Portable power stations and solar panels

Kimbers71

Good morning.  I am new here and I thought I would join the forum as I have a question about whether it is possible to cut down on ones electricity bill by having a portable power station like the Jackery or EcoFlow with solar panels?  I was originally looking at these portable stations with a view to potential camping trips but then got to wondering about whether a larger one such as the Eco Flow Delta 1260Wh with solar panels (cost approx £1600) might be able to power the equipment I have at home.  I live alone in a 2 bed flat.  At the moment I have a TV, fridge / freezer and washing machine plus lamps.... I am happy to do away with the TV and use my laptop and to use the lamps rather than overhead lighting.  I have a gas hob and gas central heating and would need electricity to run these.  I am in a shared ownership flat with no access to the roof for permanent panels to go down.  It is a very warm and sunny flat and I get the morning sunshine until about 1pm at the front of my flat where my balcony is.  Is there even any possibility for this to work or is it pie in the sky????  Many thanks for your views in advance. :-) xx 

Ebe_Scrooge

It's unlikely to be sustainable in practice.  If the battery can store 1260 Wh, then it'll be fine for low-consumption things like charging your phone, running an LED light, that sort of thing.  But a washing machine will consume - at a guess - something like 1 - 1.5 KWH.  So it might run a washing machine in isolation for an hour, then it'll need recharging.

Your central heating pump - you'd need to check its rating plate to see how much juice it draws, but even if the battery can power it for 3 hours or whatever, what are you going to do when the battery runs out?  Unplug it, take it outside to recharge it and not use the heating until it's recharged?  Aside from that, it could be tricky to connect the pump to a portable power source.

Likewise with your freezer - the battery would only power it for a short time, then you'd have to plug it back into the mains while you wait for the battery to be recharged.

I think it's a great idea for taking on camping trips, where you'll only be using low-powered stuff and only for short periods of time.  But it wouldn't be practical to use it as a primary power source in the house.  Added to which, even with the current price of electricity, it's going to take a heck of a long time to recoup the cost of buying it in the first place.

Goudy

Yes and some electrical items require what's known a Motor Starting, otherwise known as Inrush.

This is the excessive current flow experienced within a motor and its conductors during the first few moments following the energizing (switching on) of the motor.

Items with induction motors (like compressors in fridges or freezers and washing machines) often require 2 to 3.5 times the power to start the motors idle shaft and most of these types of motors will switch on and off repeatedly as they run for any length of time.

It's a common problem when people try plugging these items into mobile generators.
They look and work out the generator is rated to power them, but just haven't factored in the Inrush needed to start the motors up.

Herzlos

It's also going to take a long time to repay the £1600 outlay. 

You'd be better investing in more power efficient electronics, better windows/insulation etc. 

Camping batteries often don't put out more than about 300w so you can run some lights, charge phones laptops etc, but they aren't intended to run any domestic systems.

Goudy

What about one of these on your balcony?
https://mossy.earth/guides/energy/home-biodigester#how-does-a-home-biodigester-work
You could do a deal with all the local dog walkers!

jimjames

You might want to post on the Green forum here, you'll get a lot of people who have solar setups replying.

When I saw the thread title I thought you were referring to an EV as portable power station

Kimbers71

Great thanks everyone for your comments.  I had read about the power surge that occurs when you switch an electrical item on so thats definitely an issue, I love the idea of the bio-digestor and will read more about this..... and I haven't yet navigated my way around the forum so thats really helpful to know about the green forum. xx

andyhawes

I asked a similar question about generators and the general response was that solar was a better and more cost-effective route to go.

forgotmyname

Every now and then these portable power packs get talked about a bit and the it fades until the next one. Most of the devices you
mention uses motors that will require a lot more power to start than the average power pack puts out. Startup current maybe 2 or 3
times the actual running current.

With reviews watch how often they switch on a high power device like a kettle and then cut away rather quickly.  Watched one item
being tested and it only output something like 70% of its rated capacity. Repeated the test but lowered the output current which will
give a higher figure still far short of its quoted capacity, still below 80%.

Also check the battery life how many charges and at what %?   Run it below 60% could affect the battery life considerably.

Panels feeding into the grid but using as much of that power in the daytime will probabls save you more.

marlot

jimjames said:

You might want to post on the Green forum here, you'll get a lot of people who have solar setups replying.

When I saw the thread title I thought you were referring to an EV as portable power station

I notice that the kia ev6 has a 230v outlet that can be used when camping.  https://accessoires-kia.be/ev6/comfort/CVH68AK0U0/

mgfvvc

If you've got £1600 to invest and want to cut your bills, have a read of the Ripple Energy thread.