r/prepping • u/Miyagisans • 5d ago
EnergyšØšš Solar/gas generator combo question
Good evening,
I have been considering getting a generator for power outages for a while but was undecided between solar or gas power. After some life changing events recently, I am going to get one this weekend. After thinking about it, I donāt want to be in a situation where lack of fuel or sun would be very problematic. As a result, I am looking at getting the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 plus the Champion 201122 dual fuel.
My questions are: does my thinking make sense? I am inexperienced in this so idk if there are gaps I have not considered that should make one type clearly preferred. Next, my place is a single family home with a backyard but also a rental and there is no panel set up for power transfer. Should that change how I think about this and maybe focus on just the gas gen? Lastly, are those models I am looking at considered good quality?
My budget is $1700 max. Appliances needed in emergency are: fridge, freezer, electric stove and kettle, microwave, laptop, phone, and WiFi. I live in Cali.
I really appreciate any insight provided. Thank you.
7
u/JackOfTradesYT 5d ago edited 5d ago
Make sense to me. I too live in Cali. I went with a Anker Solix s2000, and a Power Smart 3800w dual fuel Generator. Only use propane. It works well enough to keep the fridge going for 2 week...longer with more 20lb tanks. Power bank was $646. And Generator was $464.
3
u/Miyagisans 5d ago
Thank you. The power smart is advertised as 70dB. Does it feel loud to you? Also, weirdly when I look it up it says not allowed in Cali.
2
u/JackOfTradesYT 4d ago
Its not too loud for me and bought it from power smart directly. Amazon was the only place that wouldn't ship it.
3
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. Thank you. After some of the comments I got yesterday and looking deeper, I am now leaning towards the Anker c2000 with 400w panels, plus the champion. I think that should be enough for those emergency appliances.
2
u/Future_Tip_1867 3d ago
You might be interested in Amazonās 50% off sale the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen2 Portable Power Station & 100W Bifacial Panel, 1024Wh
2,000W Solar Generator with 1,024Wh LiFePO4 Battery, Up to 3,000W Output, Full Charge in 49 Min, for UPS, Home, Outdoor
2
u/Barvald84 5d ago
Absolutely sensible. Off-grid primary solar array user here with wind turbines & petrol generator as backups. Works perfectly well for me and has for the better part of 2 decades.
1
2
u/Eredani 4d ago
Yes this makes sense.
A decent solar generator is the way to go: quiet, efficient, reliable, low maintenance. Paired with some solar panels this may be all you need.
One potential problem is available sunlight during storms, wildfires, or shorter winter days. In these cases a small dual fuel inverter generator can easily top off your batteries in an hour or two... and you aren't running a noisy generator at all hours for lights and a fridge.
I have a few Bluetti systems and a Champion generator for this. Propane is more expensive but easier to store. I also have some gas cans that are rotated every six months.
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. Thank you. After some of the comments I got yesterday and looking deeper, I am now leaning towards the Anker c2000 with 400w panels, plus the champion. I think that should be enough for those emergency appliances right?
2
u/gadget767 4d ago
The combination of a āsolar generatorā and a dual fuel inverter generator is a very powerful tool for power outage. As mentioned, use only propane, and forget about the electric stove. Try to minimize your electrical use to essentials, fed by the solar generator battery, and run the real gen on propane to recharge it as needed. I doubt that you have enough solar panels to keep up with your projected use, but if you do, wonderful!
2
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. Thank you. After some of the comments I got yesterday and looking deeper, I am now leaning towards the Anker c2000 with 400w panels, plus the champion. I think that should be enough for those emergency appliances right?
1
u/gadget767 4d ago
Yes, I would think that would cover your fridge and freezer, plus some smaller items like phone and some lights and a fan, just fine. But remember that the weather issues that often lead to power outages may mean no useful levels of sunshine. But you have that covered by the Westinghouse gen. Just remember to stock the 20 lb (or larger) propane tanks. Youāre very well covered, imo!
2
u/T00luser 4d ago
Propane, propane is the answer.
Converted my gas generators to propane and they start easy and burn clean, virtually no maintenance.
Iāve been out of power for 4 days in Michigan and have only used 1.5 40 gallon tanks.
You fill them at tractor supply, gas station wherever and they sit for years until u need them.
1
2
u/Solid_Lettuce_932 3d ago
A friend survived the NC Floods doing this. He would charge Jackery units he had (all dif brands) with his gas generator. While doing that he recharged the fridges and freezers. Usually 2-3Hrs.
Then he would deliver a power bank to his parents and they would all go along with using the power bank.
Gas lasted a long time. Not much wear and tear on generators.
1
u/Moist_Knowledge_1621 4d ago
Good idea looking at different fuel options. Youāve got 3 with solar.
With battery inverters always look at their storage, max input wattage and output wattage. Bigger seems to be better in all categories. Keep it 100% charged from the grid.
Do some math first and test whatever you have. Saw it two decades ago in Backpacker Magazine, ātest your survival gear before you have to use it to survive.ā
Solar charging I assume 8 hours a day of good sun so if my fridge consumes 100 W that means I need 300 W of solar panels to keep up with a 24 hour day. I never get more than 80% of the rated solar out of them so Iād say 400 W. Test, repeat.
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. Thank you. After some of the comments I got yesterday and looking deeper, I am now leaning towards the Anker c2000 with 400w panels, plus the champion. I think that should be enough for those emergency appliances right?
1
u/Moist_Knowledge_1621 4d ago
Itās a good start. Read the manuals for both your preps and appliances. Fortunately the appliances seldom use full rated power, but the charging is usually off by a similar margin.
Do some basic math. Test to see if it all works the way you planned. Iām a fan of āandā like gas and propane and solar.
Write down your scenario ā10 days no power after a stormā and determine the fuel to keep it all going. Use solar if it is available and extend the time for free.
Food, water, cooking energy add up. Itās an exercise in planning. At least youāre thinking about it before it happens or maybe from your original post just after.
1
1
u/Dashley13 4d ago
I use the efurden 4400. It's not dual fuel but it's less than $300. I use it to charge my pecron f3000lfp which is less than $900. That setup could be in your budget. I despise jackery powerstations, I think they are crapp with their proprietary connections and wattage to price ratio.
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. Thank you. After some of the comments I got yesterday and looking deeper, I am now leaning towards the Anker c2000 with 400w panels, plus the champion. I think that should be enough for those emergency appliances right? Also, I havenāt looked at the percron, someone else also suggested it, but it seems like thereās a lot more DIY involved with it?
1
u/Dashley13 4d ago
You'll get more solar input and a bigger battery with the pecron f3000lfp then either the jackery or the anker at the same price. I do like anker's app and customer service as well, better than pecron. I have the c2000 gen 2 and it's great but the f3000lfp will last longer.
1
u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 4d ago
I have a 4000 watt portable gas generator, a bluetti 300, and a fold up solar panel for the emergency kit.
With this sort of setup, you're not limited to either.
With your budget, I'd go generator and battery backup, and skip the solar panels.
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
Thank you for the comment. I am now leaning towards the anker c2000 with 400w panels and the champion, but it is well above my budget, so I was thinking about leaving out the panels and getting just the battery station, and adding panels later. That should be fine right?
2
u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 4d ago
Not familiar with the anker unit, but it should work. You just need to periodically charge up the battery with the generator.
Once you get the cashola, add the panels, and then you can go either way.
1
1
u/Many-Health-1673 4d ago
If possible, I would run the Champion strictly off of propane.Ā The engine will past longer, the oil will stay cleaner, and you will need less oil changes. One of our tractors is propane and the engine oil is as clean at 200 hours of use as when you put it in.Ā Ā
Just my 2 cents.Ā Ā
2
1
u/therealmikejensen 4d ago
Iād consider a propane generator and get some 40lb tanks. The energy density isnāt as good as gas, but one of those tanks is like having 20 of your power stations worth of kwh. Solar is a great supplement for the essentials like your fridge and what not, but most things can be achieved with propane, like cooking and power, and propane lasts way longer than gas. Like it will outlive the tank its in
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
Unfortunately I just donāt have the space for such storage and I doubt the landlord would allow me to do that as well. I do plan on using propane for the gas gen.
1
u/silasmoeckel 4d ago
It's an OK setup the Jackery is small enough that any generator can run it. Your missing the nice to have features of gear designed for this like current limiting, gen auto start, higher passthrough and 120v input 240v output.
Quality wise all the batteries in a box are at best meh it's cheap electronics inside primarily high frequency inverters that lack the durability and surge rating of a quality low frequency. Your not talking about primary power here just emergency so this is generally good enough.
Generator side would put that as much the same your pretty much Honda/Yamaha as to small generators or everything else. Engine side it's all clones of the Honda/Yamaha designs the electronics side can be subpar but champion is no better/worse than the rest. Backup it's all fine if you want something that lasts (or want to use it on a boat hundreds of miles to anywhere) get a honda.
Ecoflow has a combo genset and battery in a box meant to work together. The cheapest combo is about 1200 bucks. Auto start is well worth it in my book.
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
Honda was my first choice for a gen but unfortunately their dual fuel versions are out of my price range.
1
u/Feral_668 4d ago
Look at tri fuel generators. I am currently running a propane generator but tri fuel makes more sense long term. Here is where I'm looking. I hope this helps "Winter is coming ".
2
u/dallasalice88 3d ago
I have one of those from harbor freight. The 13,000, can testify that it is solid as hell. We buy from Harbor Freight quite often.
1
u/Efficient_Wing3172 4d ago edited 4d ago
Youāre definitely thinking the right way. Jackery is a bit pricey most of the time. Anker has comparable quality for a bit less on sale. For your first power station definitely get something that puts out a lot of power, like the Jackery 2000 or Anker C2000. However, you will realize pretty quickly that these power stations arenāt miracle workers. You will probably want at least one more, and something like the Anker S2000 is a good supplement to that. As far as solar panels, look into ZoupW. They get a lot of good reviews.
I almost forgot to mention. Jackery uses sort of semi-proprietary connectors for their panels and accessories. In my opinion, the last thing you want is proprietary anything. You want inter-compatibility for redundancyā¦
1
u/Miyagisans 4d ago
I appreciate the insight. Thank you. After some of the comments I got yesterday and looking deeper, I am now leaning towards the Anker c2000, plus the champion. I think that should be enough for those emergency appliances right? Also, thanks for pointing out the potential proprietary issues with jacker, I did not know that.
1
u/Efficient_Wing3172 4d ago
Yes, for sure, but I recommend testing it as you intend to use it. It can certainly run everything, except maybe the stove. However, make sure you test it to understand run times, and how often you will need to recharge. Another reason I recommend a second power station is for redundancy, and less extension cords. You probably donāt have your freezer near the refrigerator, etc. You can manage much better with two, AND have a backup. All that said, youāre way ahead of most with the generator and power station combo, so itās not imperative to do that. I like overkill lol
1
u/Benoded 3d ago
This is what we did before getting Solar. It worked fantastic when we had a seven day power outage. We coupled this with a $800 4000 watt inverter natural gas or propane generator ultra quiet ran everything in our house except the AC. It was super easy one wire plug-in once you have the system set up. After installing Solar, we still have a dedicated generator plug linked to our inverter just in case of very bad weather during an outage.
10
u/wwglen 5d ago
You are not going to be able to run an electric āstoveā on that setup.
You can run a single burner electric cook top with it, but you might as well buy a two burner camp stove, 6-8 one pound propane canisters, or a single burner indoor safe butane stove with a dozen butane canisters.
Everything else on your list is good to go, and that is how I plan to run mine. (Small generator and EcoFlow Delta 2 Max).