Has anyone bought a Solar generator for a power outage?

[Rainger99]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.

[Keefelane66]

There is nothing I am aware of that will run a household refrigerator. Without a substantial investment and being portable running 120volts.

[MrFlorida]

Won't have much sunlight during a storm.

[Papa_lecki]

Won't have much sunlight during a storm.

I think he is talking for the 3 or 4days after, before power is restored.

[Blueblaze]

You need about 3500 watts minimum to do what you want to do. That's a roof full of solar cells. A 60-cell array puts out about 300 watts and is about 5 by 3 ft. So you need a dozen of those.

Then (assuming the sun shines during the hurricane and the hurricane doesn't remove your roof full of solar cells), you need somewhere to store the energy, to get you through the night. A 100 amp-hour lead-acid deep-cycle battery costs about $300. You'll need 35 of them to run your stuff for an hour, or 280 to get you through the night. I guess you can park your car in the driveway.

It might be simpler to just buy a gas generator. You can get a 10,500 watt generator that runs on gas, propane, or natural gas for about $2500.

By the way, scale up the math to discover why you can't run a country on solar power, either. You'd need a solar array bigger than the entire state of Texas.

[villagetinker]

I tend to agree with above comments; however, you can go with a smaller generator. Get the EXACT power requirements for the equipment that you need to operate then look at the available generators. If you can go with inverter based these are very quiet. You will need to make arrangements ahead of time for getting the power into the house. I would suggest a suitable outdoor power receptacle with suitable wiring to a location where you could use temporary extension cords.
Now having stated this, if you are in SECO territory, they have been excellent over the last 9 years with outages that I could count on one hand and most only a few minutes. There were extended outages (during IRMA) in the historic area (lots of overhead lines), and I have heard of some possible problems in the Leesburg area.
Bottom line have not seen the need for a generator in our area of The Villages (just south of 466A) SECO territory.

[tophcfa]

They are going to sell those solar generators at the new Costco being built in the Villages.

[Bill14564]

Try googling, there were a couple sites that discussed this and gave ideas. Not going to be as cheap as a gas generator but solar might be in the neighborhood of $1,000.

If it were me I would look into a nice, quiet Honda generator.

[Decadeofdave]

I think what rainger99 is asking about is Generac power storage system, electric storage - powered by solar, I do not knowing anything about this storage system, have seen ads for it.

[keepsake]

Done alot of this. Here are some numbers.
I have the LiFeP04 batteries. 17 will give you 14 kw of storage. That'll run 200 watt fridge for days. That battery bank is $2500. A hybrid inverter to charge and make electric 240v from those batteries is $3500. It'll charge from ac mains for that total of about $6000. No solar yet. So you go into storm with batteries fully charged and run minimal fridge, lights. 1000 watts for 14 hours is the math.

[M78BC]

As usual it's disappointing reading all the inaccurate responses.

You can meet all your needs, which you described as a fridge and a few lights, with a 1,000 watt generator.

How do I know? I did it for five days.

Your fridge draws about 140 watts (yes it is that efficient) with a peak draw of nearly 500 at start up (it runs 50 -60% of the time), a fan draws 30 -120, your router 30, the TV is around 100 or less. As you can see gasoline 1,000 watt generator will serve you well. You will be comfortable and if you have a tankless water heater you'll be able to have hot showers as those only use 60 watts for the electronics.

Now, can you do it with solar? Yes but you won't like it. Let's say your average draw is 300 watts per hour. 300 watts x 24 hours x 3 days = 21,600 watt hours.

At retail on Amazon with solar panels, a solar generator is $1.00 per watt hour.

Back to the small generator, will you be able to have enough gas on hand? Yes, easily. The Honda eu1000 uses .6 gallons every 6.8 hours. If you know a storm is coming top off your cart and fill a five gallon gas can. If there is no power outage use the gas in your car. Simple.

[MrChip72]

You're honestly better off getting a portable generator like the Honda EU2200 (around $1200) or even a cheaper competitor's model. You can run your fridge and most of your appliances/TV for days on a very small amount of gas. I had a power outage way up north and ran everything I needed like TV, lights and fridge for several days including a 1500w heater with mine (outage was in the middle of winter with below freezing temps).

[MartinSE]

I would go a different way, I would invest in the battery pack with enough storage to do what you want and then double it.

Then how you fill the battery pack is up to you, purchase power from SECO, use a small solar panel to charge it over a period of months? A bigger panel to change it over weeks, whatever make the most cost sense to you.

If your real concern is the food in the fridge, then I would suggest a chest freezer instead. Keep it cold, and if power goes out and is going to stay out a while, move everything to the freezer and don't open it any more than absolutely required. A new good chest freezer will last 48 hours if it isn't opened. The fridge will last 4 to 6 hours if it isn't opened.

[Topspinmo]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.

Just buy ford lightning……:)

[PJ_Smiley]

Take a look here:
Go Anywhere with Portable Power - Lion Energy (https://lionenergy.com/)

[MrChip72]

I would go a different way, I would invest in the battery pack with enough storage to do what you want and then double it.

I have a setup like that up north. 8 six volt batteries that were around $250 each, then you still have to factor in the solar panels, charge controller and invertor. I don't see a setup like this making any sense in TV. Buying a cheap generator, or just tossing your wasted food each time would still be much more cost effective.

[AZ SLIM]

They are going to sell those solar generators at the new Costco being built in the Villages.

I've seen a Villages Costco mentioned on a couple threads this morning. Is this sarcasm or wishfull thinking, or has an announcement been made about a new Costco?

[skippy05]

Sell your gas car and buy a Hyundai Ioniq 5 Electric Car. Next, buy Hyundai's V2L connector/adapter. Next, buy a 220v car charger and install it in your garage. Now, simply keep your car charged at home and stop buying gas. This will add about $30/month to your electric bill and eliminate your need to buy gas. Next, during a power outage, unplug the car charger from the car. Next, plug the V2L adapter into the car's charger port. This provides you with a 110v power outlet which is powered by your car's large battery. This will run your refrigerator for many many days, plus a few lights and a fan. The car has a driving range of around 311 miles on a charge. The car is around 45k. Order one from Jenkins Hyundai in Leesburg and it will be available in around 2 weeks.

[MarylandTerps]

1. Up north we used a portable generator to power most of house during power outages (wouldn't handle air conditioning but gas furnace OK). Building code made automatic natural gas backup generator impossible. Installed a manual transfer switch so just plugged generator into side of house when needed - no extension cords. Used propane generator so no gasoline storage problems.

2. Upon moving to The Villages, we installed an automatic natural gas backup generator, which is what I always wanted up north. Dumb purchase. Realized since then that it's very unlikely that we will ever lose power in this part of The Villages. I also always wanted a home elevator but one story house . . .

[Papa_lecki]

I've seen a Villages Costco mentioned on a couple threads this morning. Is this sarcasm or wishfull thinking, or has an announcement been made about a new Costco?

It’s sarcasm.

[Sandy and Ed]

Sell your gas car and buy a Hyundai Ioniq 5 Electric Car. Next, buy Hyundai's V2L connector/adapter. Next, buy a 220v car charger and install it in your garage. Now, simply keep your car charged at home and stop buying gas. This will add about $30/month to your electric bill and eliminate your need to buy gas. Next, during a power outage, unplug the car charger from the car. Next, plug the V2L adapter into the car's charger port. This provides you with a 110v power outlet which is powered by your car's large battery. This will run your refrigerator for many many days, plus a few lights and a fan. The car has a driving range of around 311 miles on a charge. The car is around 45k. Order one from Jenkins Hyundai in Leesburg and it will be available in around 2 weeks.
Now that sounds, repeat sounds, interesting. Would love to hear some feedback from others about this novel idea. If this would work it might be another marketing idea for Jenkins

[vintagebob]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.

I have a setup for my wine cabinets. I currently have 3 portable solar generators with a portable solar array for each.

The Bluetti AC200Max w/ 3 200watt solar panels
The new Jackery 2000 w/2 200 watt panels
and an older Jackery 800 w/2 100 watt Panels.

EcoFlow is another good brand.

They are not cheap.

For a refrigerator, I would get an Iceco electric cooler (I have the V42) which will only draw 55 watts compared to the 150-200 watts of a home refrigerator. They can maintain any temperature you want from freezer to wine storage (50*). The bigger ones have dual storage.

The reality is that it will cost you a lot more to power your refrigerator than the value of the food inside of it, unless you have all Waygu beef. ; )

[Hockey dude]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.
Try a small dual fuel generator that runs on gas or propane.

[eeroger]

We lost power during Irma for about 20 hours. We have an inexpensive portable 3500 Champion gas generator that served us well. It ran the refrigerator, coffee pot, table lamp, & charged cell phones. We only used 5 gallons of gas. We did not run it non-stop for the whole 20 hours. Only enough to keep refrig/freezer at required temp. When we bought the generator we also purchased a special heavy duty extension cord to plug into the generator with three prongs coming off of it. You can then plug 3 of your regular extension cords into this special item.

[jimkerr]

You need a gas generator.

[airstreamingypsy]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a Predator generator. Just as quiet as Honda and about 1/2 the price. Very highly rated. You can even convert them to propane.

[jimschlaefer]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.

I'm new to TV, but how often is power lost around here? Coming from an all-electric home North of Dallas, Tx, we managed pretty well over 25 years with only a couple major outages.

[NotGolfer]

What VillageTinker said is all true.....we live between 466 and 466a....during Irma we never lost power. I can maybe remember one time we lost power for a short period of time due to someone hitting a transformer. Seco is good about getting things working quickly. Oh...we've lived here nearly 13 years. The historic side had several issues during Irma....there was flooding, power was out and folks had to go elsewhere. IF you're new to FL and all it's weather I understand the concerns. Unless you have severe health issues I wouldn't put money into a generator that you might never use.

[scottid]

I am more concerned about the possibility of blackouts due to power grid issues than storm related outages. With Biden's green mandate, coal and nuclear power plants are shutting down and there will not be enough power supply when there is peak demand. Also, we may again see interruption of the grid due to cyber hackers. I agree that solar powered inverters appear to be a nice solution but they are impractical at this time. I have a large propane tank for my pool, so I am installing a duel fuel portable Weatinghouse 9500W generator that runs on gas or propane. This will be connected to my main with a lockout switch.

[tophcfa]

Sell your gas car and buy a Hyundai Ioniq 5 Electric Car. Next, buy Hyundai's V2L connector/adapter. Next, buy a 220v car charger and install it in your garage. Now, simply keep your car charged at home and stop buying gas. This will add about $30/month to your electric bill and eliminate your need to buy gas. Next, during a power outage, unplug the car charger from the car. Next, plug the V2L adapter into the car's charger port. This provides you with a 110v power outlet which is powered by your car's large battery. This will run your refrigerator for many many days, plus a few lights and a fan. The car has a driving range of around 311 miles on a charge. The car is around 45k. Order one from Jenkins Hyundai in Leesburg and it will be available in around 2 weeks.

Big problem with the first four words of the above post. How would we drive back and fourth between our two homes that are almost 1,400 miles apart? Better solution would be to simply buy a small gas generator.

[Peachbelle]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.
Two brands to check out
1. Ecoflow Delta Flow
2. Blueetti AC200max

[Warren]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.

I saw one advertised a few days ago: Patriate Solar Generator 1800. Don't know anything about what i was looking at, but it seemed interesting. Check it out and let me know what you think.

[TrapX]

I would only want a propane fueled generator, and would never run gasoline in it. Propane does not spoil over time. Sure, you can put stabil in gasoline, but it will go bad eventually. Propane also stores much easier.

[Romad]

I have a setup for my wine cabinets. I currently have 3 portable solar generators with a portable solar array for each.

The Bluetti AC200Max w/ 3 200watt solar panels
The new Jackery 2000 w/2 200 watt panels
and an older Jackery 800 w/2 100 watt Panels.

EcoFlow is another good brand.

They are not cheap.

For a refrigerator, I would get an Iceco electric cooler (I have the V42) which will only draw 55 watts compared to the 150-200 watts of a home refrigerator. They can maintain any temperature you want from freezer to wine storage (50*). The bigger ones have dual storage.

The reality is that it will cost you a lot more to power your refrigerator than the value of the food inside of it, unless you have all Waygu beef. ; )

This was very informative. Are there any safety problems with the battery units? How long does it take to charge with the 200 watt panels?

[Michael G.]

I would only want a propane fueled generator, and would never run gasoline in it. Propane does not spoil over time. Sure, you can put stabil in gasoline, but it will go bad eventually. Propane also stores much easier.

Seems strange that the state of Florida allows buried propane tanks.
Just seems it would be a real mess if there's a leak to contaminate the ground from rusted metal over time. :shrug:

[Win1894]

Take a look here:
Go Anywhere with Portable Power - Lion Energy (https://lionenergy.com/)

The Lion Energy Safari ME holds slightly more energy (922 Wh) than a car battery, and all for a mere $2350. Brilliant!

[vintagebob]

This was very informative. Are there any safety problems with the battery units? How long does it take to charge with the 200 watt panels?

The Jackery units are Lithium Ion, so come with normal Lithium Ion safety issues (i.e. potential fire hazard if shorted out). I've never had a problem with my phone/iPad/laptop, etc., so I am not concerned. Just pay attention.

The Bluetti is a Lithium Phosphate chemistry which is safer but makes the unit heavier but also increases the useable charge cycles significantly.

Charge times are tricky. Bluetti gives a charge time of 3 - 3.5 hours for 900W of solar input. My 3 panels are rated at 600W, so I would guess 6+ hours with good light conditions. The unit does let you charge while in use which is nice.

The Jackery will be similar but does allow for up to 1200W solar input if you want. I can currently only provide 600W. So again 6+ hours in good light.

The main knock against the Jackery is the proprietary solar panel connections, which makes it more difficult to use third party panels. The Jackery is more plug and play though.

[DAVES]

I tend to agree with above comments; however, you can go with a smaller generator. Get the EXACT power requirements for the equipment that you need to operate then look at the available generators. If you can go with inverter based these are very quiet. You will need to make arrangements ahead of time for getting the power into the house. I would suggest a suitable outdoor power receptacle with suitable wiring to a location where you could use temporary extension cords.
Now having stated this, if you are in SECO territory, they have been excellent over the last 9 years with outages that I could count on one hand and most only a few minutes. There were extended outages (during IRMA) in the historic area (lots of overhead lines), and I have heard of some possible problems in the Leesburg area.
Bottom line have not seen the need for a generator in our area of The Villages (just south of 466A) SECO territory.

Far from an expert. I was thinking about a small generator capable of running our refrigerator. It is capacitor starting so you need a generator considerably larger than the running watts. Most newer refrigerators are electronically controlled. May not work well with a generator.

Solar, obviously for use at night and for stable supply you need batteries. Batteries store DC so you need to convert it to AC. Both batteries and converting to AC have improved dramatically. I just saw an ad on TV for a Generac system. Of course it is an ad. The system looks like it is designed to fit in your garage with the collectors of course on your roof. Is it worth it?
The answer to that changes if your power is out. Gasoline does not store well.
During a hurricane you may be locked in your home unable to buy gasoline.
We do not have gas, so no stove. People with gas barbeques. There are lights like the coleman that will run off those tanks. We were not in Florida, famous for hurricanes. Hurricane Sandy wiped out our power for 4-5 days. Truly an adventure. Better than it would be here, we had a gas stove. I have a bunch of Colman lanterns. You can read by them.
Might be wise to buy one or two NOW and be sure to buy extra mantles. Like generators before or after a hurricane the will be impossible to find

[DAVES]

Done alot of this. Here are some numbers.
I have the LiFeP04 batteries. 17 will give you 14 kw of storage. That'll run 200 watt fridge for days. That battery bank is $2500. A hybrid inverter to charge and make electric 240v from those batteries is $3500. It'll charge from ac mains for that total of about $6000. No solar yet. So you go into storm with batteries fully charged and run minimal fridge, lights. 1000 watts for 14 hours is the math.

You may be right. I looked at a generator. Frankly it was listed on the internet. It was unbelievably inexpensive. First of all the company never shipped it. I did get my money back. My research showed we would need 2000 plus watts to run just our refrigerator. If, I recall our refrigerator draws 600 watt start up. A sure to occur problem. I hear you have a generator. Could I borrow it and run my refrigerator? And so on through the villages.

[DAVES]

Sell your gas car and buy a Hyundai Ioniq 5 Electric Car. Next, buy Hyundai's V2L connector/adapter. Next, buy a 220v car charger and install it in your garage. Now, simply keep your car charged at home and stop buying gas. This will add about $30/month to your electric bill and eliminate your need to buy gas. Next, during a power outage, unplug the car charger from the car. Next, plug the V2L adapter into the car's charger port. This provides you with a 110v power outlet which is powered by your car's large battery. This will run your refrigerator for many many days, plus a few lights and a fan. The car has a driving range of around 311 miles on a charge. The car is around 45k. Order one from Jenkins Hyundai in Leesburg and it will be available in around 2 weeks.

There are always alternatives. I have a friend who bought 180 acres in the woods of North Carolina. Last I heard they were building a waterwheel to generate electricity.

[Bill14564]

You may be right. I looked at a generator. Frankly it was listed on the internet. It was unbelievably inexpensive. First of all the company never shipped it. I did get my money back. My research showed we would need 2000 plus watts to run just our refrigerator. If, I recall our refrigerator draws 600 watt start up. A sure to occur problem. I hear you have a generator. Could I borrow it and run my refrigerator? And so on through the villages.

If your refrigerator draws 600W at startup then you don't need three times that (2000W) to run it.

I have run three refrigerators and a freezer from a 3500W generator.

*IF* I were to buy one now I would look into a quiet generator like the Honda 2200 or another that has been suggested in this thread. But, given the history of power outages in the Villages I will not likely buy one anytime soon.

Solar-based generator: Be sure to calculate available run time off the battery and charging time. If the panels can't charge the battery quickly enough then you'll eventually reach a point where you will be out of electricity.

Patriot generator: Looks like an as-seen-on-tv product. No technical details given for charging time or battery capacity.

Gas generator: Needs to run outside and your neighbors won't thank you if your loud generator keeps them awake. Storing fuel could be an issue for some but I have a five gallon can for the golf cart that will serve for the generator as well.

EV-based generator: Might work but you're on borrowed time - you are betting that the power to your house will be restored before the battery in the vehicle runs low. Plus, you have to choose between running the refrigerator and running to the store - the vehicle can't be in two places at once. On the other hand, if you already have an EV with the necessary wiring then you're in good shape.

As others have mentioned, $1,000 and up for any of these solutions is probably more than the cost of the food that would be lost in the refrigerator.

[jancap27]

We bought a Jackery Explorer 880 mid-size solar generator & got to use it the very next day during a brief outage! It can only power a very small portable frig, but handles TV's, lights & fans well. If you go on their website you will see a chart listing their various size generators and what appliances they can handle and for how long. Note: it can be used while the battery is being charged from the solar panels. It can also be charged from your car battery (and of course from an AC outlet when the outage is over).

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Another option which no one's mentioned is to have a second, "dormitory" sized fridge that can hold a couple bottles of beer, butter, half a dozen eggs, a container of milk, some cheese, maybe some salad ingredients, a package of steak, and a couple of ice cube trays in the freezer section. Keep it running in the garage or laundry shed. If the power goes out, transfer ONLY those items from your regular fridge to that one. Your solar generator will run that bad boy long enough that you don't have to worry about whether the sun comes out in the next couple of days or not. It'll also likely have plenty of juice left over to illuminate the home in the evening, but definitely not enough for the AC.

You can charge your tablet and/or phone from your car's USB port and if you have it, from your golf cart's USB port. You can cook your eggs on a griddle atop your grill outside your house - you can also learn to make a camp stove with newspaper and a coffee can (yes, you actually can do that). Then you don't even need a grill at all, just tin foil.

The toughest part of all of this will be living without air conditioning during a Florida summer. The refrigerator would be the least of my worries.

[MidWestIA]

I don't think it's needed Leesburg electric needs it way more that SECO but Pine Hills IRMA was only out 19 hours not any others SECO didn't even go out. I keep hearing of outages in some areas but I have not had them

[Lee Benjamin]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.
How many solar panels does it take to run a refrigerator?

Average fridges use between 300 and 800 watts of electricity to stay powered. On average, solar panels are rated at around 350 W, meaning you’ll need between one and three panels to power most refrigerators. Keep in mind, refrigerators don’t always use that much electricity, but to power them when they are consuming the most energy, you’ll need to design a solar system that can handle the higher usage times. Another thing to consider... Once the sun sets, the refrigerator has no power.

[dennisgavin]

or you could save a lot of money and buy a power inverter and hook it to your car battery. Leave the car running(outside) and run an extension cord to your fridge. Worked for me up north after a snow storm. could probably handle a fan as well.

[Robbb]

You need about 3500 watts minimum to do what you want to do. That's a roof full of solar cells. A 60-cell array puts out about 300 watts and is about 5 by 3 ft. So you need a dozen of those.

Then (assuming the sun shines during the hurricane and the hurricane doesn't remove your roof full of solar cells), you need somewhere to store the energy, to get you through the night. A 100 amp-hour lead-acid deep-cycle battery costs about $300. You'll need 35 of them to run your stuff for an hour, or 280 to get you through the night. I guess you can park your car in the driveway.

It might be simpler to just buy a gas generator. You can get a 10,500 watt generator that runs on gas, propane, or natural gas for about $2500.

By the way, scale up the math to discover why you can't run a country on solar power, either. You'd need a solar array bigger than the entire state of Texas.

Finally someone who gets it. You could cover your house with solar cells and would basically power a toaster. The fact is there are just not that many photons per square meter to generate power.

[Catfishjeff]

We lived in SoCal when the 1994 Northridge earthquake hit and we were without electricity for over two weeks. We also had to rebuild the house. So in 2019 we moved to TV, bought a great house and immediately installed a full house natural gas generator (22kw). It wasn’t a waste of money because we sleep better knowing it’s there and it increases the value of the house. A side note: We also had solar panels which did save a ton of money but then at SoCal Edison the rates were so high that before solar we often had $ 500 months. The electric here is way less expensive and these houses are much better insulated so no financial reason to go solar.

[Luggage]

Actually I believe you might be wrong about your statement about solar cells not being able to run the country. There are many quotes as well as back of the napkin figures that state 100 square miles of solar cells can run the country. What would be needing would be additional distribution wiring as well as immense storage for night time . There is even a famous YouTube clip video of Elon musk talking about this. Of course it would be several billions of dollars and no one is willing to pony up and the fact that you'd have about 2,000 utility commissions that would have to agree to this. Solar cells are an important part of the equation to even off the demand capacity during the day when electricity you use the most for air conditioning

[Luggage]

Just not cost effective

Finally someone who gets it. You could cover your house with solar cells and would basically power a toaster. The fact is there are just not that many photons per square meter to generate power.

[Bill14564]

You need about 3500 watts minimum to do what you want to do. That's a roof full of solar cells. A 60-cell array puts out about 300 watts and is about 5 by 3 ft. So you need a dozen of those.

Then (assuming the sun shines during the hurricane and the hurricane doesn't remove your roof full of solar cells), you need somewhere to store the energy, to get you through the night. A 100 amp-hour lead-acid deep-cycle battery costs about $300. You'll need 35 of them to run your stuff for an hour, or 280 to get you through the night. I guess you can park your car in the driveway.

It might be simpler to just buy a gas generator. You can get a 10,500 watt generator that runs on gas, propane, or natural gas for about $2500.

By the way, scale up the math to discover why you can't run a country on solar power, either. You'd need a solar array bigger than the entire state of Texas.

Finally someone who gets it. You could cover your house with solar cells and would basically power a toaster. The fact is there are just not that many photons per square meter to generate power.

Y'all need to hit the books more and then revise your computations.

A 3,500W generator *will* run three refrigerators, one freezer, a couple of incandescent bulbs, a wifi router, a gateway modem, a DVR box, and a television simultaneously. Been there, done that, still have the extension cords to prove it.

As others have posted, a refrigerator requires about 350W when it is running. When it is not running the solar cells could charge a battery for use overnight.

[OhioBuckeye]

Your smart because it’s going to get worse. EV’s are coming, some people are going to learn the hard way!

[Win1894]

Actually I believe you might be wrong about your statement about solar cells not being able to run the country. There are many quotes as well as back of the napkin figures that state 100 square miles of solar cells can run the country. What would be needing would be additional distribution wiring as well as immense storage for night time . There is even a famous YouTube clip video of Elon musk talking about this. Of course it would be several billions of dollars and no one is willing to pony up and the fact that you'd have about 2,000 utility commissions that would have to agree to this. Solar cells are an important part of the equation to even off the demand capacity during the day when electricity you use the most for air conditioning

It takes about 20 square miles of solar cells to generate the same power as a medium sized power plant so 100 square miles wouldn't do squat to cover the nation's electric power demands. A solar farm the size of Texas is closer to the truth. And don't forget that you need something to cover those frequent times when the "sun don't shine". Oh, and there is the little issue of the approximately 20 to 25 year lifespan of a solar panel with a loss of about 1 to 2% annual loss of efficiency. The point is that solar energy is a very, very diffuse energy source, and electric energy storage is problematic.

[defrey12]

Does anyone have any experience with a small solar generator? In case we have a power outage, I am looking for something to run the refrigerator, some portable fans, and a few lights. I don't need a whole house generator - just enough to get by for a few days. Thanks.

SOLAR IS WASTE OF $$$—can’t produce enough power to run a weed-whacker for 5 minutes. For $375 on Amazon we got a generator that’ll do what you want. Ours will run 1) a portable AC unit (a MUST if you want to sleep), fridge, and TV no problem…with power to spare.

[biker1]

No, the estimate is 10,000 square miles. That is a square 100 miles on a side. That is much different than 100 square miles.

Actually I believe you might be wrong about your statement about solar cells not being able to run the country. There are many quotes as well as back of the napkin figures that state 100 square miles of solar cells can run the country. What would be needing would be additional distribution wiring as well as immense storage for night time . There is even a famous YouTube clip video of Elon musk talking about this. Of course it would be several billions of dollars and no one is willing to pony up and the fact that you'd have about 2,000 utility commissions that would have to agree to this. Solar cells are an important part of the equation to even off the demand capacity during the day when electricity you use the most for air conditioning

[Win1894]

No, the estimate is 10,000 square miles. That is a square 100 miles on a side. That is much different than 100 square miles.

And that is being very generous.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

It's kind of funny (in a sad way) to see all the detractors on this forum nay-saying solar as an option. In Florida, I get it - you need a lot of energy to run an air conditioner 24/7/365. But it doesn't stop people all over the country from having 100% solar energy power their homes, all year round, though most of them also have wood stoves for heat, which is more efficient than a fireplace.

There are homes that use solar and "sell back" energy to the power company of any energy they don't actually use, which actually earns them a profit rather than an expense for electricity every month.

Then there are communities that are 100% "off grid" with plumbing, running hot water, heat in the winter, electricity, refrigerators and freezers, internet connection, etc. etc. Check out Dancing Rabbit Eco-Village for more on that. Solar and wind power, biomass and biogas, hydrogen, fire, water power - they aren't there yet, but their end goal is zero waste and 100% sustainability. All their homes are solar powered.

[Blueblaze]

Actually I believe you might be wrong about your statement about solar cells not being able to run the country. There are many quotes as well as back of the napkin figures that state 100 square miles of solar cells can run the country. What would be needing would be additional distribution wiring as well as immense storage for night time . There is even a famous YouTube clip video of Elon musk talking about this. Of course it would be several billions of dollars and no one is willing to pony up and the fact that you'd have about 2,000 utility commissions that would have to agree to this. Solar cells are an important part of the equation to even off the demand capacity during the day when electricity you use the most for air conditioning

Don't tell me about "studies". People lie. DO THE MATH YOURSELF. All the info you need is available on line. I just did the math to show you why you can't even run a few basic emergency necessities on solar from the square footage of your own roof. Why do you imagine that we could run a country on solar if you can't even run a single home on it?

100 square miles? Give me a break!

If you're math-challenged, just look out the window next time you fly to the West Coast and observe over "100 square miles" in California alone with your own lyin' eyes. They can't even run California on "100 square miles"!

[Bill14564]

Don't tell me about "studies". People lie. DO THE MATH YOURSELF. All the info you need is available on line. I just did the math to show you why you can't even run a few basic emergency necessities on solar from the square footage of your own roof. Why do you imagine that we could run a country on solar if you can't even run a single home on it?

100 square miles? Give me a break!

If you're math-challenged, just look out the window next time you fly to the West Coast and observe over "100 square miles" in California alone with your own lyin' eyes. They can't even run California on "100 square miles"!

Your math is wrong! Though 100 sq mi is wrong too.

[Win1894]

It's kind of funny (in a sad way) to see all the detractors on this forum nay-saying solar as an option. In Florida, I get it - you need a lot of energy to run an air conditioner 24/7/365. But it doesn't stop people all over the country from having 100% solar energy power their homes, all year round, though most of them also have wood stoves for heat, which is more efficient than a fireplace.

There are homes that use solar and "sell back" energy to the power company of any energy they don't actually use, which actually earns them a profit rather than an expense for electricity every month.

Then there are communities that are 100% "off grid" with plumbing, running hot water, heat in the winter, electricity, refrigerators and freezers, internet connection, etc. etc. Check out Dancing Rabbit Eco-Village for more on that. Solar and wind power, biomass and biogas, hydrogen, fire, water power - they aren't there yet, but their end goal is zero waste and 100% sustainability. All their homes are solar powered.

OrangeBlossomBaby - You've made these mostly misleading comments before. Allow me to explain. Below is a summary of the ‘self-sustaining communities’ you allude to that are not connected to the grid. I couldn’t stop laughing while reading through the community summaries. Does The Villages allow outhouses or homes made out of straw bales and mud or old tires? Do we have a source of geothermal steam or hydroelectric power that I'm not aware of ??

Drum roll please:
Three Rivers (Oregon) - Population - 80, powered by solar panels, wind turbines, and backup generators, water is periodically hauled in. It contains mostly vacation homes.

Greater World Earthship Community (New Mexico) - the world's largest off-grid, legal subdivision, 634 acres contains passive solar houses made of natural materials like adobe, recycled tires, and cans, each with1.8 kilowatts of solar power, solar-powered water collector and self-contained sewage treatment system. Propane powers the stoves. Note: NM is one of the sunniest locations in the US.

Breitenbbush (Oregon) - 85 residents - set on 154 acres doubles as a worker-owned cooperative that runs the Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat. Geothermal waters help to heat the complex of 100 buildings. The community has a hydropower plant to supply electricity.

Earthaven (NC)- 75 people on 320 acres. 12 "neighborhoods," each containing two to eight homesites. Everything is powered by solar panels and hydropower. Residents catch water off roofs for use in irrigation.

The list goes on.

[tophcfa]

We have a Yamaha 2200 inverter generator for reliable power in a pinch. They are very lightweight, run very quiet, sip gas, are very reliable, and won’t harm sensitive electronic devices. Honda makes their version of this generator and you can’t go wrong with either one. Don’t wast your time and money on a solar generator.

[Carlsondm]

I am more concerned about the possibility of blackouts due to power grid issues than storm related outages. With Biden's green mandate, coal and nuclear power plants are shutting down and there will not be enough power supply when there is peak demand. Also, we may again see interruption of the grid due to cyber hackers. I agree that solar powered inverters appear to be a nice solution but they are impractical at this time. I have a large propane tank for my pool, so I am installing a duel fuel portable Weatinghouse 9500W generator that runs on gas or propane. This will be connected to my main with a lockout switch.
Shutting down nuclear power plants? Where did you hear that one. The point is we need to reduce dependency on hydrocarbon fuels. Urging other alternatives is the mission.

[JMintzer]

Shutting down nuclear power plants? Where did you hear that one. The point is we need to reduce dependency on hydrocarbon fuels. Urging other alternatives is the mission.

Google is your friend...

"Shuttered reactors include Indian Point Energy Center in New York, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station in Nebraska and Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa"

Also: Access Denied (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/02/why-is-california-closing-diablo-canyon-nuclear-plant.html)

And: Reactors are closing – Beyond Nuclear (https://beyondnuclear.org/reactors-are-closing/)

[keepsake]

Diablo Canyon in Calif is their last one to go.

[Win1894]

Diablo Canyon in Calif is their last one to go.

I think Diablo Canyon is even closing down early. That's all the folks in Kalifornia need. Unfortunately, our national energy policy has been in a death spiral for years. They would rather give out rebates for idiotic solar panels than build a viable 4th generation nuclear power based foundation - walk-away safe, clean and green (no carbon footprint), 24/7, stable, minimal waste, easy to hook into the present power grid, and non-proliferative. Crazy.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I think Diablo Canyon is even closing down early. That's all the folks in Kalifornia need. Unfortunately, our national energy policy has been in a death spiral for years. They would rather give out rebates for idiotic solar panels than build a viable 4th generation nuclear power based foundation - walk-away safe, clean and green (no carbon footprint), 24/7, stable, minimal waste, easy to hook into the present power grid, and non-proliferative. Crazy.

It's only stable if the water table doesn't drop too low. Good thing there aren't any nuclear power stations in the Colorado river, eh?

[kkingston57]

Solar generator? Suggest you buy a small generator similar to the type used by contractors with around 500 watts of power. This will run most small appliances and should cost about $750. Most of them are very noisy and dangerous due to Carbon Monoxide. Honda does make a smaller generator that is quieter. Almost everyone, who owns a house, has 1 in S. Florida.

[Win1894]

It's only stable if the water table doesn't drop too low. Good thing there aren't any nuclear power stations in the Colorado river, eh?

The NRC probabilistic risk assessment of the Diablo Canyon plant, including the seismic risk, estimated the possibility of core damage at 1 chance in 7.6 million reactor years. The D.C. reactors were commissioned around 1986 and have been producing approximately 18 million mWh of carbon-free electricity annually!

To your other point, power plants aren't build in rivers. There aren't presently any nuclear power plants in Colorado but there are plenty of places to build 4th generation nuclear power plants.

ref: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1627/ML16277A340.pdf

[JMintzer]

I think Diablo Canyon is even closing down early. That's all the folks in Kalifornia need. Unfortunately, our national energy policy has been in a death spiral for years. They would rather give out rebates for idiotic solar panels than build a viable 4th generation nuclear power based foundation - walk-away safe, clean and green (no carbon footprint), 24/7, stable, minimal waste, easy to hook into the present power grid, and non-proliferative. Crazy.

They are now coming to their senses and reconsidering the closing of Diablo Canyon... But with California, who knows?

[Blueblaze]

Your math is wrong! Though 100 sq mi is wrong too.

I've shown you mine, now show me yours.

[daniel200]

I've shown you mine, now show me yours.

Today it takes about 2.8 acres to produce 1 gigawatt hour of electricity. The US is expected to use 4 million gigawatt of electricity hours in 2022.

4,000,000 GWh * 2.8 acres/GWh = 11.2 million acres
or 17,500 square miles to provide all US electricity requirements

Texas is 268,000 square miles or 15 times greater than the space required!

There is about 120 million homes in the USA. If you assumed 2,000 square feet per home of roof space for solar .... that equals:

120,000,000 x 2,000 = 240 million square feet
Or 8,600 square miles.

So rooftop solar could provide 50% of the countries electricity

Of course solar only needs to supplement hydro, wind, geothermal, nuclear etc.

The efficiency of solar panels has been steadily increasing .... So the it will take even less area in the future

[ton80]

Today it takes about 2.8 acres to produce 1 gigawatt hour of electricity. The US is expected to use 4 million gigawatt of electricity hours in 2022.

4,000,000 GWh * 2.8 acres/GWh = 11.2 million acres
or 17,500 square miles to provide all US electricity requirements

Texas is 268,000 square miles or 15 times greater than the space required!

There is about 120 million homes in the USA. If you assumed 2,000 square feet per home of roof space for solar .... that equals:

120,000,000 x 2,000 = 240 million square feet
Or 8,600 square miles.

So rooftop solar could provide 50% of the countries electricity

Of course solar only needs to supplement hydro, wind, geothermal, nuclear etc.

The efficiency of solar panels has been steadily increasing .... So the it will take even less area in the future


daniel200;2110181
There are many items that require further definition to try to fit these "facts" into a rigorous analysis.: I have taken a quick look at what is published. Most are non scientific. None are rigorous analyses. Here are some comments:

1. "Today it takes about 2.8 acres to produce 1 gigawatt hour of electricity."
The correct term is 1 gigawatt hour per year since it is a power variable not energy.

2. There is no definition of how many solar hours are included? 8760 per year the sun always shines or 50% or ??? Definition required

3. The 2.8 acres is the area of the solar panels themselves. You need more like 4 acres to get the plant footprint. Note: there will be additional plot required for the batteries required to survive the nights and poor solar times.

4. If you try to put solar panels on every roof area you will decrease the power potential since areas facing N do not produce as well as those facing S. It will take more area and more solar panels.

5. "The efficiency of solar panels has been steadily increasing " That is true for new solar panels. However, once the panels are installed, they start to lose efficiency. Hopefully you break even

6. I am out of energy to try to delve into this further. I used to do this for a living, but now I am RETIRED! Good night!

[daniel200]

daniel200;2110181
There are many items that require further definition to try to fit these "facts" into a rigorous analysis.: I have taken a quick look at what is published. Most are non scientific. None are rigorous analyses. Here are some comments:

1. "Today it takes about 2.8 acres to produce 1 gigawatt hour of electricity."
The correct term is 1 gigawatt hour per year since it is a power variable not energy.

2. There is no definition of how many solar hours are included? 8760 per year the sun always shines or 50% or ??? Definition required

3. The 2.8 acres is the area of the solar panels themselves. You need more like 4 acres to get the plant footprint. Note: there will be additional plot required for the batteries required to survive the nights and poor solar times.

4. If you try to put solar panels on every roof area you will decrease the power potential since areas facing N do not produce as well as those facing S. It will take more area and more solar panels.

5. "The efficiency of solar panels has been steadily increasing " That is true for new solar panels. However, once the panels are installed, they start to lose efficiency. Hopefully you break even

6. I am out of energy to try to delve into this further. I used to do this for a living, but now I am RETIRED! Good night!


The math was correct. The USA will require 4 million GWh in 2022. The 2.8 acres per GWh is an accepted average power output per acre per year based on southern US conditions. Weather/night/downtime etc are already included in this number.

4,000,000 GWh * 2.8 acres/GWh = 11.2 million acres
or 17,500 square miles to provide all US electricity requirements

I accept that this is a back of the napkin calculation. But the point is, to get to 25% solar in the US is not an impossible climb.

Iowa produced 55% of all its generated electric power from wind power in 2021! Texas produces 3 times as much power as Iowa but that translates into only 20% of Texas electric needs. These are real numbers … that include all of the things you are worried about (no wind, down time ..etc)

Solar does not need to produce 100% of our needs. Just augment the other options (hydro, thermal, nuclear, wind)