Solar Generator / Freezer Experiment

[Midnightsun]

Solar generator is a little confusing as it is basically a gas free generator running off of a built in lithium battery with a pure sine wave inverter and AC charger and a bunch of other stuff all in a neat package. Much prefer the term Portable Power Station. Guessing the Solar part makes is sound more ecological. By no means are these things affordable by the way. The amazing part of this particular unit is it does pack 2000wh and yet can be recharged on an electrical outlet in a hair under 2hrs from 0% to 100%. The unit is large lunchbox size and will power anything a normal 115v, 15a receptacle will and then some. If my math is right, this is equivalent to about a 180ah LifePo4 battery. I run 600ah on Midnight Sun and just picked up anther 300ah to increase it to 900ah. https://ca.jackery.com/products/explore ... er-station

Trying to see how long the generator will last running a portable fridge/freezer. The unit is set to -19C, obviously in freezer mode. So far it has been running for 24hrs and has consumed 21%. Unit was room temp when plugged in however there is no food inside or is it being opened and closed like one might normally do so the outcome will be a good 10% or more on the high side compared to real life. The unit is in my garage right now which is rather cool. Outside in very warm summer heat the unit will obviously consume quite a bit more. Will get a general idea though. May bring it to the boat in the heat of summer and do another experiment.

This is the fridge/freezer being used. Same as the Alpicool brand by the way. https://www.amazon.ca/VEVOR-Car-Refrigerator-Portable-Compressor/dp/B09T8Y28BZ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=c50+vevor&sr=8-3

The generator is not for the boat however I figured this would be a good way to see how efficient these compressor style fridge/freezers actually are. It is plugged into the 12v receptacle which is only rated at 10a and is working fine. Electrical draw varies as the compressor meets demand, highest I have seen so far is 45w. Could be an interesting item to have on board if you don't mind the rather high price that is.

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[Midnightsun]

Here are the results after 4 full days with unit running 24/7 with thermostat set to -19C (-2.2F)

79% battery remaining after 24hrs
57% @ 48hrs
34% @ 72hrs
14% @ 96hrs

Pretty linear depletion and I would say it can go another 12hrs before things shut down. Not bad at all IMHO.

Not sure regarding power consumption how this compares to a smaller boat fridge however It would not be that far off. Even if the boat unit draws twice as much and would only last 54hrs, that is pretty impressive considering we all know how easy it is to draw the house bank down after 24hrs on the hook. Just pointing out how much juice 180ah of Lithium really is.

Will let it run to shutdown and then see how long it takes to charge from 0 to 100% via a 120v standard AC outlet. This is Lithium, no issue running it down to 0%. In reality the BMS will shut her down at a safe level which will indicate 0% on the gauge however it will probably be around 10% SOC or less if one could measure directly from the battery itself. That figure is just guess, it will shut down to avoid any battery degradation or other issues that could arise if the battery was truly depleted to nothing which you cannot do not matter how hard you try.

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[pepmyster]

No, that power station is not cheap for sure. 4 days pure running that freezer is great!

[bud37]

Source of the post Will let it run to shutdown and then see how long it takes to charge from 0 to 100% via a 120v standard AC outlet

That will be interesting.....putting it back is always the hard part to understand imo.

[Midnightsun]

That will be interesting.....putting it back is always the hard part to understand imo.

They advertise 2hrs from 0 to 100% on AC. I have seen a review where they said it is under 2hrs. Regardless, that is very quick. Will find out later today or tomorrow.

[km1125]

Have you priced out alternatives... like a 180AH lithium just hooked up up to a pure-sine-wave inverter? I'd bet you could do something like that for less than 1/3 the price of that "generator".

[Midnightsun]

Ok, she is down to 1%, think that is low enough. The fridge still registers it is receiving 12.6v.

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This is nice, notice to charge via AC there is no big brick/transformer, just a standard cord found on most any type of small appliance/printer. Could easily pick up another cord like this almost anywhere.

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After I plugged it in it started charging at about 600w and is slowly climbing.

At exactly 1 hr it is charging at 1523w and has reached 54% SOC. This is fast.

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At 1hr 45mins, the SOC is at 99% charging at 630w. I'm impressed.

[pepmyster]

Nice test Hans!!!!!!

[Midnightsun]

Source of the post Have you priced out alternatives... like a 180AH lithium just hooked up up to a pure-sine-wave inverter? I'd bet you could do something like that for less than 1/3 the price of that "generator".

One could build something much cheaper in fact I did when I put in 600ah of LifePo4 into Midnight Sun Last year. Would be hard to fabricate something this portable and the price would get up there once you add the charger, SOC reading system, 200w of USB and the battery. Would maybe be 1/2 the price but would not be as pretty or convenient as a unit like this. If one just looks at a 200ah lifePo4 battery it does sound cheap in comparison @ $650 USD. They are getting cheaper as time goes on. https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Battery-Support-Perfect-Off-Grid/dp/B08FMVRJHZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RPWMLQHFEXQT&keywords=chins%2Blifepo4%2B200ah&qid=1683025037&sprefix=chins%2Blifepo4%2B200ah%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.2b70bf2b-6730-4ccf-ab97-eb60747b8daf&th=1

[bud37]

Are you considering doing a number of tests to see if the recharge curve changes/ degrades over lets say 10 cycles ?