StirCrazy wrote:


what camp site will let you run a generator for 23 hours. up here you are limited to 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours around supper and they are even claming down more. lots of places have no generator policys. thats why I went pure solar.

Lantley wrote:

How much time did you spend building your unit including research?
My point is you have no labor or overhead in your pricing. So how does that make those for sale over priced?
I can make my own hamburger or I can go out and buy one.
Does that mean McD's over priced?

Gjac wrote:

Op said "Just wondering if this is a possible solution to running a generator, it may not run the A/C very long but up here we can get by without that and the microwave, and run the fridge on propane, just need the lights and electronics pumps, fans and maybe some music for a 3 day weekend. perhaps the tv for a movie on a rainy day." For what you are looking to do 2 6v GC batteries will be more than enough for a 3-day weekend. There is no need for Li batteries or these expensive portable units. I camp for a week like what you described, and my 230 AH batteries are at 50% SOC without any genset recharging. This has been an interesting thread with a lot of good information because many on here have greater energy requirements than you do. For what you are looking to do 2 6V Sam's Club golf cart batteries for about $200 will be a lot cheaper than these portable Li units with a lot less AH's.

jjrbus wrote:

I feel so much better. I read solar generator and put a solar panel on my lawn mower hooked up to the battery, with a couple emergency LED and a 12V outlet, advertised it on Craigslist as a state of the art Solar Mower Generator. I am not getting any calls on it.

naturist wrote:



You are right, I didn't include my time building. I also neglected to mention having purchased my parts at retail, rather than wholesale, unlike the "power station" manufacturers.

And you are right about Mickey D and the hamburger situation. But if I make my own, you can bet it'll be better than the McD version!

Being retired, the time/labor of building such a device falls into the hobby category. But to be fair, if I charged myself for the labor of building these devices, I get to pay myself around $500 a day for my efforts, paid for by the difference in cost between the commercial unit and the home made one(s). While that is below my daily rate when I was a working stiff, it is well above what I'd make greeting at Wally's. I call the commercial units overpriced because that labor rate is well above what the guys in the factory are making, and the wholesale/retail markup make for what looks like a very profitable product. Maybe that's why it appears everybody on the planet it going into building the things.

jjrbus wrote:

I feel so much better. I read solar generator and put a solar panel on my lawn mower hooked up to the battery, with a couple emergency LED and a 12V outlet, advertised it on Craigslist as a state of the art Solar Mower Generator. I am not getting any calls on it.

jaycocreek wrote:

Battleborn 230ah(3456wh) bare battery......$2375
Bluetti B300 3072wh(240ah) with outlets.....$1999

Battleborn is more expensive here..