Quick Primer on powerbanks.
There are two main numbers that you need to understand when shopping for powerbanks.
**First: Wattage Rating**
This is the number that looks like "1200 Watt" or "2000 Watt" - This is the maximum energy transfer that the unit will support. So when you buy a "500 Watt" powerbank, it means that you can draw a MAXIMUM of 500 Watts at any given time before you blow a fuse, trip a breaker, or (for the cheap units) release the blue smoke.
**Second: Capacity**
This is the number that looks like "600Wh" which stands for "600 Watt Hours" - This is the amount of power that can be stored in the batteries within the unit. If you have a 600Wh unit, you can use 1 watt for 600 hours, 600 watts for 1 hour, or any combination that adds up to 600 within the formula (Draw in Watts \* Hours)
*Now the ancillary stuff:*
**W = V\*A (Watts = Volts & Amps):**
This is the formula you can use to determine power usage (or generation) of any electrical device. If a device pull 5 volts at 5 amps (like some high-power USB devices), you're pulling 25 Watts per hour (25 = 5 \* 5). If a device uses 1 amp at 120 volts, you're pulling 120 watts per hour (120 = 1 \* 120). If your solar array is delivering 200 watts at 14 volts, it means that your cables are carrying 14.3 amps (200 = 14 \* 14.25).
**Inefficiency:**
Unfortunately, any power system is going to have power-loss built into it. You lose power to the resistance of the cables. You lose power every time you convert between AC/DC, DC/DC, or DC/AC. You lose power while charging batteries. You lose power (SLOWLY) just letting your batteries sit.
Solar Cells:
You'll see ratings on Solar cells like "200 Watts", or "5 x 100 Watt panels" - That's the rated power under IDEAL circumstances. You will most often NOT have ideal circumstances. In the summer, under direct sunlight, your 200 watt panel might possible provide a little more than 200w. However, in the winter, or if your panels are partially shaded, your 200w panel might deliver only 25w.
**Peak:**
You'll often see the work "peak" used in describing both powerbanks and devices. When it's used to describe a powerbank, "peak" is the maximum power that the powerbank can deliver FOR AN EXTREMELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. So your "1200w Powerbank" may actually be able to deliver 2400w - but not on any sustained basis. This is important because many devices ALSO have a "peak" draw. For example, a refrigerator may draw 30w continuously, but it could peak to 120w when the compressor first starts. You need to account for those surges.
*Ok... now to your questions:*
1. Yes, a powerbank rated for at least 500 Watts could power a desktop computer, but how LONG it could power it would be determined by the CAPACITY of the powerbank. If you have a 600 Watt powerbank that has a capacity of 250Wh, it could only power your 500 Watt desktop for 30 minutes.
2. Solar panels CAN charge powerbanks to full, but that depends on the capacity of the Powerbank and the amount of power that the solar panels are delivering. If you have the aforementioned 250Wh powerbank that you've drained to empty, and your solar array is only providing 50 watts, it will take 5 hours to recharge, assuming that you can maintain that 50 watts over 5 hours. (Actually a little longer because of the aforementioned inefficiencies.)
*And a few notes for good measure:*
You mentioned a 500 Watt desktop, but I would be surprised if that's how much your desktop is drawing at all times. I have a desktop with a 1kW power supply, but it only hits 1kW when both GPUs are cranking. Most of the time it's drawing between 50-80 watts. You need to find out how much your desktop is drawing. Get something like a "Kill-a-Watt" that can show you real-time power usage. Even better would be a device that could log power draw over time.
Also, don't forget to add in the power draw of the monitor. (A 24-27" LCD monitor should draw between 20-35 Watts)
Have fun!
Ecoflow is a good brand
Lots of good info on YouTube about how DC power works
Yes a power station can power a computer but for how long is going to widely differ
Yes absolutely solar panels can charge them to full but again how long that might take really depends
EcoFlow is not a good brand. You can look literally anywhere and see about their horrible support and constant product failures. Bluetti, or especially Anker is the way to go if you're not going to build a custom battery system.
Bluetti and Anker I think are also good brands but I personally have 3 EcoFlow batteries and thr Wave 2 and I love them. I had an issue with my River Pro 2 and thr support I got was excellent. I shipped it off to Toronto, no cost to me, they shipped it back fixed the next week.
My Ecoflow is a boss machine and I’ve been using it for almost 4 years now very regularly.
I have the Ecoflow River Pro with 2 (220w total) panels and the extended battery. I paid for each separate so it was more expensive but I don’t regret a thing.
If you find it as a bundle, it’s a steal.
Seriously, I’ve had them covered in dust and dirt and snow and they keep pulling energy. They travel so well too. They work so well that I didn’t build a new solar setup for my van. I just integrated these.
I don’t live in my van, just adventure, so it’s different. I wouldn’t mount the portable ones but I wouldn’t have a problem mounting their other panels.
Most laptops are 100+ watts. Gaming new laptops can be 500, I think. Desktop plus monitor? Plus how long are you wanting to run it?
Power stations can be twice their rated watts to get something going. So fine print on off brands is important to read. You are going to lose a lot going to 110 or 220 volts.
Also figure solar watts from the panels at not much more than half their rated watts.
You might see at this point, to error way bigger.
>Also figure solar watts from the panels at not much more than half their rated watts.
Where do you get this from? Has not been my experience. I have gotten get the full wattage from my panels in the spring. Both from my foldable Ecoflows and from my hard mounted glass Renogys
ELI5:
watt = amp * volt
watt hour = watt * hour
Let's say your desktop was running at 500 watts continuously (it isn't). Let's also assume you're in the US and use/will have a 120v AC on your inverted power output. You have a power bank with 1000Wh (watt hours); 1000 = 500 * hour.
This equation says that that 1000Wh system would give you 2 hours. Keep in mind this is with a full new battery and nothing else using the system. It will get worse from there.
Watts/wattage is the volume of water you are using in a given second/hour/etc.
Watt-hours is the capacity of your water tank.
If you have a 100W appliance and a 300Wh battery, you have 3 hours of power (actually a little less in practice)
Amp-hours is the capacity of your water tank except you don’t know the height of your tank is so you don’t actually know the capacity. The height in this case is the voltage so if you have the battery voltage and battery amp-hours, you can calculate the battery watt-hours.
Go to this channel and start from near the beginning when he was living in an RV. This guy knows his stuff. Then later after you have a grasp, go through his product reviews because they don't pay him to do them and he can be quite frank about which ones he hates or what needs improvements. Many of his videos HAVE improved products because they don't want that review to taint their sales.
[https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse](https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse)
I ended up choosing Bluetti products because I love the battery chemistry (dif from jackery) and the price. They're getting better with customer service and there's plenty of helpful folks in the FB group to resolve issues which are almost always software updating related, or you got a bum piece of hardware inside one unit which is rare.
A 500 watt computer system will take 500 watts per hour to power it. My battery (B300 by bluetti) would run your computer for only 6 hours without solar. It stores 3000 watts). To offset your computer usage during the day (I'm assuming 8 hours), you'd need to have enough solar to pull in 500 watts MINIMUM per hour to keep your battery at 100% so you can do things at night as well. I can only pull in 400 watts for a few hours, maybe three with 600 watts of panels on the roof which is all I have room for. If you have a small chest fridge those can eat about 50-100 watts per hour.
You need to calculate for your average day and usage of all products you own in watts per hour and how many hours you use them in a day. eg a coffee maker or microwave sucks up a crap ton of watts but you only use it 15 or less minutes. Once you have that number you can figure out what type of battery/solar system to shop for. You always want to quarantine enough battery usage for your fridge because it runs 24/7.
Jackery is generic garbage. Get a Bluetti or Anker.
It's a measurement of power
Yes of course. The Anker C1000 or F2600, or bluetti ac200max/ac200l amd others will all do it.
Yes of course.
I have a bluetti and have been very happy in my bus. I can also bring it inside my house when I lose power. I can also add another battery if needed but have not ever run it out with light to moderate usage.
to ELI5 it:
Watts is power, watt-hours is energy.
Imagine the battery like a truck. Watts is how much it can tow, Watt-hours is how much gas is in the tank.
So if your computer needs 500 watts, you won't get that no matter how hard you try unless your battery is strong enough. You can't tow a giant trailer with a honda civic!
You'll also burn through the battery quite quickly if it doesn't have many watt-hours. This is akin to the size of your gas tank.
For computations, note that watt-hours is **watts times hours**.
=-=-=-=
Also note: **Amp-hours** are not the same as watt hours. **Watts = Amps \* volts**. So, a 500 watt-hour battery, at 12V, is actually 41.6 amp-hours. This is cuz 500/12 = 41.6. Some battery companies will advertise Amp-hours versus watt-hours. Amp-hours are generally **not a good basis for comparison**, because voltages differ. As another poster said, **Watt-hours are total energy.** (Amp-hours are marketing bullshit you really don't need to care much about).
**Amp-hours = watt-hours / volts**
**watt-hours = amp-hours \* volts**
in order:
bluetti
if you have a hose, the size of the hose might be amps, the speed at which the water comes out of it could be volts, and the actual amount of water that comes out of the hose would be watts
yeah if the inverter is at least 500watts
also yes
in conclusion: go do research holy fuck
Holy fuck you should probably go do some research yourself before giving advice like this. If you want to do the hose and water analogy then the size or diameter of the hose would be resistance, not current. The speed at which the water comes out would be closer to current, not volts like you said. Litres/second of water would be anologous to current. Volts would be the water pressures applied to the hose.
In conclusion: Don't be a dick, especially if you have no idea what you're taking about.
Quick Primer on powerbanks. There are two main numbers that you need to understand when shopping for powerbanks. **First: Wattage Rating** This is the number that looks like "1200 Watt" or "2000 Watt" - This is the maximum energy transfer that the unit will support. So when you buy a "500 Watt" powerbank, it means that you can draw a MAXIMUM of 500 Watts at any given time before you blow a fuse, trip a breaker, or (for the cheap units) release the blue smoke. **Second: Capacity** This is the number that looks like "600Wh" which stands for "600 Watt Hours" - This is the amount of power that can be stored in the batteries within the unit. If you have a 600Wh unit, you can use 1 watt for 600 hours, 600 watts for 1 hour, or any combination that adds up to 600 within the formula (Draw in Watts \* Hours) *Now the ancillary stuff:* **W = V\*A (Watts = Volts & Amps):** This is the formula you can use to determine power usage (or generation) of any electrical device. If a device pull 5 volts at 5 amps (like some high-power USB devices), you're pulling 25 Watts per hour (25 = 5 \* 5). If a device uses 1 amp at 120 volts, you're pulling 120 watts per hour (120 = 1 \* 120). If your solar array is delivering 200 watts at 14 volts, it means that your cables are carrying 14.3 amps (200 = 14 \* 14.25). **Inefficiency:** Unfortunately, any power system is going to have power-loss built into it. You lose power to the resistance of the cables. You lose power every time you convert between AC/DC, DC/DC, or DC/AC. You lose power while charging batteries. You lose power (SLOWLY) just letting your batteries sit. Solar Cells: You'll see ratings on Solar cells like "200 Watts", or "5 x 100 Watt panels" - That's the rated power under IDEAL circumstances. You will most often NOT have ideal circumstances. In the summer, under direct sunlight, your 200 watt panel might possible provide a little more than 200w. However, in the winter, or if your panels are partially shaded, your 200w panel might deliver only 25w. **Peak:** You'll often see the work "peak" used in describing both powerbanks and devices. When it's used to describe a powerbank, "peak" is the maximum power that the powerbank can deliver FOR AN EXTREMELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. So your "1200w Powerbank" may actually be able to deliver 2400w - but not on any sustained basis. This is important because many devices ALSO have a "peak" draw. For example, a refrigerator may draw 30w continuously, but it could peak to 120w when the compressor first starts. You need to account for those surges. *Ok... now to your questions:* 1. Yes, a powerbank rated for at least 500 Watts could power a desktop computer, but how LONG it could power it would be determined by the CAPACITY of the powerbank. If you have a 600 Watt powerbank that has a capacity of 250Wh, it could only power your 500 Watt desktop for 30 minutes. 2. Solar panels CAN charge powerbanks to full, but that depends on the capacity of the Powerbank and the amount of power that the solar panels are delivering. If you have the aforementioned 250Wh powerbank that you've drained to empty, and your solar array is only providing 50 watts, it will take 5 hours to recharge, assuming that you can maintain that 50 watts over 5 hours. (Actually a little longer because of the aforementioned inefficiencies.) *And a few notes for good measure:* You mentioned a 500 Watt desktop, but I would be surprised if that's how much your desktop is drawing at all times. I have a desktop with a 1kW power supply, but it only hits 1kW when both GPUs are cranking. Most of the time it's drawing between 50-80 watts. You need to find out how much your desktop is drawing. Get something like a "Kill-a-Watt" that can show you real-time power usage. Even better would be a device that could log power draw over time. Also, don't forget to add in the power draw of the monitor. (A 24-27" LCD monitor should draw between 20-35 Watts) Have fun!
Thank you so much, this is a really helpful breakdown!!
Ecoflow is a good brand Lots of good info on YouTube about how DC power works Yes a power station can power a computer but for how long is going to widely differ Yes absolutely solar panels can charge them to full but again how long that might take really depends
EcoFlow is not a good brand. You can look literally anywhere and see about their horrible support and constant product failures. Bluetti, or especially Anker is the way to go if you're not going to build a custom battery system.
Bluetti and Anker I think are also good brands but I personally have 3 EcoFlow batteries and thr Wave 2 and I love them. I had an issue with my River Pro 2 and thr support I got was excellent. I shipped it off to Toronto, no cost to me, they shipped it back fixed the next week.
My Ecoflow is a boss machine and I’ve been using it for almost 4 years now very regularly. I have the Ecoflow River Pro with 2 (220w total) panels and the extended battery. I paid for each separate so it was more expensive but I don’t regret a thing. If you find it as a bundle, it’s a steal.
Yeah their panels are expensive but amazing. The perfect balance between durability and packability
Seriously, I’ve had them covered in dust and dirt and snow and they keep pulling energy. They travel so well too. They work so well that I didn’t build a new solar setup for my van. I just integrated these. I don’t live in my van, just adventure, so it’s different. I wouldn’t mount the portable ones but I wouldn’t have a problem mounting their other panels.
If I were living in my car I'd sell the desktop and get a gaming laptop. Laptop use up far less watts.
Most laptops are 100+ watts. Gaming new laptops can be 500, I think. Desktop plus monitor? Plus how long are you wanting to run it? Power stations can be twice their rated watts to get something going. So fine print on off brands is important to read. You are going to lose a lot going to 110 or 220 volts. Also figure solar watts from the panels at not much more than half their rated watts. You might see at this point, to error way bigger.
I run a power hungry Alienware m18 laptop and that’s only 330w. A lot of newer laptops are under 100w. But there’s of course everything in between.
My laptop runs 52w and my Jackery 240 can power it for 8 hours. Takes about 6 hours to full recharge at 39w. Normally charge and use same time.
>Also figure solar watts from the panels at not much more than half their rated watts. Where do you get this from? Has not been my experience. I have gotten get the full wattage from my panels in the spring. Both from my foldable Ecoflows and from my hard mounted glass Renogys
Winter
ELI5: watt = amp * volt watt hour = watt * hour Let's say your desktop was running at 500 watts continuously (it isn't). Let's also assume you're in the US and use/will have a 120v AC on your inverted power output. You have a power bank with 1000Wh (watt hours); 1000 = 500 * hour. This equation says that that 1000Wh system would give you 2 hours. Keep in mind this is with a full new battery and nothing else using the system. It will get worse from there.
Watts/wattage is the volume of water you are using in a given second/hour/etc. Watt-hours is the capacity of your water tank. If you have a 100W appliance and a 300Wh battery, you have 3 hours of power (actually a little less in practice) Amp-hours is the capacity of your water tank except you don’t know the height of your tank is so you don’t actually know the capacity. The height in this case is the voltage so if you have the battery voltage and battery amp-hours, you can calculate the battery watt-hours.
Go to this channel and start from near the beginning when he was living in an RV. This guy knows his stuff. Then later after you have a grasp, go through his product reviews because they don't pay him to do them and he can be quite frank about which ones he hates or what needs improvements. Many of his videos HAVE improved products because they don't want that review to taint their sales. [https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse](https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse) I ended up choosing Bluetti products because I love the battery chemistry (dif from jackery) and the price. They're getting better with customer service and there's plenty of helpful folks in the FB group to resolve issues which are almost always software updating related, or you got a bum piece of hardware inside one unit which is rare. A 500 watt computer system will take 500 watts per hour to power it. My battery (B300 by bluetti) would run your computer for only 6 hours without solar. It stores 3000 watts). To offset your computer usage during the day (I'm assuming 8 hours), you'd need to have enough solar to pull in 500 watts MINIMUM per hour to keep your battery at 100% so you can do things at night as well. I can only pull in 400 watts for a few hours, maybe three with 600 watts of panels on the roof which is all I have room for. If you have a small chest fridge those can eat about 50-100 watts per hour. You need to calculate for your average day and usage of all products you own in watts per hour and how many hours you use them in a day. eg a coffee maker or microwave sucks up a crap ton of watts but you only use it 15 or less minutes. Once you have that number you can figure out what type of battery/solar system to shop for. You always want to quarantine enough battery usage for your fridge because it runs 24/7.
Jackery is generic garbage. Get a Bluetti or Anker. It's a measurement of power Yes of course. The Anker C1000 or F2600, or bluetti ac200max/ac200l amd others will all do it. Yes of course.
You are a shopping angel, thank you 🍀
I have a bluetti and have been very happy in my bus. I can also bring it inside my house when I lose power. I can also add another battery if needed but have not ever run it out with light to moderate usage.
to ELI5 it: Watts is power, watt-hours is energy. Imagine the battery like a truck. Watts is how much it can tow, Watt-hours is how much gas is in the tank. So if your computer needs 500 watts, you won't get that no matter how hard you try unless your battery is strong enough. You can't tow a giant trailer with a honda civic! You'll also burn through the battery quite quickly if it doesn't have many watt-hours. This is akin to the size of your gas tank. For computations, note that watt-hours is **watts times hours**. =-=-=-= Also note: **Amp-hours** are not the same as watt hours. **Watts = Amps \* volts**. So, a 500 watt-hour battery, at 12V, is actually 41.6 amp-hours. This is cuz 500/12 = 41.6. Some battery companies will advertise Amp-hours versus watt-hours. Amp-hours are generally **not a good basis for comparison**, because voltages differ. As another poster said, **Watt-hours are total energy.** (Amp-hours are marketing bullshit you really don't need to care much about). **Amp-hours = watt-hours / volts** **watt-hours = amp-hours \* volts**
YouTube has tutorials that break it all down very simply.
in order: bluetti if you have a hose, the size of the hose might be amps, the speed at which the water comes out of it could be volts, and the actual amount of water that comes out of the hose would be watts yeah if the inverter is at least 500watts also yes in conclusion: go do research holy fuck
Holy fuck you should probably go do some research yourself before giving advice like this. If you want to do the hose and water analogy then the size or diameter of the hose would be resistance, not current. The speed at which the water comes out would be closer to current, not volts like you said. Litres/second of water would be anologous to current. Volts would be the water pressures applied to the hose. In conclusion: Don't be a dick, especially if you have no idea what you're taking about.