Is a portable solar-powered generator practical for powering my home?

Kristin Vogel - January 17, 2023

Advice

I don’t have solar panels on my house and I don’t have the money to invest in a rooftop array. I want something to power my home…the refrigerator as much as needed, lights at night, our on-demand water heater. Is a portable system with panels I can set up in my backyard practical for this purpose? I like the idea that we can take it with us if we need to. I would love your thoughts and thanks in advance.

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I don’t think a portable solar generator is enough to power your home, you’d need a fuel generator at least to achieve that. The prepared has a really good primer you might want to look at that https://theprepared.com/gear/guides/off-grid-power-101/

 

Not my home..but one appliance at a time sort of thing..a few lights in a room when necessary. 

 

A (few) lamps yes if it’s a big enough/powerful enough battery/generator. But definitely not a fridge. A gas/propane powered generator could do that though.

 

I have two solar generators and as stated, they aren’t really designed to run heavy duty appliances.  Perfect for lights, recharging devices and running smaller appliances.  My 9000 watt dual fuel generator is perfect for running more items, including refrigerators.

 

Probably not.  Check out the articles on this website on small portable panels.

My approach is to use several small portable lights, headlamps and flashlights, as well as power banks.

Impose refrigerator discipline (no frivolous opening).  Cook on a variety of camp stoves.  Crank up the fireplace.  Basically we camp out in the house.  Have done so for up to three days….

 

I have 2 Jackery 1500’s w/4 – 100watt panels .. I am now planning to purchase 2 12volt freezers and 1 dual zone freezer/refrigerator .. if we loose the electric grid I can limit the loss of my frozen food .. relying on solar I think 12volt is the best way to go .. for long term outage ……  NOW if the electricity for the  city water/sanitation dept. goes down then .. NO WATER at our faucets .. NOW we have a BIG BIG problem …