Best Solar-Powered Generators – 4 Top Brands Compared

Owning one of the best solar-powered generators is a great feeling when the electricity unexpectedly goes out. In our last article, Best Power Generator – Don’t Be Left Powerless, we talked about the need to be prepared at all times for power outages.

In that article, we focused on several of the top brands and models of gas or diesel-powered generators. In this article, we will look at the best solar-powered generators. These things are great and are now a worthwhile option in seeking emergency power.

We will also dig a little further into the reasons we may all need back-up power, several tips when searching for solar generators for home use, as well as applications with your solar generator you may not have even thought of.

But for now, let’s look at why a solar-powered generator could be a lifesaver, and we’ll also dive into what is determined to be the best three brands of the best solar-powered generators.

What’s So Good About Solar?

Stellar question!

Well, it’s multifaceted. There are driving reasons to go solar with your choice of a generator, but there are other reasons to not go solar that you should be aware of when making a decision. You may be surprised at what those reasons are.

First, although solar generators do not provide the same muscle power dollar for dollar compared to gas/diesel generators, they also do not require you to have forty eleven gas cans around to keep everything running as normal. And more often than not, people don’t even use the max power of their generators for fear of overtaxing the unit.

Second, there are those that think they can do EVERYTHING with a generator, no matter which generator they have. They have done zero research and want life to keep going 100% as before a power outage.

Being smart, you’d do well to look for the fewest appliances and other items to which you would need to send power during an outage. This conserves the limited fuel or solar energy that you may have on hand. Most of us use your too much power day in and day out anyway.

Let’s dive in and look at four of the best solar-powered generators we’ve discovered, and see which features and power levels will best suit your needs.

The 4 Best Solar-Powered Generators

Rockpals 500W/520WH Portable Power Station

I’m starting with Rockpals because they are the only vendor we are recommending that doesn’t have a unit that goes over 500W. The rest we will refer to will be in the 1000W range. Remember, we’re talking about the best solar powered generators for home use.

This Rockpals unit is quality and sports a lot of quality for its size. But who cares about the size if it gets the job done, right?

So here are some of the features:

• It’s an ALL-IN-ONE PORTABLE POWER STATION that Includes four USB ports (5~9V/2A QC3.0 + 5~9V/2A Type-C + 5V/3.1A 2USB ), AC outlet (AC110V±10%, 500W,1000W peak) and 4 DC outport 5.5mm*2.1mm(9~12.6V/10A, 12A Max Total); Car Port (12V/10A max). Power phone, pad, tablets, GPS, laptop, Gopro, camera, drones, festival bulbs, and cpap machine under 500W for AC port (*use Rockpals S10/S9 DC converter Sold Separately to last for at least 4 nights for your ReSmed CPAP machine).
• This unit is HIGH CAPACITY & LIGHTWEIGHT: 520WH (11.1V/140400mAh) lithium battery and weighs 14.33 lbs with an easy-carry handle.
• EASILY RECHARGED BY THREE WAYS: AC wall charger, 12V car charger, and 13-22V/max 6A solar panel charging.
• FEATURES an LED DISPLAY that is easy to read, charge/discharge data, and battery life status.
• RELIABLE POWER & WARRANTY: Pure sine wave protects your sensitive devices from damage and a generous worry-free 24-month warranty is provided.

These units are among the highest in the review lists for outdoor use and for long-term hiking. But they also have an awesome use within the home to power many items at once without the need of a gas-powered, noisy generator, or perhaps in addition to a traditional power generator.

these units have received rave reviews as the best solar generators for home use.

Definitely go to the Rockpals website and check out more details on this product, current pricing, and other generators that may fit your needs.

Be sure to take note that in their pricing the solar panels are a separate charge, but it’s still very reasonable. Some of the following units come with/are priced with the solar panel.

Click here to check out more details about this solar generator at the Rockpals website  There you’ll also find some other great gadgets for hiking and travel, as well as other generators.

Jackery Solar Generator 1000 (Jackery 1000 + 2 x SolarSaga 100W)

This is a package deal that comes with the solar panels. When comparing apples to oranges, be sure to ad the price of 2 100W solar panels to the other systems so that the comparisons make sense.

Here are some of the features of this unit:

Jackery Explorer 1000 Portable Power Station + 2 x SolarSaga 100W solar panel: Jackery Solar Generator for Outdoor Adventure Car Camping.

• Clean & Quiet: Drawing energy from the sun and powering through a battery. No gasoline, toxic fumes, or noise during operation。
• Convenient: With a compact, lightweight design, it’s easy to carry around wherever you go.
• Safe: Emissions-free energy source and reliable battery management system makes it safe enough even for indoor use.
• Lower Cost: Harnessing the sun’s energy for free and with virtually no maintenance.

Jackery Explorer 1000 is the biggest Jackery power station, and one of the most powerful portable power stations. With 1002Wh capacity, 1000W rated power (2000W surge power), and multiple output charge/recharge ports, it meets the power supply needs of higher and most power electrical appliances.

Jackery SolarSaga 100W Monocrystalline Solar Panel, stay charged with the power of the sun! With a high conversion efficiency of up to 23%, it’s ideally suited for outdoor life and even unexpected power outages. The solar panel weighs only 9.1 lbs, it’s lightweight, foldable, and portable with an easy-carry handle.

This is a world-class product! Just make sure it is what you are looking for. At the end of this article, I’ll make some recommendations that will show the best use of solar generators or a combination of solar and gas/diesel driven. But the Jackery Solar Generator 1000 definitely fits the criteria of the best solar-powered generators.

Some consider Jackery’s products the best solar powered generators for home use. There are valid arguments for that, but I tend to lean toward another product for that spot on my top the best list.

Click here to check out more details about this solar generator at the Jackery website.

EcoFlow DELTA 1300 Power Station (aka EF DELTA)

This is a consistently 5-star rated product. The features are great and it is just easy t use.

EcoFlow, especially the Delta units are continually in the top 5 of the most usable and efficient units on the market.

Now, they have units that are in the 600W range and below, but that’s not the point of this article. If you’d like to view some of their other sought-after products, go to the EcoFlow website. They have many other options that are suitable to a more constrained budget but have phenomenal features and usability for even the most non-technical of customers.

Here are some of the specs on this unit:

—> DELTA 1300 Power Station represents the new standard of battery-powered generators. Compatible with a wide range of devices, you can stay powered for hours whenever and wherever.

• RECHARGE 0%–80% WITHIN 1 HOUR EcoFlow patent X-Stream Technology empowers DELTA1300 to recharge at 10 times the speed of most portable power stations in the market

• 6x 1800W AC OUTLETS & 1260Wh CAPACITY The large inverter load enables DELTA 1300 to power most home appliances and heavy-duty DIY tools under 1800W (3300W Surge, Pure Sine Wave) with 1260Wh capacity

• FASTEST RECHARGE BY SOLAR AND CAR DELTA 1300 can be fully recharged by solar panels in about 4 hours, and fully charged through a 12/24V car port < 10 hours.

• POWER 13 DEVICES SIMULTANEOUSLY DELTA 1300 fits with every port you’ll ever need to power any devices anywhere, so you will always feel right at home.

This unit will power most of the necessities during a power outage (large freezers, window a/c units, refrigerators, TVs, and definitely all of the small stuff (lights, just don’t go crazy), and will surprise you with how long the power lasts.

Click here to check out more details about this solar generator at the EcoFlow website

Bluetti AC200P 2000Wh/2000W Portable Power Station

Frankly, this is a favorite of those of us at SecurityUnveiled.com. For me, it’s probably because it’s the coolest looking unit I’ve seen and because it has the best interactive touchscreen, IMO.

But seriously, notice that for the money, this unit has almost double the power and your more advanced features without having a commensurate price difference. What!

This unit does laundry and even folds your clothes and irons your underwear. OK, not really, but this is a great unit.

Here are some of the specs to keep in mind:

• 2000Wh/2000W Higher Output/Larger Capacity
• 17 Output Ports Meet Multiple Devices
• Flexible 5 Ways To Recharge
• Smart Touchable Interaction LCD Display
• 700W Solar+400W AC Recharge in 2.5-3Hrs
• Dual AC adapter Fast recharge in 3-3.5Hrs
• Smart Touchable Interaction LCD Display
• Eco-friendly/Gas free/Quieter/Cost-effective

This is a well-built solar generator with solid engineering and design. They thought of anything, or almost anyway.

Click here to check out more details about this solar generator at the Bluetti website They also have many other products including different sizes of solar generators.

Ups and Downs of Solar-Powered and Gas-Powered Generators

If you’ve done any research at all regarding the different kinds of generators, you’ve probably come to the conclusion that gas/diesel-powered generators are more powerful than solar-powered units.

Dollar for dollar there is more wattage available to power the things we would like to keep going during a power outage. But the little bit of savings from buying a gas-powered generator is eaten up quickly once you have to stock up on gasoline or diesel.

And every second you hear that thing running, you know that it’s costing way more than electricity per minute. And though typically less wattage is produced with a solar generator, you never have to stock up on cans of gas. Not only is that expensive, but it’s also dangerous.

Another drawback to gas/diesel generators is the fact that they are usually very loud. And since you can’t place gas-powered generators inside your home, you have to run extension cables from outside.

But does that mean gas-powered generators are not the best home power generators? Not necessarily.

Solar-powered generators are quiet, they are safe to run inside your home, they do not require the storage of gasoline and they are just way cool!

But the downside to solar generators is they must be charged up and ready for those unexpected times when the power goes out. If it’s cloudy or overcast, you may have trouble getting them charged up using the solar panels. Luckily, however, most of the newer units, like the Bluetti products, can be charged by a wall outlet in your home, or even with the cigarette lighter in your automobile.

Clearly, if the power is out, plugging the solar-powered generator into the wall inside the house wouldn’t help, but it’s easy to keep it charged up that way regularly.

And there is one other way to charge a solar-powered generator….

Charge it using a gas or diesel generator. Now, that may sound a bit contradictory, but it really isn’t. Here’s why: If a person can afford to have both, that’s the best way to go.

Only use the gas-powered generator for short amounts of time like during extreme temperatures in order to heat or cool your home, to operate ovens and stoves, and other energy-intensive items such as those.

Also, you can use it to charge your solar-powered generator(s) if there isn’t enough sun to get a good charge. This way you will need very little gas, you won’t have a noisy generator right outside your door/window 24/7.

Bottom Line

If you can afford both a gas-powered and a solar-powered generator, that would be the best mix. If not, I would lean toward a powerful solar generator and make the sacrifice of not trying to connect everything in the home to it.

You may be surprised how many things you can run with solar-powered generators. Above, we’ve listed four of the best solar-powered generators according to our research and personal experience.

But if you go to each of those manufacturers’ websites, you will likely find a unit suited to your specific needs. Below are the direct links to their sites.

Bluetti

Rockpals

Jackery

EcoFlow

Thanks for checking out our reviews of the best solar-powered generators. We hope you’ve found this information helpful. Please leave us a comment below letting us know what you think about this discussion, or perhaps you have insight regarding other units.

We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks again for dropping by. 🙂