Club Benefits
There are a lot of benefits to owning solar panels, the least of which is the fact that you're harnessing energy from the sun that would otherwise go to waste. Or at the very least, the sun is doing more than just heating the roof of your home. That's easily the worst part about summer where I live.
I've had home solar panels for over six years now, but there are far more ways to take advantage of solar power. I don't mean solar-powered phone chargers, though that isn't too far off. I mean, utilizing portable solar tech to bring power to places that have no access to the electric grid.
For some, that might mean camping trips, but my need is much closer to home — it's my own garage.
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Who needs power in their garage? I do
Back in the '80s when my house was being built, the developers decided they didn't want to fill the area with detached housing. Apparently, that would be far too luxurious, and instead, they figured rows of townhouses were far more appropriate. But unwilling to deprive potential buyers of car use, they still included driveways and garages.
Sadly, the garages in question are not connected to the houses. They were built as a separate block, and my particular garage is roughly 45 feet from the end of my backyard. From an accessibility standpoint, this isn't a big deal. Clearly, the developers never considered that people might need power in their garage.
This was clearly an attempt to cut construction costs by avoiding something that would be seen as frivolous in 1985, but in hindsight, it seems like a huge oversight. Even if you discount luxurious things like electric garage doors and EV chargers (which didn't exist yet), there are plenty of reasons why I'd want an electricity hookup in my garage. At the very least, I could do with some lights to help me find all the stuff I've got stored in there without needing a flashlight.
That's where portable solar comes into play. Connecting my garage to my home's power grid is out of the question, since I would have to spend thousands of dollars digging into asphalt to bury the relevant power cables — as well as requiring permission from at least five neighbors. Likewise, a traditional solar install would be far too costly, especially since there would be no way to sell excess power back to the grid.
But portable solar is a different story. Not only is it relatively affordable, it's also small enough to be able to move around without a problem. This is perfect for powering the kind of things I actually want to be able to use in my garage.
Anker's Solix power generator has been a lifesaver
When it came to adding portable power to my garage, the battery itself needed to be worth the money. I have plenty of portable phone chargers, and I know that they weren't up to the task on account of their limited capacity and power output. I needed to be able to power household electronics , which require the full brunt of mains power to run. USB ports and 12V car chargers were not going to cut it, no matter how large the battery actually was.
So I ended up with the Anker Solix C300, a 288Wh battery that features an array of different power sockets. Crucially, this battery also supports alternating current, which means you can power household electronics that would normally need to be plugged into a wall.
There is a limit to the kind of devices this battery will support, though, because output is limited to 300W of sustained output — with a 600W "surge" that can run for brief periods of time. In other words, you're not going to be plugging any big appliances into this thing.
That's entirely fine by me. I had no plans to install a dryer or a chest freezer in there — not connected to a battery that can run out of power, anyway. I only wanted to power a few basics, including lights and the gym equipment that my wife had been begging me to get out of the house for the better part of the year.
Considering how much cooler it is in the garage, even during the height of summer, it's arguably the best place for a workout anyway. Especially when you have the means to power a powerful fan.
I still wish the C300 were able to supply a little bit more juice, though. I realized late last summer that a portable battery would be perfect for power tools, especially since I'm usually too cheap to buy cordless models. Sadly, when your lowest-powered tool requires 710W of power to operate, a 600W surge feature just doesn't cut it.
The cheapest Anker Solix battery that could comfortably power my tools is the $799 C1000, which is almost triple the price of the $299 C300. It would probably be more cost-effective to just buy cordless power tools. But seeing as how I don't use power tools all that often, I'm happy sticking with my 16-foot extension cord for now.
The actual discharge time varies, but the C300 is helpful enough to give you an estimate of how long you have until you run out of power. So long as you pay attention, you're not going to be rudely interrupted by the power running out.
What about the solar panel?
Portable batteries on their own are no big deal, especially not if you resort to plugging them into the mains to recharge. But plugging in with a PC power cable, or USB-C, is the most boring way to charge one of these up. Anker markets them as "Portable Power Stations" for a reason, and that's because you can hook them into a solar panel and recharge just about anywhere.
The C300 supports up to 100W of solar input, but considering you can fold up the panel and set it up wherever you like, it's a really effective way to recharge the battery regardless of location. IP67 water and dust resistance also means you don't need to worry about the panel succumbing to the elements if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
But it's easy to bring up figures like 100W and leave it at that, but what does this actually mean? In terms of actual recharge time, I've found that the single PS100 panel will recharge the C300 in just over four hours. I will admit that the weather was working in my favor the day I measured this, and the weather was exceptionally clear and sunny for late April in southern England.
Your actual mileage may vary, depending on how favorable the weather is for solar power. It's also worth mentioning that the laws of physics prevent a 100W solar panel from actually delivering 100W of power, and I found that my panel topped out at 77W.
I suspect that if you wanted the extra 23W of power, you'd need to get a more powerful solar panel. But considering the 200W PS200 panel costs $449, compared to the PS100's $109, I'm not really sure that's a wise way to spend your money. You'd end up saving, at most, an hour of charging time and in my opinion that's just not worth it.
Still, if you've got the patience to wait in one place while your battery recharges, the multi-hour recharge time won't be the end of the world. Especially if it means having free power when you'd otherwise get nothing. Plus, considering the PS100 folds in half and weighs less than 11 pounds it's quite easy to transport. In fact, my experience is that the only awkward part of the process is wrangling the 10-foot power cable in such a way that I'm not constantly tripping over it.
Bottom line
Having home solar is easily one of the best things I've ever done for my house, but the technology has way more potential than simply saving money on your energy bills. It's crazy to think that photovoltaic solar has been around for almost 200 years, but the technology is now so cheap and accessible that you can throw a panel onto your garage roof just as easily as you can put up a picture frame.
A portable solar panel does not have all the same benefits as a full set of rooftop solar panels, and the amount you benefit will entirely depend on how you use it. But if there's ever a time when you can't rely on mains power, or some other alternate power source, then it may be worth investing in something like the Anker Solix system.
Whether you have a powerless garage or outbuilding, have a fondness for camping, or simply need a backup power supply just in case — I cannot recommend it enough. Especially if you manage to get a good deal on the equipment, as I did.
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