Solar Generator?

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Alaskansnowbirds

Alaskansnowbirds

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Joined
Mar 11, 2005
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3,200
Location
Camp Verde, AZ
Saw an ad on TV for this item. From the ad it sounds like this is the only thing any of us will ever need to have all the power we want.

Went to their web site and started to read. By the time I got half way down the page I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

I feel sorry for anyone that believes that this is the answer to their power needs.
 
But, but, but it's on sale for $500 off list price!  How can you pass up such a deal?
 
Who was it said:
There's a sucker born every minute
and
A fool and his money shall soon part
 
Hey, you guys are really funny.  I bought one of those and liked it so well, I bought another.  It's perfect for boondocking and any time you can't reach shore power and don't want the noise of a generator.  I'm sure the 51 Amp Hr battery is just a typo, just like the 600 watt office light.  You guys should really check things out before you go slamming them.

Just kidding  ;D
 
I figure you could assemble something similar yourself for around $1000. An 2000 watt MSW inverter sells for around $250 these days, and a 90w solar panel should be around $350. Add $150 for gauges, controller + 50 foot cable and maybe another $100 to put together a case and wheels. A small (51 amp) AGM battery is maybe $150? Or splurge for a 100 AH battery for $250.

Then hope the sun is shining brightly when the power blackout comes.  ::)

Now let's see. With my 51 Ah battery, I can get maybe 600 watts for an hour if I'm lucky and the battery is fully charged. And a 90w solar panel can replace those AH at the rate of about 7 amps/hour. My arithmetic says I can use my generator to power a 600W something for 1 hour out of every 8. Hmmm.
 
The sun always shines brightest during a winter storm, right?  ;)

A Honda EU1000i will provide those same 600 watts for about $800 and uses about 1/10th gallon per hour doing it.

If you have a siphon hose, gas is as close as the nearest car.  You're set for the duration of the emergency.
 
Lou Schneider said:
If you have a siphon hose, gas is as close as the nearest car.  You're set for the duration of the emergency.
Click to expand...
As  a friend was filling up his truck he got to thinking that this was going to be his last fill as he would be turning the truck back from it's lease in 3 or 4 days.  Then he thought to himself "Why am I filling up the tank like usual. Cr*p"  and he stopped filling the tank.

He could not get a hose in to siphon out the truck so the dealership or the next owner got a free tank of gas.  And he's a mechanic so he should know how to do that.  Apparently they have a lot of anti siphoning devices these days.
 
There solar panel mfg'ers that put a mini-inverter on each panel.  Their main objevtive was to prevent shade from reducing the output if one of the panels on the roof became shadded.
 
You all just skipped the "Massive Generator Backup" part of the ad. ;D
 
What, 50 watts continuous isn't massive enough for you?  Should run that little compact fluorescent and the refrigerator light in that photo just fine.
 
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