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  1. #1
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    Solar Powered Generator. Reviews/Comments?

    I've looked, but have not found any threads dealing with solar powered generators vs gas or propane powered. I just watched a couple of YouTube videos and have been reading about them. Does anyone have real world experience with these? Comments/opinions/suggestions etc.

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    Quote Originally Posted by GuidoTheGuide View Post
    I've looked, but have not found any threads dealing with solar powered generators vs gas or propane powered. I just watched a couple of YouTube videos and have been reading about them. Does anyone have real world experience with these? Comments/opinions/suggestions etc.
    Solar power generators are just a SLA or LiFePO4 battery in a handy case. It will not run an RV like a generator.

    Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
    Mark & Mary. Full-timing across the USA (and Canada)!
    Current Coach: 2021 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
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  3. #3
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuidoTheGuide View Post
    I've looked, but have not found any threads dealing with solar powered generators vs gas or propane powered. I just watched a couple of YouTube videos and have been reading about them. Does anyone have real world experience with these? Comments/opinions/suggestions etc.
    Pretty timely question. I got curious about solar "generators" last night and did some research; specifically on Jackery generators. I went into sticker shock when I saw what a 1500 watt set up costs including solar panels.

    Since I already own 2 Honda 2000i's I decided there is no place for a solar "generator" in my situation. And since the cost of 2 Honda 2200i's is much less than the Jackery 1500 watt set up I decided if I had to do things all over again I would be right back to the gas generators. You know - something that doesn't require the sun, solar panels, etc. and runs for as long as one wants (or has fuel to run it) while providing amply power.

    My final conclusion is that for someone, someplace, those solar generators probably will work well. But not now, not for me.
    Larry KE4DMG
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuidoTheGuide View Post
    Yeah, the cost is pretty prohibitive. Did you look at the Ecoflow brand? Cost is still up there; however, the video did seem to address a lot of questions and it sounded interesting. Of course it could all be hype but I thought it had possibilities. According to the info, it can even charge itself while running or by car battery, EV charge station and of course, solar. Pretty ambitious claims.
    Claims of any battery being able to charge itself is bunk. I don't care what gizmos you put on it. Otherwise, we would have EVs that charged themselves while being driven. I know that Tesla uses feedback from the motors at the wheels to provide a charge back to the battery, but only if you are coasting. Bunk, I say! Bunk!

    Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
    Mark & Mary. Full-timing across the USA (and Canada)!
    Current Coach: 2021 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
    Current Rig: 2019 Ford F350 SD Crew Cab, w/8' box, Lariat, SRW, 6.7l Diesel

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by MoonShadow_1911 View Post
    Solar power generators are just a SLA or LiFePO4 battery in a handy case.
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    With a built-in inverter.
    Howard and Peggy
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoopy Frood View Post
    With a built-in inverter.
    Alright, alright. Ya got me in that one!

    Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
    Mark & Mary. Full-timing across the USA (and Canada)!
    Current Coach: 2021 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
    Current Rig: 2019 Ford F350 SD Crew Cab, w/8' box, Lariat, SRW, 6.7l Diesel

  7. #7
    Long Hauler
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    Quote Originally Posted by MoonShadow_1911 View Post
    Alright, alright. Ya got me in that one!

    Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
    Nope, that wasn't a slam, just an expansion of the explanation of what a "solar powered generator" actually is: a battery with an inverter.
    Howard and Peggy
    2019 Momentum 351M, and 2018 RAM Cummins dually 6-speed.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoopy Frood View Post
    Nope, that wasn't a slam, just an expansion of the explanation of what a "solar powered generator" actually is: a battery with an inverter.
    I didn't take it as a slam. I missed it, you corrected it, and you get the win, unless I can program your ship to dial in to the Speaking clock... [emoji16][emoji355] (Too bad it's not a digital watch!)

    Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
    Mark & Mary. Full-timing across the USA (and Canada)!
    Current Coach: 2021 Grand Design Reflection 320MKS
    Current Rig: 2019 Ford F350 SD Crew Cab, w/8' box, Lariat, SRW, 6.7l Diesel

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by MoonShadow_1911 View Post
    Claims of any battery being able to charge itself is bunk. I don't care what gizmos you put on it. Otherwise, we would have EVs that charged themselves while being driven. I know that Tesla uses feedback from the motors at the wheels to provide a charge back to the battery, but only if you are coasting. Bunk, I say! Bunk!

    Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
    Well, I went back to the video to see what was what and I was greatly mistaken. I missed the part about the 2nd battery generator that can be used to charge it while it's running; my foul up.

  10. #10
    Site Sponsor JohnnyT's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuidoTheGuide View Post
    I've looked, but have not found any threads dealing with solar powered generators vs gas or propane powered. I just watched a couple of YouTube videos and have been reading about them. Does anyone have real world experience with these? Comments/opinions/suggestions etc.
    THe tech for solar is getting much better every year... but we're not quite at a point where it is practical or affordable. I always look at the issue as two seperate things: solar electricity generation and battery storage of that energy. THere is a 3rd part, which is using the energy, but that part is kind of fixed -- you need to use energy.

    Solar is a trickle charging system for most... it slowly charges a battery. My new 2600RB comes with a 165w panel on it. It will take about 12 hours of good sunlight for that panel to completely charge a 12V 100ah battery. Add more panels, and it charges more quickly.

    Add more batteries (either more batteries or batteries with better storage) to increase how much energy you can store. For example, if you add another 100ah (kind of a standard 12v battery size), it would take 24 hours to fully charge them both. But you'd have 200ah of energy to use.

    Ultimately, you need to know: how long is the battery going to run my electrical stuff? THe furrion fridge in my RV is estimated to use just over 1kwh per day. A 100ah standard 12 v battery has about 1.2kwh of energy in it. THat will run the fridge for a little over 24 hours.

    COmbining all of this: a 165w panel will fully charge my battery in 12 hours of good sunshine. And my battery will run my fridge for 1+ days. But, these two things are happening at the same time: battery charging and fridge draining battery during the day. So long term dependence on the battery gets iffy with the sun and evening.

    And, to make it all worse, you shouldn't drain more than 50% of the battery (again standard type batteries) -- so that limits the whole system. It all boils down to a lot of simple math to convert numbers into something useful... and then making a guess at weather and usage patterns. ANd, if you need an inverter (to run normal 120v household devices), there is another layer of complexity.

    Hope this is helpful!
    JohnnyT
    2022 Imagine 2600RB
    2018 Land Rover Discovery (people are amazed it can tow -- it does a great job!)
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    I've been all over, but
    will limit my map to where I've RV'd

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