Posted: 2/28/2025 11:28:36 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Advtrbound][Edited]
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We have been shoring up some gaps in our power needs. We have a 5000w and a 2000w smaller more portable gas powered inverter generators and I recently started in on solar. Looking at solar generators, is there any maintenance so to speak? Should they "topped off" at regulat intervals? Some batteries when not used tend to go stagnant or perform less. I just want to make sure they work when needed and protect my investments. |
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Originally Posted By Advtrbound: We have been shoring up some gaps in our power needs. We have a 5000w and a 2000w smaller more portable gas powered inverter generators and I recently started in on solar. Looking at solar generators, is there any maintenance so to speak? Should they "topped off" at regulat intervals? Some batteries when not used tend to go stagnant or perform less. I just want to make sure they work when needed and protect my investments. Not really an expert but I've had a Bluetti AC200P since 2021, and more recently come other ones. Everything you look at should be LiFePO4, the rules have changed compared to the other battery chemistry from the old days. For your use of emergency storage, there is not really much to do, it takes care of itself pretty well. Several times I have let the AC200P sit for a year (indoor or garage-like temperatures), and come back to it still showing 100%. Perhaps it was not "really" 100%, but putting a load on it did not seem to be any different performance than freshly charged. A program of charging each 3-6 months would give you confidence. Since with LiFePO4 we don't really care about cycles, you could also run down the battery each time to make sure the unit is functional through its entire range. For me the battery is not is not really about that initial charge, but the ability to keep things going in the medium term with solar and other sources. E.g., I don't care about electric power for my freezers until the 2nd or 3rd day. Compared to needing to power an oxygen system or other immediate need. If I go into a blackout at 70% then it's not a failure. Running some test cycles with using the solar panels will give you practice hooking up and seeing what you can really get out of them. This video is aimed more at home systems with larger batteries, but it's the basics:  The Rules of LiFePO4: The 3 Most Common Causes of Failure and General Guidelines for Long Term Use |
"And I never did get my lawnmower back!" - Bandit 6
"On the bright side, the money we saved by not going to Mars in the 1970s, we spent on welfare and public schools." - @MorlockP
"On the bright side, the money we saved by not going to Mars in the 1970s, we spent on welfare and public schools." - @MorlockP
| I have two different size Bluetti backups. Check them out, they had some good sales for Memorial Day. They are great for multiple uses and augment the generators when you either don't want to run one or they're not needed. Other than charging occasionally, there is no maintenance. |
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We lost power here in TN during the ice event over the weekend. The wood-burning stove kept everything nice and warm; we heated water with it, too. We meal-prep, so the fridge had a bunch of pre-cooked food that needed to be reheated. The side burner on the gas grill took care of that, although it was rather uncomfortable. The only "gap" I saw was keeping the fridge cold. We got lucky that the power came back on before we needed to start carrying stuff outside. I found a Jackery Home Power 3000 with two solar panels for 1600.00 on Amazon. According to the specs ,the fridge draws 600 watts when the motor kicks on. Is Jackery a decent brand, or should I keep looking? I'd like to keep the fridge running and charge the phones mostly. |
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Originally Posted By dunndw: We lost power here in TN during the ice event over the weekend. The wood-burning stove kept everything nice and warm; we heated water with it, too. We meal-prep, so the fridge had a bunch of pre-cooked food that needed to be reheated. The side burner on the gas grill took care of that, although it was rather uncomfortable. The only "gap" I saw was keeping the fridge cold. We got lucky that the power came back on before we needed to start carrying stuff outside. I found a Jackery Home Power 3000 with two solar panels for 1600.00 on Amazon. According to the specs ,the fridge draws 600 watts when the motor kicks on. Is Jackery a decent brand, or should I keep looking? I'd like to keep the fridge running and charge the phones mostly. Jackery is fine. That looks like about right for a name-brand kit 3kwh and 400w folding panels. Mix-and-match might be cheaper (see below). 400w is not much on overcast winter days, may not keep up with the fridge, but then again I've found my fridges don't take much other than the startup current. But the use case I concentrate on is running a portable a/c to cool one room in the summer. DIY equivalents are very common, there's a ton of videos showing how. I just sorted for most recent in the hopes it could have current prices. Both the prebuilt power stations and the components for DIY have been coming down pretty fast (thus why your Jackery 3kwh is $1200 instead of $3k a few years ago)  DIY Solar Power Cart Build! 5000 watt, 48 Volts, Portable, Powerful, Easy To Build! |
"And I never did get my lawnmower back!" - Bandit 6
"On the bright side, the money we saved by not going to Mars in the 1970s, we spent on welfare and public schools." - @MorlockP
"On the bright side, the money we saved by not going to Mars in the 1970s, we spent on welfare and public schools." - @MorlockP
No maintenance, other than knowing what state of charge the battery is in. I think I read that it's recommended to store them (LiFePo4) around 60% charge if long term without use. I keep mine at 100%, since I consider it an emergency prep and want it ready at all times, even at the cost of possible battery degradation.     |