Thank you Jessica. Any wisdom for those of us that rent and can’t make physical changes to the house? And do/will you have an article on storing the electricity being generated?
The solar generators will store roughly 2kw hours of electricity. It's enough to keep some essentials running as long as the panels are plugged in. At night, you just have to...get through without completely depleting the battery. These companies sell addon batteries to increase capacity, but they're pricey (still cheaper than rooftop). The next section of this guide will cover LifePO4 battery setups, and you could conceivably mount the charge controller and inverter on a plywood project panel instead of a wall. With the passthrough panel I talked about here, to route the panels through, you don't make any changes to the apartment. You just close the window over it. If you have screens, you'll need to make some tiny cuts to pass the MC4 cables through. We used to rent. If my landlord came after me for cutting screens a little, I would tell them to just take it out of my deposit when/if I moved or just pay for them, and I would remind them that little cuts in screens is probably preferable to them than having someone die from heat stress, etc, in one of their units. If it came to that or risking death in a heatwave, I would pay for screens. I've covered some of this in the current guide, and planning to go deeper soon. Hope this helps!
This is very helpful, Jessica. We have a few Ecoflow Delta Pros with extra batteries we’ve accumulated over the past few years, and currently use during power outages. We also have purchased numerous solar panels which we haven’t set up outside yet. I’m trying to plan a way to avoid hauling the Delta Pros up stairways for solar charging during an extended outage and thinking I could maybe use a connected solar generator(s) and then charge the Pros with the generator(s)? Yes, all of these items are expensive, but less than rooftop (as you pointed out) and we have kids with special needs who cannot survive without power, so we go without many things now to put money toward this endeavor. I have to look more into that option, and your research and writing has been very helpful! Thank you for your hard work!!
Thanks! My understanding is that the EcoFlow Delta Pro is already a solar generator, so you should be able to connect solar panels directly to it with an adapter. You can also use what's called a transfer switch to connect the generator(s) to a breaker box/panel, but that requires an electrician. So far, I've worked out how to power the generator, but like you point out, getting power from the generator to bigger appliances is a challenge. So far, the best we've come up with is extension cords, but that's not ideal. We're in the same boat: running solar panels through an upstairs window to a generator or battery like the guide shows, then just doing the best we can from there. If you have a garage with a window, you can run the solar panels through that to the generator(s), then hook the generators to the breaker box via a transfer switch. I'll keep working on all this for the next version of this section. :)
“Watts per hour” is a meaningless term. Appliances use watts, period. Watts times hours equals watt-hours. When I read inaccurate terms like this I immediately discount the entire article.
Jessica has been a work researching possible ways of living in this world as a gift to all of us. A gentle correction in terms is reasonable as contribution, but not with out a thank you first and foremost.
Thank you Jessica. Any wisdom for those of us that rent and can’t make physical changes to the house? And do/will you have an article on storing the electricity being generated?
The solar generators will store roughly 2kw hours of electricity. It's enough to keep some essentials running as long as the panels are plugged in. At night, you just have to...get through without completely depleting the battery. These companies sell addon batteries to increase capacity, but they're pricey (still cheaper than rooftop). The next section of this guide will cover LifePO4 battery setups, and you could conceivably mount the charge controller and inverter on a plywood project panel instead of a wall. With the passthrough panel I talked about here, to route the panels through, you don't make any changes to the apartment. You just close the window over it. If you have screens, you'll need to make some tiny cuts to pass the MC4 cables through. We used to rent. If my landlord came after me for cutting screens a little, I would tell them to just take it out of my deposit when/if I moved or just pay for them, and I would remind them that little cuts in screens is probably preferable to them than having someone die from heat stress, etc, in one of their units. If it came to that or risking death in a heatwave, I would pay for screens. I've covered some of this in the current guide, and planning to go deeper soon. Hope this helps!
Thank you very much indeed! I’m looking forward to your next article. I wish you a Happy and prosperous New Year!
This is very helpful, Jessica. We have a few Ecoflow Delta Pros with extra batteries we’ve accumulated over the past few years, and currently use during power outages. We also have purchased numerous solar panels which we haven’t set up outside yet. I’m trying to plan a way to avoid hauling the Delta Pros up stairways for solar charging during an extended outage and thinking I could maybe use a connected solar generator(s) and then charge the Pros with the generator(s)? Yes, all of these items are expensive, but less than rooftop (as you pointed out) and we have kids with special needs who cannot survive without power, so we go without many things now to put money toward this endeavor. I have to look more into that option, and your research and writing has been very helpful! Thank you for your hard work!!
Thanks! My understanding is that the EcoFlow Delta Pro is already a solar generator, so you should be able to connect solar panels directly to it with an adapter. You can also use what's called a transfer switch to connect the generator(s) to a breaker box/panel, but that requires an electrician. So far, I've worked out how to power the generator, but like you point out, getting power from the generator to bigger appliances is a challenge. So far, the best we've come up with is extension cords, but that's not ideal. We're in the same boat: running solar panels through an upstairs window to a generator or battery like the guide shows, then just doing the best we can from there. If you have a garage with a window, you can run the solar panels through that to the generator(s), then hook the generators to the breaker box via a transfer switch. I'll keep working on all this for the next version of this section. :)
All excellent thoughts, thank you!
“Watts per hour” is a meaningless term. Appliances use watts, period. Watts times hours equals watt-hours. When I read inaccurate terms like this I immediately discount the entire article.
Jessica has been a work researching possible ways of living in this world as a gift to all of us. A gentle correction in terms is reasonable as contribution, but not with out a thank you first and foremost.
Thank you. A little decency goes a long way.
Oh boy. So sorry you had to deal with this.
Exactly!!!