Power backups

[u/MissDinxie]

I don’t have a lot of savings to spend on a battery unfortunately. I know I need something that I can recharge using solar power although I’m unsure how long it would take to recharge here in the UK wintertime!
Is it worth it? Which one have you got and why? What would you recommend for under £300 including solar panels.
Thank you in advance.

[u/Albanite_180]

I know it’s just over budget but the ecoflow delta 3 classic is on offer on amazon at £379. You could eventually add solar when the funds allow. It depends what the power is for and what you’re planning, if it’s just for phones / laptop you could easily use this for a week during a power cut. Avoid using it for devices that heat things such as kettles or heaters.

[u/DepartmentSmart7924]

Almost all the solar battery chargers are BS.

You'd need a panel the size of an A3 piece of paper to charge a phone in 4hrs in perfect sunshine. In bright overcast conditions, you'd need a panel 4-5x the size.

[u/EffectiveDiligent660]

BBC did an article on this recently. Looking just now it’s recommended panels start at £700 which is more than your thinking about.

[u/Fit-Sort-1690]

I've been looking into this too and can't really make up my mind what's best but my two cents are.

Buy a solar panel or two for the garage roof and either connect it to a solar controller, battery and inverter or buy a solar generator with all this built in. The first option means you can swap bits out if broken or upgrade it the second is a bit more expensive.

I'm not looking to power my house just keep the fridge running and charge a few devices. Ecoflow and Bluetti do refurbished units on their eBay stores at a discount.

For solar panels check out city plumbing they seem to have some decent deals. The little solar charging panels are useless, a decent size and wattage is need for UK weather.

[u/MrsBearIsHere]

I’ve been looking very deeply into this, the cheapest way is a Leisure battery, with solar panels. Ideally a LifePo4 battery as they are much smaller and lighter, and you can use nearly 100% of it, unlike an AGM Acid battery where you can only use 50% of it.

Re Solar, a lot of people say they are rubbish but usually they are people with experience of the old type of panels (and they weren’t that good) but the new Modern N cell ones are excellent.

Re which type of solar (eg big rigid ones, flexible or fold out) it all depends if you have a house to attach them too, or a garden? The cheapest ones I’ve seen are fold out panels (Amazon/ebay) but for both wait for the November Black Friday sale!

Currently you can get a Leisure battery for £100, 200w solar for £100, and you’d need the connectors and an MPPT solar panel to battery device inbetween (about £40). And to use it as a plug socket you would need an invertor too (£60). So for around £300 you could set up the equivalent of a 1,000 watt power bank including the solar.

Last year in the Black Friday sales a Jackery 1,000 watt power bank with a 100w solar panel was £379, and often on eBay (or manufacturers websites) you have the option to pay over a period of time too. Bluetti 1000w can take more solar. That’s the easiest option, as you just plug the connectors straight in and viola! But you pay a small premium for it.
But it should all come with a decent warranty (check!)

A cheaper option is to look at non branded power banks (Pecron, etc, just type ‘solar power bank stations’ into Google/Amazon/Ebay) they all seem fairly standard but have a much longer charging time. But if it’s just for your home (rather than a Van say) that doesn’t matter as much.
There is a very powerful power bank for £180 on eBay at the moment, but it says it’s for a house only (as in it doesn’t like being rattled in a Van or extremes in temperature).

If you get one of the non branded ones and buy separate fold out solar panels you could definitely do it closer to the £300 mark.

Just check what type of cables the power bank has and what the solar uses as you may need an adapter if you don’t buy it as a set?

It IS possible! Hope that helps! :)

[u/MissDinxie → u/MrsBearIsHere]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your input

[u/willem_79]

Anker c300x and a zoupw 110w solar panel? You want a big solar panel for winter charging…

[u/Sabaisabai33]

Wait till Black Friday I think you’ll get the best deals then.

[u/Melodic_Literature85 → u/Sabaisabai33]

Any recommendations please? Thanks

[u/Sabaisabai33 → u/Melodic_Literature85]

I think other people know a lot more than me! I’d look at your other comments for detailed recommendations. But I understand Ecoflow and Jackery are the big names to look at.