Is a Solar Generator Worth the Money

I was going to save this post for the winter in memory of the ten days of brutal cold in our normally warm part of Texas, but since we're in the midst of hurricane season, now is just as pertinent.

During those ten days of rolling blackouts when we were unable to heat our home, we were left with a conundrum. In order to run our gas powered generator, we'd have to take all our power offline and simply run one or two appliances. Our other problem is that the generator had to be left outside to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. 

We've used our gas generator in the past mostly due to hurricanes and once after a tornado wrapped a metal building around the transformer that fed our power. They're handy devices, and life-saving if you're in dire circumstances.

Gas generators are relatively inexpensive (compared to solar generators). You're looking at somewhere between $600-$800 dollar price range for a decent sized generator. They also tend to handle more wattage, so keep that in mind too. The downsides? They're noisy, use gas, and require more maintenance.

Solar generators are a bit higher. Our Bluetti cost $1700 for a 2000 watt generator. (That's for the generator alone. I'll get into the extras later in this post.  

UPDATE: The generator is now significantly cheaper. Check it out.

Your first job is to figure out what you need to power. One space heater requires 1500 watts of power. Depending on the appliance or electronics, you could use anywhere from 50 watts for a small tv to 5000 (running) watts for an air conditioner.

If you're not worried about having cold air or heat, you can probably get away with a 1000 watt generator to power most appliances. There are a lot of charts on Google that give you watt usage. Here's one.

Solar generators can plug right into your outlet to charge its battery. But to sustain that power you have to hook it up to solar panels for indefinite power. This is where the extra expense comes in. These are the Bluetti solar panels.

To be fair it's light, folds neatly, and is completely transportable.

We went another way. Since we had extra solar panels sitting around (the heavy kind), Greg wired them to each other. Then we bought a rolling cart that can store and transport them in place. Since we'll only use them around the home, it's easy to roll them around to wherever the sun is.

Faraday Cage

You'd think that would be the end of our cost, but we went one step further. Since it's such an expensive piece of equipment, we decided to protect the solar generator from lightning strikes, solar flares, or God forbid, some disagreeable government detonating a nuclear weapon (EMP). 

We bought a metal tool box that houses the generator. In essence, it's a Faraday cage. The box is lined with a rubberized mat (we used a yoga mat) to protect it from touching the metal directly. Google "Faraday Cage" to make your own. It's as simple as using aluminum foil or even a metal trash can, but we wanted ours to look nice which is why we bought a ready made, heavy duty tool chest, tall enough to hold the generator.

The one we bought is not currently available, but this is a similar one in silver. 

To make it easier to move the filled box, Greg also custom built a rolling tray so we could wheel the generator anywhere with no effort at all. (Note the floor friendly wheels in the photo at the top.) The whole box fits neatly in a hallway closet. Free of dust or dog drool.

The generator is a bit heavy. Shipping weight is about 60 pounds. One person can lift it, but two people makes it easier. Putting it on a rolling tray (or cart) makes moving it a breeze.

If we could afford a second one or better yet, a bigger one, I wouldn't mind making the investment. It's far cleaner and more fuel efficient than a gas generator.

I'm normally all about living frugally, but sometimes a big investment is necessary if we want to keep our appliances and electronics working.

We've had our generator for over two months. We charged it to 100% and it only dropped 1% during its two month storage.

A generator isn't something we've use often. But if you've had to manage without power for more than a day, you are beyond grateful. Having lived through multiple hurricanes, ice storms, and tornadoes. It's been a godsend. 

Other people use solar generators far more regularly if they camp or vacation in recreational vehicles (RVs). Contractors also use generators (gas and solar) to run power tools in remote locations. 

The reasons for owning one are varied. Only you can decide if it's worth the investment. For us, it's peace of mind knowing we won't need gas to run our generator. I'm happy with ours.

Shopping at Amazon? Start Here.