Battery generators - what & why?

[British Red]

I have an Ecoflow Delta Max 2000 along with 2 x Ecoflow Delta Max Smart batteries giving me 6kW of storage. With 2 x 400W solar panels the system provided around half my electricity for 6 months last year, running the fridge, freezer, washing machine, microwave, breadmaker, miscellaneous charging jobs (phone, iPad, LED lanterns, etc.). As it is doing now as we "speak".

I also have a Jackery Explorer 1000 with 2 x 100W panels. This generally powers the TV, video, satbox, and occasionally one or other of the PCs during those same 6 months. Also misc. charging jobs. The panels aren't waterproof so, if necessary, I occasionally charge it from the Ecoflow. Also portable for camping!

Expensive setup, but it saves me a few bob even though, for me, there is no break-even / payback point. It's comfortable knowing that I have a useful backup when things go awry. I also have an old Honda 2500 petrol generator, which could be called into action if necessary, albeit not connected into the house system (yet). I have some Aspen Long Life Fuel for this, which has a life of 5 years. Expensive, but better than petrol sitting there in the genny, going off...'til you need it!

That's a very impressive setup. I confess that as good as the Jackery marketing is, solar panels that aren't waterproof was a big red flag for me. Bang for you buck the Ecoflow seems to be the current best bet.

I fitted a propane kit to our Honda gennie for the very reasons of fuel life

 

[Stew]

That's a very impressive setup. I confess that as good as the Jackery marketing is, solar panels that aren't waterproof was a big red flag for me. Bang for you buck the Ecoflow seems to be the current best bet.

I fitted a propane kit to our Honda gennie for the very reasons of fuel life

Yep, solar panels that can’t cope with the rain is just bonkers.

 

[TeeDee]

Ref Jackery units and the like - can you program them to come on intermittently ?

If you attached one to a well insulated Freezer or freezer could you connect it up and have it run so 1 hour on - 1 hour off cycle to prolong the draw/running time ?

 

[British Red]

Ref Jackery units and the like - can you program them to come on intermittently ?

If you attached one to a well insulated Freezer or freezer could you connect it up and have it run so 1 hour on - 1 hour off cycle to prolong the draw/running time ?

No easily no. You can put a smart switch between the power station & the freezer, BUT you must have the inverter on the power station turned on which drains power just by being switched on

 

[Glow_worm]

That's where the advantage of a separate component system can outweigh the additional cost, there is more flexiblility. Many Victron inverters, for example, have an 'eco' mode where they regularly briefly switch on, if a load is detected they wake up, if not they continue sleeping.

 

[Falstaff]

There is a plan for households to run their house off their electric car battery if network supply fails. In theory this will cover a few hours or a day whilst the power comes back up.

However, if NESO is desperate for a local grid supply they have first dibs on car battery power by accessing it remotely thru' the smartswitch charging cable.
That's probably only going to happen in a serious extreme local emergency situation though, e.g. maybe the one cable into an area goes down? They have a lot of other options before getting to that stage. This is a good explainer:

Why was the UK’s ‘blackout prevention system’ activated on 14 October? | New Civil Engineer

At the time of the event, the system issued a ‘capacity market notice’ (CMN), informing the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and other grid

www.newcivilengineer.com

 

[British Red]

That's where the advantage of a separate component system can outweigh the additional cost, there is more flexiblility. Many Victron inverters, for example, have an 'eco' mode where they regularly briefly switch on, if a load is detected they wake up, if not they continue sleeping.

The problem is that my freezers run a small load even if the compressor is idle

 

[Glow_worm]

They're getting too clever, that's the problem!

 

[British Red]

They're getting too clever, that's the problem!

Yup, in the old mechanical thermocouple days it was easier