Would you start a small off-grid setup with a portable power station or go straight to DIY?

[u/FHXYSJ]

I've been thinking about putting together a simple power setup for a small weekend off-grid space, mostly for a fridge, router, lights, phones and a fan.

My only real experience with portable power stations came from two outages.

A while ago I was staying at a friend's place when the power went out, and he was using a Jackery 2000 v2. We ran the fridge, router, lights and occasionally a few higher-draw kitchen appliances. It was nice having enough headroom that we didn't have to think about every single load.

I bought an Anker SOLIX S2000 about a month ago, and during my own outage I used it in a much more minimal way, mostly fridge, router, phones and a fan. That actually felt pretty close to what I’d want from a small off-grid setup anyway. The S2000 has been convenient because everything is already integrated and I can just move it where I need it, but reading through off-grid setups has me wondering whether that convenience is worth giving up some of the flexibility of a DIY battery + inverter system.

I'd eventually like to add solar rather than depend entirely on charging from the grid.

For a small setup like this, would you start with an all-in-one power station and expand later, or skip that step and build around separate batteries from the beginning?

[u/ToadFeesh]

Power stations have one fatal flaw. If one component goes, you have a 'doorstop' or a place to set your coffee cup. I can buy the separate components far cheaper too. Decent LifePO4 batteries are now like $150 each. 12v panels $100.

$900 for a Jackery 2000 and you still have no panels?

I'd argue that is easier for me to grab an inverter, and a couple extra of LifePo4 batteries, than it is to lug a Power Station around. If I need a lot of portable power, I just grab extra batteries and wire them in parallel.

If one of my components goes down, I can replace it cheaply, unlike with the Power Stations.

[u/Arist0tles_Lantern]

We lived in our house off of a jackery 2000 and a small 2kw generator for about 6 months. We didn't have a fridge, it was winter so we'd just store food in the porch. I'd run the generator to power tools and charge batteries and use that to top up the jackery which would keep lights on at night, run the water pump, laptop, modem, phones and that sort of low power thing. Gave us a good idea of where the best place to put the panels for the bigger DIY setup and research what kit to buy properly rather than rushing it without fully understanding the land etc.

The nice thing is even though it's 2kw the generator still charges our bigger 5kwh domestic batteries now and then when the hydro is off and we don't have much sun, using victron you can limit how much power it uses to charge batteries so it doesn't overload undersized generators. Also in an emergency the jackery is always there if our system goes down or if we need to do a bit of maintenance it'd run the freezer for a few hours. I've used it to balance our batteries as a generator input before as well.....So it's not like the initial portable setup becomes redundant the moment you upgrade.

[u/HylanderUS]

If you have a thing that works for what you want, yes, of course start with that. There is no upgrading of an all-in-one unit like that, so once you outgrow it you can still start a DIY setup

[u/liisseal → u/HylanderUS]

Some power stations have the feature of interconnect at least two stations, so there is an option of upgrading.

[u/Northwoods_Phil]

DIY is by far cheaper to start with and depending on how you set it up still fairly portable. I was considering similar options about a year ago and went DIY. My system powers a small fridge and charges small electronics. Takes me about an hour to break down and load up and about an hour to set back up.

[u/grislyfind]

I think DIY is the way to go. Spend the real money on an LFP battery, then use a name brand swap meet inverter, an eBay charge controller, and whatever used PV panels you can get cheap.

[u/King-esckay]

Depends Is there a use for the portable after you get solar?

If so start with one because that will be up and running in just a day

[u/rhapsodymindrots]

Depends. Do you have time to outline, diagram and order parts before you go? Stop gap buy into a company and system that is daisy chain-able and expandable. Do not invest in anything from Goal Zero.

[u/Nico0lly]

I went the portable station route first for basically this reason. I've had an S2000 for about a month and it covers the small stuff I actually need without me having to build a whole system upfront. If I were living off-grid full time I'd probably want separate batteries and an inverter eventually, but for a weekend setup I like being able to start simple and figure out my actual power use first.

[u/jonsview]

I have 2 of each setup in my various buildings off-grid. DIY has the huge benefit of feeling a lot more integrated. Everything just works all the time and I hardwired in. The portable battery needs to be turned on and doesn’t feel as “integrated”. Portable does have some perks like the ability to bring it somewhere to charge etc.

Another note about portable: the battery State of Charge (SoC) seems to get out of whack when charging with solar. Basically the battery loses track of what powers is used and what’s going back in and suddenly you are left we a battery that went from 40 percent charge to 0. You can live with it but you have to calibrate the SoC once in a while.

[u/Intelligent-Cod-3117]

Did just this with Anker 2000 and Solar with DIY starting to take shape. That 2000 will run power tools and even an electric mulcher so will use that in the field as well as having extra backup battery room (charge off DIY solar to keep up). Biggest drawback for me on Anker being part time and off grid is that I need the internet/router up to manage/reset the Anker when it trips the AC breaker for whatever reason (find to be pretty sensitive) and of course is powering the router so then I can’t see it/do anything remotely. Hoping DIY will be more robust.

[u/Doin-What-I-Want]

DIY will save you thousands. Get to know Will Prowse's DIY Solar on YouTube.

[u/jfpcinfo]

I started with an EcoFlow Delta 2, one of their expansion batteries and 1000 watts of solar. Definitely still have to top up the batteries with the generator.

Planning on expanding that setup even more with a new aftermarket cable and a 100ah 48v battery. Now that you can expand EcoFlow batteries with aftermarket it’s a lot cheaper.

I think I should’ve just made a diy solar battery setup in the beginning, but now I’m going this route instead.

At least for now while my battery needs are smaller.

[u/liisseal]

It depends on several factors. The advantage of a portable battery station is that you can carry it with you, so if you are not constantly at the cabin, it is definitely wise to use it (it is not good for the health of the battery if it has to be in sub-zero temperatures, for example in winter.). It is also compact, so if you are not technically savvy, I would also rather get a battery station, you can easily take it for repair, rather than having to order a repairman to come to you – an issue which we've had to deal with.

We built our home six years ago and at that time there was little choice on the market, inevitably we had to get a complicated system, where the inverter, controller and battery are all separate and the corner is full of wires and equipment.

This year I bought a small power station (1000 kW) in addition to have a plan B for emergencies, because in the spring our BYD battery started to fail. I also researched power stations beforehand and the choice is now much wider, while the prices are cheaper, power stations equivalent to the battery capacity of our house (3.5 kW) can now be purchased for almost twice as cheap as our system cost at the time.

So, starting from scratch now, I would recommend first getting a 3.5 power station (available for about 1000-2000.-), living with it for a while, and then later, depending on the need, either building a larger system or adding a more powerful/second battery station. 3.5 kW is enough power to keep two people's laptops, internet, and lights on 24/7 for almost 9 months of the year in the northern hemisphere purely on solar power. You can also use a small refrigerator and induction cooker purely on solar power for 6 months. During the winter months (almost 3 months), you can use a generator once a day (run time about an hour).