2) Unrealistic Expectations. For the average budget, there isn't enough solar generator to run your entire house, let alone forever. Determine via your plan what you HAVE to power and work towards that. Example: When I lived in Pensacola I had a gasoline generator that put out 120 volts AC at 5000 watts running full speed. My one neighbor expected me (without having discussed it with me) to run an extension cord to his house and power the entire house including central air conditioning. He'd supply the extension cord. He'd give me some $ for gasoline. Again, he never discussed this with me until the power was out! My other neighbor discussed with me prior, knowing I had a generator, running a cord to only power a fan and his fridge. He'd supply gasoline and take any empty gasoline jugs we had as far as needed to fill them up on his dime. Come 10 days with no power following a hurricane and the gasoline providing neighbor was true to his word (he had to go into Alabama for gasoline). I told the unrealistic neighbor they could only plug in a fridge and a fan and if the generator bogs down or overloads, I know they've exceeded the limited supply of electricity. Also I don't have enough oomph or proper voltage or connections to run central air.
Another common unrealistic expectation: With no advance planning, thinking a solar generator can run everything including air conditioning forever (after all the ad said no gasoline was every needed and you got free energy from the sun).
3) Don't Pay MSRP. There are "always" sales or introductory prices on solar generators if you wait. Here's what I did (some will disagree with using FaceBook, but it worked for me). I joined FaceBook. Do a search for Solar Generators For Sale and/or any of the suppliers of such like Wellbots, EcoFlow, Oupes. You'll have ads displayed. Click on the shop now or more info, etc buttons or the ad itself and browse a page or two before closing the ads and going back to FaceBook. Do that on several ads. You'll now start having ads from Solar Generator companies showing for days/weeks. Watch for sales or introductions of new products. Typical times of sales will be Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Lowes and Home Depot also have sales, but mostly not as good as companies shipping to your house do. Drill down into the ads...will they ship for free; will they collect sales tax; will they have other free bonuses such as solar panels included; will they have a longer extended warrantee than normal? Example: a generator coming this week was a new introduction from Oupes. During the introductory period of 30 days if you reserved one, it was $200 off MSRP. If you prepaid $1, they sent a code for another $50 off and shipped for free, but only for the first 300 sold. I didn't "need" it, but it will add capacity to my off-grid system so I can store more solar input and lessen grid use even more.
4) I have read of too many times on FaceBook solar generator groups of people that "I bought it for emergencies and stuck it in the closest, never used it, and now that I've lost power I don't know what to do." Several things going wrong here.
First learn your generator such as how do I turn it on, how do I correctly turn it off (people have not completely turned them off and put in storage, resulting in a dead unit), how do I energize the various outlets, how much power do the various outlets provide, in what sequence do I power things on, how do I correctly/safely charge it, how do I balance/calibrate it and when, how do I set the various parameters (such as time out settings, charging speed, minimum and maximum capacity settings, connecting it to my phone if applicable and benefits of doing that, updating firmware to name a few).
Next is do a practice run of actually powering things with the generator. How long before I HAVE to plug in the fridge or freezer? Where do I place the generator so I can power different items with it? Do I have any needed extension cords? What does it take to actually move the fridge/freezer to be able to plug into the generator? If I'm going to plug in solar panel(s) to charge the generator while powering items during daylight hours where will I put the panels outside and do I have enough cable and proper connections to run from the panels to where the generator is located? Being able to charge the generator via solar while using it is Very important in my opinion (and having enough solar panel). In my case my son installed a generator cutoff switch and cables so I can safely plug my solar generator (or a gasoline generator) into the main distribution panel with no grid backfeed possible. No extension cords in that case OR I can certainly plug in items directly into the solar generator.
5) If the generator is stored improperly for a long enough time, the battery (like other batteries) slowly loses its charge. If it stays at zero for long enough, it won't have enough oomph to communicate with and run the BMS (battery management system). When that happens it will not charge in the worst case scenario, resulting in it being a brick/dead/outa luck. Follow manufacture's instructions. For Ecoflow it's something like charge to 60% and every three months, fully charge to 100% and then use it until it stops and then charge back to 60% and then back to storage after turning it off. Mine are used every month or more, so storage settings are n/a for me. Per the manufacturer they are designed to be used, use them...specifically I was told I can use it 24/7/365. An example of exercising mine, I plug the TV in and let it run them down and then recharge via solar back to the 95% I keep mine at. I might also plug one into my off-grid system if there isn't enough sun to fully recharge my off-grid big battery during a period of cloud/poor solar days.
6) Solar generators qualify (along with solar panels and connecting cables and connecting hardware and panel mounts) for a 30% tax credit for the tax year they were bought. Say you spent $1000. A one page form to fill out and you'll get 30% or $300 tax credit. $300 comes off the taxes you owe. Keep receipts to prove the purchase. Say you buy more solar panels and connections to add to it next year or more battery capacity...claim those too for the year they were bought. Can't claim credit for any used equipment, cause, in theory, a tax credit was already issued to the original buyer. See your tax program or tax preparer.
The sweet spot. Unless needed for camping or a CPap machine in which case a smaller unit might suffice and be cheaper, for me the sweet spot for home backup would be one in the $1xxx range with 1800-2400 watt output, 3500-4000 watt surge, a 20xx watt battery capacity and ability to connect to extra batteries for increased capacity. Not real small, but can be picked up. Not too big to handle (bigger ones will often come with wheels). I have an Ecoflow Delta 2 Max and know two other local owners of the same model and all are happy they bought their units. I use it for home backup and off-grid use until I built my more permanent off-grid setup. One friend uses it for home backup and camping to power more than his small unit did...kinda depends upon whether camping area has power to plug into. The other friend uses it for his off-grid cabin running microwave, fan, lights and window air conditioner during the day with outside solar panels.
Feel free to ask questions. Hope this helps some. Plan before you buy!
Another common unrealistic expectation: With no advance planning, thinking a solar generator can run everything including air conditioning forever (after all the ad said no gasoline was every needed and you got free energy from the sun).
3) Don't Pay MSRP. There are "always" sales or introductory prices on solar generators if you wait. Here's what I did (some will disagree with using FaceBook, but it worked for me). I joined FaceBook. Do a search for Solar Generators For Sale and/or any of the suppliers of such like Wellbots, EcoFlow, Oupes. You'll have ads displayed. Click on the shop now or more info, etc buttons or the ad itself and browse a page or two before closing the ads and going back to FaceBook. Do that on several ads. You'll now start having ads from Solar Generator companies showing for days/weeks. Watch for sales or introductions of new products. Typical times of sales will be Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Lowes and Home Depot also have sales, but mostly not as good as companies shipping to your house do. Drill down into the ads...will they ship for free; will they collect sales tax; will they have other free bonuses such as solar panels included; will they have a longer extended warrantee than normal? Example: a generator coming this week was a new introduction from Oupes. During the introductory period of 30 days if you reserved one, it was $200 off MSRP. If you prepaid $1, they sent a code for another $50 off and shipped for free, but only for the first 300 sold. I didn't "need" it, but it will add capacity to my off-grid system so I can store more solar input and lessen grid use even more.
4) I have read of too many times on FaceBook solar generator groups of people that "I bought it for emergencies and stuck it in the closest, never used it, and now that I've lost power I don't know what to do." Several things going wrong here.
First learn your generator such as how do I turn it on, how do I correctly turn it off (people have not completely turned them off and put in storage, resulting in a dead unit), how do I energize the various outlets, how much power do the various outlets provide, in what sequence do I power things on, how do I correctly/safely charge it, how do I balance/calibrate it and when, how do I set the various parameters (such as time out settings, charging speed, minimum and maximum capacity settings, connecting it to my phone if applicable and benefits of doing that, updating firmware to name a few).
Next is do a practice run of actually powering things with the generator. How long before I HAVE to plug in the fridge or freezer? Where do I place the generator so I can power different items with it? Do I have any needed extension cords? What does it take to actually move the fridge/freezer to be able to plug into the generator? If I'm going to plug in solar panel(s) to charge the generator while powering items during daylight hours where will I put the panels outside and do I have enough cable and proper connections to run from the panels to where the generator is located? Being able to charge the generator via solar while using it is Very important in my opinion (and having enough solar panel). In my case my son installed a generator cutoff switch and cables so I can safely plug my solar generator (or a gasoline generator) into the main distribution panel with no grid backfeed possible. No extension cords in that case OR I can certainly plug in items directly into the solar generator.
5) If the generator is stored improperly for a long enough time, the battery (like other batteries) slowly loses its charge. If it stays at zero for long enough, it won't have enough oomph to communicate with and run the BMS (battery management system). When that happens it will not charge in the worst case scenario, resulting in it being a brick/dead/outa luck. Follow manufacture's instructions. For Ecoflow it's something like charge to 60% and every three months, fully charge to 100% and then use it until it stops and then charge back to 60% and then back to storage after turning it off. Mine are used every month or more, so storage settings are n/a for me. Per the manufacturer they are designed to be used, use them...specifically I was told I can use it 24/7/365. An example of exercising mine, I plug the TV in and let it run them down and then recharge via solar back to the 95% I keep mine at. I might also plug one into my off-grid system if there isn't enough sun to fully recharge my off-grid big battery during a period of cloud/poor solar days.
6) Solar generators qualify (along with solar panels and connecting cables and connecting hardware and panel mounts) for a 30% tax credit for the tax year they were bought. Say you spent $1000. A one page form to fill out and you'll get 30% or $300 tax credit. $300 comes off the taxes you owe. Keep receipts to prove the purchase. Say you buy more solar panels and connections to add to it next year or more battery capacity...claim those too for the year they were bought. Can't claim credit for any used equipment, cause, in theory, a tax credit was already issued to the original buyer. See your tax program or tax preparer.
The sweet spot. Unless needed for camping or a CPap machine in which case a smaller unit might suffice and be cheaper, for me the sweet spot for home backup would be one in the $1xxx range with 1800-2400 watt output, 3500-4000 watt surge, a 20xx watt battery capacity and ability to connect to extra batteries for increased capacity. Not real small, but can be picked up. Not too big to handle (bigger ones will often come with wheels). I have an Ecoflow Delta 2 Max and know two other local owners of the same model and all are happy they bought their units. I use it for home backup and off-grid use until I built my more permanent off-grid setup. One friend uses it for home backup and camping to power more than his small unit did...kinda depends upon whether camping area has power to plug into. The other friend uses it for his off-grid cabin running microwave, fan, lights and window air conditioner during the day with outside solar panels.
Feel free to ask questions. Hope this helps some. Plan before you buy!
