Still being a tech geek at heart after leaving the industry over 14 years ago, I have been enjoying these new battery packs that have come out in the last four years.
Some call them Solar Generators (even though most people charge them with a wall outlet and not the sun), some call them Portable Power Stations.
They are basically big batteries (or, more precisely, a lot of little batteries in a box with fancy electronics) that have multiple uses around the house in a power outage or when outside camping, relaxing or just far away from the grid.
In this video, I’m comparing two 1000Wh units. A Wh is Watt Hour, or basically using one watt for one hour. Think of it as a measure of volume like you would a bucket. How long would it take for you to use up all the water in a 50 gallon drum? That depends on how you use it.
The same is true with Wh. 1000Wh will power a 100W TV, for instance, for ten hours (very roughly…there is some loss involved, but we’ll keep the math simple today).
These packs weight about 25lbs making them still easy enough to move around. The next size up is about 50lbs. Pretty hefty.
Here’s a chart from Jackery about what its 1000Wh power station featured in the video can power.
1.5 hours of coffee-making is a lure for some of you out there.
One of my clients, AlphaESS, sent me their BlackBee 1000 power station in order for me to send them promotional photos.
I’ve taken the liberty to review and compare that unit to the leader in the market, the Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro.
This used to be no contest as the older Jackery model had different battery chemistry and wasn’t as good. But Jackery updated the 1000 a couple months ago and it is better than the AlphaESS in some ways.
They both have their pluses and minuses and which one might be right for you depends on which features are important.
With that said, enjoy the video that explains more: