What Is the Best Solar Power Bank for Home Use?

Under Ideal ConditionsUpdated

A phone-size solar power bank can't back up a home: a 25,000 mAh bank holds 90 Wh, a small fraction of the 1,024 Wh in a fridge-capable power station. If you only need to keep phones charged, buy a bank; if you need a fridge and lights through an outage, we'd get the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus and plug your appliances into it.

Best Portable Solar Power Station for Home Backup

For most homes, the best portable solar power station for home backup is the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus, which takes two panel inputs. A solar panel power bank for home use is a power station with folding panels plugged in.

The best portable power station for home backup depends on what you plug in, so find your room:

  • You're keeping phones, a lamp or a CPAP-size load running: get the EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus.
  • A fridge and a few lights have to last a night, and you'll recharge from the wall: get the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2.
  • The same fridge and lights, but you'll put panels in the yard to refill the battery: get the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus.
  • The outage could run past a day, or you'd add a TV and a fan to the fridge: get the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2.
  • The labels on the things you'd run at once add up to more than 2,200 W, up to 3,000 W: get the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max Plus.
  • The labels add up to more than 3,000 W: get the Anker SOLIX F3800, and plug appliances straight into it.
  • You want the whole house panel to stay live: run the fridge and essentials from a station by extension cord. Wiring a station into the house takes a transfer switch or interlock installed by a licensed electrician, which is beyond what a plug-in station does.
  • You only need phones charged: buy a power bank, not a station, and size it in the next section.

Size the battery by hours. Runtime is rated Wh times 0.85, divided by the load in watts. A full-size fridge averages about 42 W, so use 0.6 instead of 0.85. That puts the DELTA 3 Plus at about 14 hours of fridge and the Explorer 2000 v2 past a day.

Startup is the second limit. A fridge compressor can draw two to three times its running watts for a moment, so read the running watts off your fridge's label and keep the station's rated output above them.

Skip the EcoFlow Delta Max 2000. It was recalled because it may overheat and ignite.

If you are not shopping for a specific use yet, the best portable power station page is the place to start. If a blackout is your main worry, the best power station for home power outage page goes deeper on that.

Best Power Bank for Phone

The best power bank for a phone is a 20,000 mAh bank, about 72 Wh, because it stays under the 100 Wh limit for spare batteries in a carry-on.

Which is better, 50000mah or 20000mah? Take 20,000 mAh. To convert, divide mAh by 1,000 and multiply by the volts. At a typical 3.6 V, 20,000 mAh is 72 Wh and 50,000 mAh is 180 Wh, which is above 160 Wh and forbidden on passenger aircraft. A 50,000 mAh bank stays home.

The best power bank for travelling, including flying abroad, is that same bank in your carry-on, since spare batteries and power banks can't go in checked bags. Check your airline's own rule first, because many airlines set stricter limits.

Do power banks lose charge when not in use? Yes, about 2 to 3 percent a month. For storage, leave a bank at 40 to 60 percent in a cool, dry spot and recharge it every three months.

Once the bank is sorted, panels are the remaining question.

Best Portable Power Station with Solar Panel

The best portable power station with solar panel for home is the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus, because it takes two 500W panel inputs at 11 to 60 V.

Expect 70 to 80 percent of a panel's rated output on a clear day. At 350W from a 500W array, the 1,024 Wh DELTA 3 Plus refills in about 3.5 hours of full sun. On a cloudy day expect 10 to 25 percent of that. Past the station's input limit, extra panels add nothing.

The best portable power station with solar panel for camping is the EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus for small gear, on 220 W of solar input. For a camping fridge, get the Bluetti AC180, which takes 500W of solar. The best power bank for camping is the RIVER 3 Plus: at 286 Wh it holds about three times what a 25,000 mAh bank does.

The best portable power station with solar panel and battery in one box is the DELTA 3 Plus, which pairs its panel inputs with a 1,024 Wh battery that expands to 5 kWh. The AC180 expands to 4,224 Wh.

A review of portable solar panels comes down to two checks. The first is the watts you'll really get, covered above. The second is whether the panel fits the station's input range, which is 11 to 60 V on the DELTA 3 Plus.

Questions

Which is better for a power bank, 50000mAh or 20000mAh?

A 20,000 mAh power bank is the better pick for most people. At a typical 3.6 V, 20,000 mAh is about 72 Wh, while 50,000 mAh is about 180 Wh. That is above the 160 Wh limit and forbidden on passenger aircraft. The 20,000 mAh bank also stays under the 100 Wh carry-on limit for spare batteries, so a 50,000 mAh bank stays home.

Do power banks lose charge when not in use?

Yes, power banks lose charge when they sit unused, at about 2 to 3 percent a month. For storage, leave the bank at 40 to 60 percent charge in a cool, dry spot. Recharge it every three months so it does not drain too far while it waits on the shelf.

Can you provide a review of portable solar panels?

A review of portable solar panels comes down to two checks. The first is the watts you will really get, which is 70 to 80 percent of the rated output on a clear day and 10 to 25 percent of that on a cloudy day. The second is whether the panel fits the power station's input range, which is 11 to 60 V on the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus.