If you find yourself in a situation where you have no electricity, an inconvenience can become a real problem quickly. Whether it is a power outage from a storm or a fire, or if it is a long term grid down situation, you will need a back up power source. You will want to have lighting to move around safely. You will need to charge communication devices so you can reach out and be reached. In a grid down scenario, you may even be able to charge your battery powered tools to help repair and rebuild damage to your home.
Alternative Power Sources
You could go with a gas generator, but I don’t like that option as it requires fuel that I may not have or may run out of. It is loud and attracts attention, and quite frankly it is overkill for most situations you’ll face. I prefer a much smaller, more discreet option like a solar generator. With a portable solar generator you can take it with you wherever you go. You can take it on a camping trip. You can take it on a long road trip. Additionally, you can take it to a friend’s house who may be out of power when you are not. And because it can be recharged by solar power, you’ll never run the risk of running out of fuel/diesel.
For this reason, I decided to go with a Solar Generator for my needs. I work from my laptop and travel often so I throw this in my truck and know I can charge my devices for multiple days before I have to recharge the generator. I’ve taken it on multiple camping and hunting trips as well. And when the power goes out at home, I’ll be prepared.
Jackery Solar Power Station
I love the Jackery line of products and highly recommend them. I have the Jackery Explorer 300 and use it often. The Explorer 300 wont run a home refrigerator, but it will run a small fan, and of course all of your smaller electronics. But you should explore their more powerful units if you need to run refrigerators or other large appliances.
The Explorer 300 has two AC outlets, three USB ports, a DC port (which can aslo be used for charging from your car), and an input port to charge from the wall or solar panel. The LCD display shows you how much power is remaining, the power output level, and the input level during charging.
You can charge this from a standard 110 Wall outlet, from your car cigarette lighter, as well as from a solar panel. I have this Rich solar panel, which works well for me, but Jackery has a whole line of their own Solar Panels to choose from as well.
I will do a video review soon, but I have tested the charging time for the Jackery Explorer 300 from the solar panel. I was able to bring the Explorer 300 from a 20% charge to a 97% charge with a 100 Watt solar panel in 4.5 hours. Now of course, your conditions may vary those results. Full sun is best as even a partly cloudy sky can significantly reduce the power from the solar panel.
All in all, I’m a huge fan of Jackery’s line of products and the Jackery Explorer 300 in particular. If you need portable power, or backup power from your home, I highly recommend one of the Solar Power Stations from Jackery.
For more information on emergency preparedness during a power outage, see our post here.
Note: I am an affiliate with Amazon and may receive a commission from products purchased from Amazon. This helps me continue to put out emergency preparedness information for you.
