New generator technology product

I think they have there place in RV's,especially older ones with limited battery capacity.A small light weight power station that can be used as a wireless charger/portable light and bed side power for cpap or whatever,it's handy,plus being able to just move it to the coffee pot wherever it is for electricity is a huge plus for my truck camper..And just plugging it in like a generator to power the whole camper....

Not for everyone but very nice for some..I have run my AC and microwave off of a larger one without having to mess with my gen sets...They have there place IMHO..

Jayco

I especially don't see the use case for an RV. Much better value and capability to upgrade the existing system.

FWC wrote:
If we want to get all pedantic - these battery packs are really doing the same thing as a petrol generator, which should really be called a genset anyway. They are both converting chemical potential energy to electrical energy. The difference is in how you replenish the chemical potential energy, in a genset you pour in more chemical, in a battery pack you put it back as electricity.

Now I agree it is all marketing bunk, but what isn't these days? These things can replace some petrol-powered generators in some situations, but not all petrol generators in all situations.

The difference being is how can you replenish the electricity back into the battery when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow without using a liquid fueled ICE genset or your vehicle?

At least with a liquid fuel, you can indeed "recharge" your ICE gen in the middle of the night..

Not going to do that with a pack of solar panels now are we? :S

I like reading 3 Tons posts. He forces me to use a dictionary :)

Skibane wrote:
^Depends on your definition of "generate".

You could also argue that gas engine generators don't "generate" electricity either, but simply convert energy stored in the fuel into electricity.

Kinda like “what is the definition of IS” eh, except that in ‘common parlance’ most folks know better…

3 tons

If we want to get all pedantic - these battery packs are really doing the same thing as a petrol generator, which should really be called a genset anyway. They are both converting chemical potential energy to electrical energy. The difference is in how you replenish the chemical potential energy, in a genset you pour in more chemical, in a battery pack you put it back as electricity.

Now I agree it is all marketing bunk, but what isn't these days? These things can replace some petrol-powered generators in some situations, but not all petrol generators in all situations.

time2roll wrote:
These things store electricity and invert the battery power to alternating current.

Yeah, "Solar Generator" just has more of a ring to it than "Stores electricity and Inverts battery power!"

road-runner wrote:
I wish they wouldn't call them generators. Very misleading, IMO.

100% agree. Does not generate electricity.
These things store electricity and invert the battery power to alternating current.

More "Battery-Inverter" than a "Generator" to me.

JaxDad wrote:

road-runner wrote:
I wish they wouldn't call them generators. Very misleading, IMO.

There is a huckster here in the Toronto area marketing a device he euphemistically calls the “Car Generator”. In reality it is nothing more than an inverter in a waterproof case with cables to clamp on the battery of a car like booster cables. You then run an extension cord to what you need powered. The ironic part of the deal is that Toronto has, like many places do, an anti-idling law. Merely using it therefore is illegal since it requires leave the vehicle running.

The really sketchy part of his pitch is his claim, beyond that you have “Backup power for days without the generator hassle.” is his rather incredulous claim that “Running a compact sedan at idle uses less gasoline than running a generator. Honda 1000watt generator .19 gal/hr, compact sedan 2 litre engine .16 gal/hr.”.

I’m not sure what you do for power after someone drives away with your car you left idling in your driveway for 3 days, but who am I to question a P. T. Barnum-ite…….

For your reading pleasure …….. or good OL’ belly laugh …… click here.

I think I saw these guys on shark tank. Not sure. EV owners do this albeit at reduced capacity as the 12 volt batteries on EV’s are smaller capacity and don’t play nice with big inverters. Still. Furnace motors or fridges or entertainment centres are not a problem. We kind of do this but use a 2 KWH AGM battery bank as a buffer and then just trickle charge that battery bank from the EV. Works good. We have tested it in real world conditions. Probably good for four or 5 days although hopefully we’ll never find out. :). Nice thing about an EV is you can run it in the garage so no risk of theft. Albeit without a pin code or card key it would be hard to steel the car anyway.

lol, is running the motor for power generation still considered idling, or is it now a generator and thus not at idle?
If it uses less gas and if it is a leased vehicle then why not? I would not do that to my own vehicle though.

Best way to use the vehicle alternator is to charge a bigger bank of batteries and run inverter off that as the inverter probably is not needed constantly, only in shorter burst such as fridge run-time, or a few mins of lights here n there... Then you can run the vehicle motor just enough to keep batts charged, not run it all the time.
Kinda dumb after you think about it a little though.

You can set your vehicle up to idle without a key, and shut off if someone tries to put it in gear without a key. This is not sci-fi stuff, very common nowdays