New generator technology product

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.

Heaven permit I get a visit from Publisher's clearing house there is a 10 acre plot a mile or so from where I'm sitting I'll build on.. and when Consumers power comes by to hook it up I'm not going to tell them "Go climb a pole" but rather "Don't climb a pole" Oh I'll buy gas from 'em (or bury a propane tank) but no kilowatts.. This is the kind of thread I am interested in,

I am currently looking at how much power I eat here in the apartment (not all that much it turns out)

All hype. You probably should not have bothered posting this fluff...

There is also nickel iron batteries that have been around 100 years. Very robust, but not really the best for packing into a small RV.

Any solar system is made of solar panels, a charge controller and batteries. After that you can add an inverter or just have DC outlets only and run inverter off a DC outlet. This set-up is not a generator! There is no solar generator on Earth! The sun is actually the generator in this situation, the solar panels just capture the energy the generator gives off and convert it into store-able DC power.

valhalla360 wrote:
It's intentionally misleading people to imply it will work the same as an ICE powered generator.

Yep.

Typically, there is lots of boasting about how much power the "generator" can produce - but absolutely no mention of how long it is capable of producing it - or how long it would take the solar panels to replenish it.

Its not a generator and it's not new technology. Lion batteries have been around for years. So....

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

And the energy stored in the fuel is.. ta da... solar!

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.

Of course, they will claim on technicality that it does generate power but...

In common usage, when you say "generator", people think of an ICE powered generator.

It's intentionally misleading people to imply it will work the same as an ICE powered generator.

A solar/battery/inverter system has it's place but in an RV it's not to deliver high output over long periods of time.

^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.

False advertising...promising power they can't deliver. It only "solar generates" IF you buy their $499 solar kit.

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

X2!

Not just misleading but an intentional redirection using ones emotions and hope for a "better future" to get one to open their wallets for false hope and lies. Sensationalize things above what they actually are to sell an inferior product is the name of the game..

Huckster comes to mind.

Rechargeable batteries do not "generate", they are a means of STORAGE and nothing more. Have to have something to put into them in order to get something out. The downside is all of the energy conversions creates losses of energy along with the silly fact that it takes more space and weight to store the equivalent energy of liquid fuels (energy) in a battery..