, and tried to correlate them. For the wall charger: 24V * 3.75A = 90W which fits with the listed max charge rate. For the car charger: 13.6V * (6.6-0.6)A = 81.6W and 13.6V * (6.6+0.6)A = 97.9W which roughly matches the "car outlet" spec on the website at the low end, but exceeds the max input spec on the upper end. And for solar: 12.6V * 7A = 88.2W which makes sense relative to the max charge rate, and 22V * 3A = 66W which is close to the web site solar panel 62W rate but doesn't make sense with respect to the wall charger spec (why higher current at 24V than 22V?).

Perhaps the charge circuitry is more efficient with a constant DC power source (AC adapter or car outlet) than with the varying output of a solar panel.

It'll be interesting to see what the reviewers have to say once they do some testing.

I agree. Nothing beats actual test data.

 

[Generalpencil]

It'll be interesting to see what the reviewers have to say once they do some testing. I'm not going to rush out and buy one based on the published 62W.

i actually bought a Jackery Explorer 1000 from Amazon on this March, and it is working beyond my expectation. so if reviewers run some tests and it is great then i will buy one.

 

[Lewi]

I think the thing that has always kept me from buying the Jackery has always been the lower (slower) charge rate. Everything from the build quality, regulated outputs, etc has been great.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Jackery needs to up their game on charge rate and cycle life or they're going to get buried by Bluetti/Maxoak.

 

[Vizzini]

I think the thing that has always kept me from buying the Jackery has always been the lower (slower) charge rate.

First test results are in:

Charge rate with a single Jackery SolarSega 100W panel was 87W, and 125W max with a power supply.

 

[Forbisher]

First test results are in

Charge rate with a single Jackery SolarSega 100W panel was 87W, and 125W max with a power supply.

Did you see that 104° is the max recommended temp to use the 300?
That's crazy.

 

[Liam M]

In one of Will's videos where he reviewed the smaller units, others outperformed the jackery in terms of charging rates.
I bought a couple less expensive ones, and they do charge quicker but - the 12v outputs as he mentions are often unregulated, whereas the jackery is.
Mine do not work well powering a 12v/24v dc cooler, as the cooler has low voltage cutoff, thinking it's protecting a car battery.
For things that do not require a regulated output, they're great.
104f operating temp limit? wow.

 

[Bob142]

Charge rate with a single Jackery SolarSega 100W panel was 87W

Well that's more like it. They need to fix that 62W number on their website if that's true. I'd also like to see someone else repeat that 87W performance. If it can really do that, the 300 is definitely the way to go over the 240.

 

[Vizzini]

Did you see that 104°[F] is the max recommended temp to use the 300?
That's crazy.

It's the same max working temperature as all of the other Jackery power stations. And 40°C (104°F) is the max "Working environment temperature" listed the Bluetti AC200, EB150/240 and AC50 user's manuals.

 

[Forbisher]

It's the same max working temperature as all of the other Jackery power stations. And 40°C (104°F) is the max "Working environment temperature" listed the Bluetti AC200, EB150/240 and AC50 user's manuals.

That sucks.
I want a refund.

 

[MrNatural22]

First test results are in:

Charge rate with a single Jackery SolarSega 100W panel was 87W, and 125W max with a power supply.

Sorry I just can’t actually take someone Serious who’s dressed in a white lab coat wearing white gloves and in constant salesman mode. ?

 

[deckeda]

I thought it was a pretty good and thorough review from HT. I get that it has a better charger controller, but I'm less enthusiastic about the 125W max it can make use of ... given that consumer panels come in 100W increments. Even for a small unit like this I think I'd like the flexibility of making use of two 100W panels, but maybe it's not worth worrying about in the end, if this tiny thing can charge back up in 3-5 hrs from dead with just one 100W panel.

If someone makes a very slim but wide LED light, and I'm imagining something that's like 5"x 3" and only 1/2" thick that can be velcro'd to the backside it would make a kick-ass flashlight.