Portable Solar Generators

pnichols wrote:
Here's why I bought it: 1) To the power a CPAP machine way in the back corner bed when drycamping, since there are no 12V DC receptacles back there

When I bought my Airstream, there were no 12v outlets. Anywhere. I added two 12v outlets myself. I put one by the bed for my CPAP machine, and I put one under the dinette for anything else that I needed to power off of 12v (primarily a 12v laptop charger while boondocking).

Bobbo wrote:

When I bought my Airstream, there were no 12v outlets. Anywhere. SNIP

When we were shopping for our current 5th wheel, that was one of the things I looked for. It wasn't just Air Stream that didn't have them, almost no manufacturer had any 12 volt outlets. A few had one. We decided on our current 5er, which had 12 volts available at both the living area and bedroom tvs and each side of the bed.

The only other manufacturer we looked at that had that many were Ice Castles, and if you haven't heard of them it doesn't get cold enough for them where you live. They are made for ice fishing and sleeping on the lake.

pnichols wrote:

Skibane wrote:
The average RVer already has a sizeable battery bank in his RV, along with several different ways of recharging it.

Why would he/she not want to use it?

I recently bought a nicely portable Bluetti EB55 (537 Wh) 16 lb., LiFeO4 battery technology "solar generator" at Black Friday pricing ($100 off) for use when we are dry camping in our 24 ft. Class C. It's LiFeO4 built-in batteries supposedly are good for 2500 or more recharge cycles (this cycle life is way beyond the older technology plain old Lithium-ion technology batteries that are in other solar generators, cell phones, etc.).

I DID NOT buy any solar panels to go with this Bluetti unit, so I have to charge it (our RV has no solar panels) using one of four other ways when drycamping - charge it via 12V DC outlets in the coach fed directly by the coach's two 115 AH AGM batteries, or charge it via 12V DC outlets in the coach fed indirectly by the RV's built-in fairly quiet Onan generator, or charge it via 120V AC outlets in the coach fed directly by hookups or the Onan generator. (I also carry along in our RV an ultra-quiet Honda 650 watt portable generator - that adds to the Bluett's recharging mix when drycamping.)

Here's why I bought it: 1) To the power a CPAP machine way in the back corner bed when drycamping, since there are no 12V DC receptacles back there and my RV does not have an inverter to power it's 120V AC outlets (these are back by the rear bed) when dry camping without a generator being used (the CPAP machine can be powered via 12V DC or 120V AC) and, 2) we can use the Bluetti to conveniently power electric 12V DC or 120V AC throw-blankets over us when outside sitting around our propane firepit on chilly evenings!

Wow! All I can say is that’s alotta dinero for what you’re accomplishing with it….
I guess it’s value is measured in ways other than economic ROI.

Well ... I paid ~$400 for the Bluetti on a Black Friday sale:

1) Instead, I would have to have installed/wired a 12V DC recepable back by the rear bed, which would have been a real pain (I have higher payback things to do with my time).

2) In addition to 1) above, I would have needed to buy a 12V DC to 20V DC upconversion adapter (medical grade - for failure-proofness at ~$130) to power the CPAP machine.

3) Sometimes our family group campouts have their outside evening camp fires too far away from our rig to run the long extension cords from our rig necessary for powering heated throw-blankets for us.

4) The DW and myself didn't know what other Christmas gift(s) to buy for ourselves, anyway. :B

P.S. #1: So far during my in-home testing of the 537 Wh Blueitti it has powered a CPAP machine for 4 nights - while consuming only around 35% of it's LiFeO4's stored energy.

P.S. #2: It's ultra-safe LiFeO4 lithium battery electrochemistry is way safer than me trying to make my own more dangerous-to-use-in-confined-spaces Lithium-ion, or LA, or AGM portable concoction.

First, I hate the term "solar generator". It's a fancy battery with with a battery management system, a battery monitor, an inverter and a solar charge controller. Solar panels are almost always an extra cost option.

Second, while neatly and conveniently packaged and easy to use, they WAY OVER PRICED !

theoldwizard1 wrote:
First, I hate the term "solar generator". It's a fancy battery with with a battery management system, a battery monitor, an inverter and a solar charge controller. Solar panels are almost always an extra cost option.

Second, while neatly and conveniently packaged and easy to use, they WAY OVER PRICED !

Hmmm .... well engineered and well built self-contained ready-to-go stuff is always more expensive than DIY stuff.

I guess that's why the DW and myself:

1) Bought raw land
2) built most of our house ourselves
3) did the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC ourselves,
4) ran the outdoor pipes and power from the house to the well,
5) and built the interior of our first van camper.

.... to save money.

I like to keep the above kind of projects to a minimum these days. :B

Costco has the Goal Zero Yeti 3000 watt $500 off just a few days. At 3000 watts, how many 12 volt 100 amp RV batteries would that be equal to? 3000/1200= 2.5 batteries??? Curious minds want to know.

stevekk wrote:
Costco has the Goal Zero Yeti 3000 watt $500 off just a few days. At 3000 watts, how many 12 volt 100 amp RV batteries would that be equal to? 3000/1200= 2.5 batteries??? Curious minds want to know.

I'd recommend against this model, as it's battery type is Li-ion NMC.

Everything I read about lithium batteries points towards the superior lithium battery type designated as LiFeO4.

LiFeO4 lithium batteries tolerate a much larger number of recharge cycles before their end of life, and they are more stable when it comes to high temperatures occuring from any internal shorts or the real dangerous situation called thermal runaway.

As far as I can tell, the only disadvantage of LiFeO4 type lithium batteries is they are a bit heavier than the Li-ion NMC type for any given capacity size.

pnichols wrote:
Well ... I paid ~$400 for the Bluetti on a Black Friday sale:

1) Instead, I would have to have installed/wired a 12V DC recepable back by the rear bed, which would have been a real pain (I have higher payback things to do with my time).

2) In addition to 1) above, I would have needed to buy a 12V DC to 20V DC upconversion adapter (medical grade - for failure-proofness at ~$130) to power the CPAP machine.

3) Sometimes our family group campouts have their outside evening camp fires too far away from our rig to run the long extension cords from our rig necessary for powering heated throw-blankets for us.

4) The DW and myself didn't know what other Christmas gift(s) to buy for ourselves, anyway. :B

P.S. #1: So far during my in-home testing of the 537 Wh Blueitti it has powered a CPAP machine for 4 nights - while consuming only around 35% of it's LiFeO4's stored energy.

P.S. #2: It's ultra-safe LiFeO4 lithium battery electrochemistry is way safer than me trying to make my own more dangerous-to-use-in-confined-spaces Lithium-ion, or LA, or AGM portable concoction.

What you're saying is, sometimes it easer to just to buy what works. I agree. I did a similar thing but bought an EcoFLo 2KW unit and when I saw a good sale but a second 2KW add on battery. I can use them in our B or as backup for short power outages for our house so I don't have to get the Honda out. Sometimes spending the money and having a well engineered and packaged product is better than saying I could build it cheaper by piecing it together.

These types of devices definitely have a place.
We rec'd a 200 watt Yeti as a xmas present several years ago. If dry camping, it's very handy as a power supply for our TV and other small loads. If we drive around during the day, I can recharge it via the on-board inverter in my truck. I don't need AC for anything else other than coffee, and I use the gen for a few minutes for that. Using these devices extends our coach batteries and allows us to go a weekend without recharging.
So we find it to be a valuable addition to our energy reserves.
Take note that if you have an battery powered lawn mower like a Ryobi, Greenworks, EGo, etc, you can get reasonably priced PSW inverters for those batteries as well. The one for my Ryobi (Which I have 2/5A batteries for) kept our internet going during a recent 3 day power outage and can run a television for hours. Yes, I know these devices aren't exactly the same thing as a solar gen but it's close enough for us.