Solar generators

[Happy Camper]

Price individual components before committing. You may find the commercial units are cheaper.

I would agree. They are coming down in price to reasonable levels. And the capacity and quality seem to be up as well.

But if you decided to wanted to build one you can. I was responding to the statement of wondering if they could ever learn enough to do it themselves. They can.

Whether it makes sense to do so is a personal decision based on many factors.

 

[jacqueg]

The warranty period is immaterial if the support is stonewalling you the whole way. In fact, they'll count the amount of months they're stonewalling you so that you'll suddenly be "out of warranty". I'm not even out of warranty yet and they tried to pull some BS on me.

It's only through a lot of labor, time, and doggedness that I've gotten them to be even sort of accountable.

I was wondering what choice we have given that there are no US-made lithium batteries. While trying to look up Ecoflow's reputation, someone on another forum had written that folks should look up BBB reviews and they were pretty bad. The one useful suggestion I saw was that if you buy Ecoflow through Costco, at least you can have a simple return/exchange of the unit. That seemed like a smart approach. That's what I'm missing here with Bluetti. I bought it new, it's not an inexpensive product. When it gave off fumes very early on, I should have been able to very simply return it to be repaired & sent back to me, or replaced with new. Or simply return the faulty product for a full refund. They didn't want to do any of that.

I wonder if I could ever learn enough to know how to put my own components together instead of relying on companies that insist on doing all their support from China, introducing language, cultural, and different business holiday barriers to support for customers in the US. It's not that US companies couldn't also have bad customer support and chisel customers. But at least in the US I know how to hold them legally accountable.

Yup, I bought my EcoFlow from Home Depot. It ceased charging from the wall plug after about a week, took it right back to HD.

Bought a Jackery. No problems at all in the past year. Not as spiffy on paper as the EcoFlow was, but I'll take reliability over spiffy any day.

 

[LargeMarge]

...I'm considering 100 Ah LFP...

I also want...a solar generator... as a backup...

I have 320Watts solar on the van and 400Watts on the trailer...W

.
hx:
Semi-retired welder-fabricator here.
I turn 72yo in a few weeks, I lived and worked all over this particular planet.
Often, the high-light of my day was walking Third World commercial 'districts' -- a residence in front of a shop, a shop in front of a residence -- chatting with entrepreneur types, everybody doing splendidly with just about nothing... engaging their Imaginations and flowing their Creative Juices.
.
Accordingly, most of the time, First Worlder problems seem irrelevant to me.
Weird, eh?
.
a)
We workkamp a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon.
We operate about a dozen mid-1990s Dodge Cummins (mechanical!, no computer!) pick-up trucks for our farmers markets and delivery to local-owned family-operated grocers.
.
I rigged each truck with:
* a pair of 105ah Concord Lifeline AGM batteries.
* these charge off the engine alternator through the standard three-prong isolator
www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7821769
* as of 2021, each runs through a Harbor Freight 2000-Watt pure-sine inverter.
A dozen identical set-ups.
.
In the bed under the canopy, each truck has room for several of our SnoMaster 61qt expedition fridges.
We decided on that specific fridge because of durability and economy of use... they sip 12vdc, the equivalent of 'fumes off an oily rag'.
.
q -- why choose:
* 1) modular easy-to-use easy-to-swap easy-to-diagnose components... instead of
* 2) a fussy all-in-one box with concealed who-knows-what one-size-fits-all generic?
a -- I suppose a case could be made for cheap, durable, non-toxic, Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS).
.
.
b)
"This one time, at van-camp, all the cool kids had a SolarJamenator™, so I want one, too!"
[le sigh]

 

[jacqueg]

But it's not an either/or proposition. I have a real solar setup. I also have a Jackery, and very glad to have it, especially as the days get shorter and grayer. I can recharge the Jackery from any available wall plug.

 

[LoupGarou]

I purchased a Goal Zero Yeti 3000 seven years ago during a Black Friday Sale. It's still going strong, even with daily use. Having said that, the addition of a diesel heater has taxed it's capability. Once the DC output hits 10.5vdc the heater shuts down with an Under-Voltage Fault. The DC output of the Yeti needs better regulation.

Not everyday and/or site is conducive for solar. Often its easier to fire up the generator for a couple of hours rather than trying to chase the sun though a break in the trees with a portable solar panel set. I've been using a Sportsman 1000watt generator.

As for recharging the GZ Yeti 3000, the addition of DC2DC charging was a plus. It's nice to have the ability to recharge on the move. I'm not talking about tickle charging at 6amps, but with some serious power like 60amps. The emissions hardware on my diesel truck doesn't like extensive idling so never charge by idling the truck.

If the total input charging power is held below 750watts, the hardware is configured such that one can charge off a portable solar panel set, roof mounted solar panels and shore power/generator, all at the same time.

Would I purchase it again? At the time I wanted something to plug in and then go play rather than playing around plugging stuff up. It has and continues to serve me well. What I'd like to do is increase its storage capacity without opening the case. It's my understanding that the batteries in the GZ Yeti 3000 are not end-user replaceable.

Hope this helps.

 

[LoupGarou]

YT is full of videos on building up DIY Solar Power Stations. Search and find one you think will work for you and give it a go. It doesnt take long for the piece part prices to add up. You might only need four terminal lugs but you have to purchase a bag of 25.

 

[afblangley]

What I'd like to do is increase its storage capacity without opening the case. It's my understanding that the batteries in the GZ Yeti 3000 are not end-user replaceable.

Decent quality no name LiFePO4 batteries starting at $700 for 300 AH, make adding an auxiliary battery to a power station setup very enticing. I've thought about doing this (in my case to an EcoFlow Delta Pro). Though my objective would be slightly different (powering a Dometic RTX 2000) the bottom line is still a matter of keeping two batteries charged using the starter battery/alternator. By my admittedly mechanically challenged mind, this looks like:
starter battery --> DC charger --> LiFEPO4 battery --> DC charger --> power station.

Someone please correct or improve upon my thoughts. Here are some of the items needed:

1st charger: https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-60A-B...4cdc8f10&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
battery: https://www.amazon.com/CHINS-Blueto...8b6c26f63&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
2nd charger: https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Ener...mzn1.fos.d977788f-1483-4f76-90a3-786e4cdc8f10

 

[maki2]

How much driving are you planning on doing? What size is your alternator? That is the starting point before you decide on the size of a House use battery. My Honda Element has a small alternator, it is sized just big enough to recharge starting battery. It is not ever going to be big enough to charge a sizable house battery while I drive without causing harm to the alternator. Do some more investigation before you make such decisions.

 

[Gr8ful]

The Ambo has a bew 250 amp alt. Here's somethiing new