As electric prices go up I’ve been looking for ways to cut costs. I’m going to be implementing a couple of different solar related projects. To start one that is ham radio related is my addition of a solar generator.
A solar generator is a portable power station that uses portable solar panels to charge a battery, and the stored electricity can be used to charge or operate other devices. There are a lot of portable solar generators on the market today. The beauty of a solar generator is it’s virtually silent. The only time it makes any noise at all is if you are pulling a large AC load and the still very quiet fans come on.
After a lot of research I decided on the Pecron E1500LFP Power Station. It’s a truly remarkable piece of equipment. Some specs are:
- liFePo4 Battery with 3,500+ Life Cycles to 80%
- 2200W Bidirectional PSW Inverter (Surge 4400W)
- 1536Wh Large Capacity Internal Battery; Expandable Up to 7680Wh
- UPS mode
- Integrated AC Charging Adapter
- 800W Max Solar Charging
- Many different AC and DC outputs
- Remote control via wifi app
The unit I purchase included an 200W foldable solar panel as seen in the pic above. The E1500LFP can be charged via the built in AC charger from 0% to full in 1.8 hours! The 48V liFePo4 battery is truly amazing in that it can totally discharge unlike lead acid batteries. It also will last over 10 years and even then still hold 80% of its original capacity. The E1500LFP can also be charged via solar panels. With the 200W panel I purchased it would charge up in one sunny day. You can add more panels to charge even faster. It can even charge from a car cigarette lighter port or regular gas generator. If you need additional capacity you can hook up to 2 3072Wh (51.2V/60Ah) batteries.
The E1500LFP has 3 20A AC outputs for running your standard home appliances. For instance this unit could power your home refrigerator and more if the power was out. It also has 4 18W USB-A ports and 2 100W USB-C ports for fast charging of all your devices. It even has a built in wireless charger on the top. On the DC side it has a XT60 port (with included cable) that puts out a whopping 30A! It also has a 10A cigarette lighter port and 5A 5525 port. As a ham radio operator this thing is a dream to throw in the car for mobile/emergency operations.
Another great feature is that the E1500LFP also operates as a UPS with an 8-20 ms switch over time. My plan for this unit is to take my shack totally off grid. This means radios, computers, etc. I am in the process of adding some permanent outside solar panels that will charge the generator during the day. If there is a string of rainy days and I’m not getting enough charge I can plug in the AC and charge it right up. When done I can disconnect the AC power and because of the UPS function the power will just keep running. The ability to charge the battery and at the same time power devices is a huge win.
Above is the new location of the E1500LFP in the shack when it’s not in the car on the road. I’ll be updating this post soon with the details of how I’ve integrated it into the shack and how I can easily switch back and forth between having it power everything vs. switching back to grid power. Lot’s more to come!