solar generators

tipsy-gipsy · Member

solar generators

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

The "Yeti" is not a "generator" it is quite a small battery with some add-ons attached.
Not sure what fridge you have, but it will flatten this thing very quickly.
Also, if it has 240V output it must have full Australian electrical approval. That may be why there is no info about them here.
Cheers,
Peter

Whenarewethere · Guru

Type in 'Yete 400 tear down' you'll find a 25 minute video, it does not have a lithium battery, it has an AGM 33ah battery. It is a lot of money for a next to useless amount of AH for a fridge.

If you go lithium it needs to be one (1) battery only & 90ah would really be about the minimum.

It really isn't difficult to set up a far better system for a lot less money & you can then add to it if you need or want more capacity for cloudy days etc.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Looking at the Suaoki G1000

SUAOKI Ares G1000 Portable Power Station 1183Wh Large-Capacity Lithium Battery Generator.

I can't make heads or tails of this battery pack. If you compare it with an off the shelf Victron 100ah lithium battery at about $1700.00 it simply does not make sense to me.

tipsy-gipsy · Member

thanks for the imput guys. now I will have to rethink my power plan.

Whenarewethere · Guru

I don't tow so it all has to fit in the car & there is no room under the bonnet. I originally briefly looked at battery pack/s, but ended up using four 26ah batteries as I could tuck them away around the car. Would have preferred to use one battery but it was impossible.

tipsy-gipsy · Member

I find it almost impossible to get any info in Australia about these generators.
the ones I have looked at can be powered by the solar, cig lighter and mains power.
they have USB ports, power plug outlets. and will run a Dometic fridge no messing about with charge controllers,
inverters, or battery.
you plug in your solar panel which will charge the thing and run your fridge,
phone and laptop.

it will tell you how many hours you have power for.
so much easier and its just one battery-pack and a panel.
I will have to look into this more.
thanks for all your imput.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Have you looked at the Dometic PLB40. It is very clear what battery it has, 12.8v 40ah lithium iron phosphate. Built in PWM solar controller. It doesn't have 240v output, but I wouldn't expect it on a product of this value if it has a reasonable battery. It's the wrong price point.

The problem is that a 40ah battery is not enough when you get cloudy days if you are parked for a few days. You could turn on the car engine but you can only charge at 8amps maximum.

If you are going away for the weekend & need some portable power then it's a great product.

Whenarewethere · Guru

If you want everything in one box, buy or make or modify a box. Add some fastenings so it can be tied down. Stick a 120ah battery in it & fasten it down, & a good quality MPPT controller, best place for it is next to the battery, not on the solar panel. DC-DC charger would be ideal to charge from the car but not critical, have some spare room in the box to add one later.

Buy from Jaycar 12v & 5v outlets, fuses, better still circuit breakers & Anderson plugs for solar input. Stick a voltage meter on the outside of the box. A quick calculation of voltage tells you how much you have left. After a few weeks you get very good at guessing what's left so you really don't need it calculated for you.

Solar panel plugged into the Anderson plug on the left side of the meter box. MPPT under meter box, DC-DC x 2 at bottom.

Two of my batteries under a seat.

As we sleep in the car it was better to have components spread around the car. But all these would otherwise be in one box.

Jaahn · Guru

tipsy-gipsy wrote:
I find it almost impossible to get any info in Australia about these generators.
the ones I have looked at can be powered by the solar, cig lighter and mains power.
they have USB ports, power plug outlets. and will run a Dometic fridge no messing about with charge controllers,
inverters, or battery.
you plug in your solar panel which will charge the thing and run your fridge,
phone and laptop.

it will tell you how many hours you have power for.
so much easier and its just one battery-pack and a panel.
I will have to look into this more.
thanks for all your imput.

Hi
I think you must take the rose tinted glasses off and listen to what people have said. These units are not big enough to do what you want IMHO also. Theylook like a typical con with big claims and probably do not sell them in Australia because of our consumer laws about making unsustainable claims. Not only that but the cost is hidden also. If they were as good as claimed they would be selling lots of them. Sorry but the bare physical performance of a small battery is easily verified and as anyone who has an electric fridge can verify you need more than 33Ahr of AGM battery to do the job.
You may not want to do all the work setting up a simple system to do what you want, but after the battery fails quickly you will then have to do it and you will have wasted the original money on a fancy bit of camping click bait. I am being a bit brutal but take the universal advice here instead of some fancy advertising on an overseas site.
Good luck Jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Friday 6th of March 2020 11:34:05 AM

Whenarewethere · Guru

Jaahn wrote:
They look like a typical con with big claims and probably do not sell them in Australia because of our consumer laws about making unsustainable claims.

You've hit the nail on the head. I can already visualise the queues at Fair Trading!

The battery capacity is a meaningless statement. '3.7v 137,700mAh' that's not a standard. I would not touch a single product from a company that states this sort of rubbish.

I spent quite a bit of time looking for replacement batteries, they will need a battery at some stage, but nothing came up. What I did find was quite a few of these so called "generators" which are not generators, are badge engineered! I'm pretty sure the guts are a bit of crap from China in different coloured boxes!

If your own setup fails go to any country town & grab a new battery or controller & you are on your way. Simplicity = Piece of mind, with the bonus of the dollars per AH will be a lot less.

A DIY 100ah lithium box:

tipsy-gipsy · Member

thank you guys for all this info.
I think I may have to do all this the way you all have.
I dont want to be stuck anywhere.

Jaahn · Guru

tipsy-gipsy wrote:
thank you guys for all this info.
I think I may have to do all this the way you all have.
I dont want to be stuck anywhere.

Hi smile

Give us a list of what you have and want and we could make some suggestions. It is important that you have enough battery capacity if you have an electric fridge small or large too, as they go 24 hours of the day and night. Some of the other things like the phone or computer you can plug that in during the day and charge them when the solar is working. I do not use a 240V inverter at all because they use too much power. I do carry a small one but cannot remember when I used it. I use all 12 volt items direct as they are more efficient.

So if you get a battery AGm or lithium(good but expensive) of a suitable size then you need a solar panel and a regulator. Some regulator have usb ports now on the front. How much solar is the next decision based on your usage. Then you need a connection to the car to charge the battery also. This is dependent on what sort of car it is. The later models need a more expensive charger connection.

Some wires to connect it all up or get a person to do that to get it all together for you. Possibly a much lower price and common items that are easy to get or fix and known quality.

Jaahn

Whenarewethere · Guru

I have also avoided 240v. My SLR camera I had to buy a 12v charger but other than that everything else works. We use 2xAA battery toothbrushs (I done a review in the health thread).

Cooking we use metho, did use lighter fuel decades ago but for safety we are happy with metho (a very small amount of water added to stop blackening), easy to get & economical.

As Jaahn said, let us know what you have & also the typical time you spend off grid. You don't need to go overboard but it can be very irritating if the setup is undersized.

stoney123 · Senior Member

My inverter was invaluable during the total fire bans, I could run an induction hotplate and make several coffees each morning.also make toast !

Whenarewethere · Guru

The Birko kettle is 750 watts so a lower load on your batteries, but obviously longer which is better.

No plastic inside & really solid stainless. Only disadvantage is it is plugged in & needs to be switched off at the wall or plug pulled out.

http://birko.com.au/index.php/catering/drink-heater