You don't need solar panels on your roof to get power from the sun — these days you can fold panels up into something small enough to carry like a briefcase.The bigger question is how you might incorporate these other ways of generating solar power into your life.Portable solar panels are my primary source of emergency power We don't own a gas generator — we pull these out instead Close I have a home filled with portable power stations of various sizes.
Some are big and designed to supply power to my entire home, like the Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus.Others serve as a UPS designed for specific use cases, like the Bluetti FridgePower mounted to the wall behind my fridge.No matter how large a portable power station gets, unless you've purchased an abundance of expansion batteries, they're not designed to supply multiple days of power.
I keep folding portable solar panels on hand in preparation for those extended multi-day outages that sometimes follow a hurricane or winter storm.If you want a very powerful solar panel in a surprisingly small package, check out the Bluetti SORA 500.Despite outputting 500 watts, it's similar in size to the 200W panels I purchased a few years ago and much lighter than the 400W Anker SOLIX PS400 panels I have from back then.
That said, Anker has since given the PS400 a complete redesign.The new bifacial Anker SOLIX PS400 may not be as compact or powerful as the SORA 500, but it's lighter and much faster to set up.Just know that you'll need to buy smaller solar panels for smaller portable power stations.
Don't make the mistake I did and fry your unit by using an incompatible panel that's too powerful.Charge our backup lights It's time to buy camping lights, even if you never camp Close If you're not a camper, it's easy to miss out on how innovative portable lighting has become.There are lights shaped like lanterns in the form of a portable power station, and there are any number of small lights designed to occupy a corner of a tent and recharge via solar during the day.
My personal favorite tiny solar light to have one hand is now known as the BioLite Solar Flexlight.It has a long, sturdy tail you can mold into a hook to hang from doorknobs and cabinet handles.I can even wrap it around my wrist several times to form a bracelet, freeing up my hands.
The battery lasts a long time, and when it gets low, I can recharge it by a USB-C or simply leave it somewhere sunny to collect power using the small solar panel on its back.If you're looking for safe and clean emergency lighting to take the place of a candle, consider an inflatable light like the Luci lantern from MPOWERED.You can easily leave it in a kid's room at night and toss it on the porch to recharge during the day.
There's currently one sitting in my daughter's desk.Power my yard tools Making the most of my battery-powered yard equipment Close The beauty of electrifying everything is how easy it is to swap out one power source for another.I have long charged my battery-powered yard equipment from a wall outlet, but now I have another option.
I can plug them into a portable power station without having to trek back to the house.Here's the thing, yard equipment is energy-intensive.They can easily drain a 1,000Wh power station in an hour or two.
Fortunately, when the weather outside is ideal for mowing the lawn, whacking weeds, or shredding branches into mulch, then it's also ideal for putting out solar panels.Large solar panels can keep a portable power station alive long enough to get the job done and return the charge back to 100% within a couple of hours afterward.Take portable electronics off-grid It doesn't impact the electric bill much, but it's a good habit While there is absolutely a place for large portable power stations, my favorites are the tiny ones.
I have more regularly used my tiny Anker SOLIX C300 than my bulky F3800s.This is still a great unit, but even less well-known brands now offer options that in some ways are even more compelling.The VTOMAN Jump 600X portable power station has the same capacity and output, but it's easier to carry around the house and feels lighter.
It also supports jumper cables.Small stations like these charge up in only a few hours of direct sun using a 100W portable solar panel.These stations and panels are both so lightweight that it's easy to just toss them outside on a sunny day purely as an opportunity not to let the free energy go to waste.
Yet these portable power stations still hold enough capacity that they may be all you need to charge your phone and portable devices like a Nintendo Switch throughout the week.This may not impact the electric bill all that much, but habits like these make us more resilient during emergencies.Beware of solar panel gimmicks I love solar power, but it's not the ideal solution to everything.
Panels need to sit in the sun for hours to do any good, so integrating solar into something like a laptop might not be as cool as you'd think.It's better to use a solar panel to charge a battery and then let that battery power your devices.That said, there are some outdoor solar innovations I'm keeping an eye on, like Anker's solar umbrella showed off last year and Jackery's solar gazebo.
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