@richpowers In my opinion only, the liFe PO4 batteries I assume the Ecoflow has as they all come with those, was designed to be recharged with solar and you can live off the grid. Make sure you solar panel is the right specs for the Ecoflow(voltage/current).
Maybe watch a few youtube videos on this with your model demonstrating the charging with solar. Or ask Ecoflow. You can talk to an actual person in tech support. Also there is an Ecoflow group on facebook where you can get your question answered.
The batteries have no memory effect. I do know that slower charging rather than super speed is better for battery longevity. The feature where with AC charging it can charge in 1 hour or 3/4 hour to 80% is not good for the batteries so you can adjust the charge speed.
I do know that once every 3 months it is good to let it run something till it stops, then charge fully as this keeps the meter calibrated and accurately reading the correct state of charge. When it gets to 80% I think the BMS slows the charge rate for that last 20% just for battery protection.
The new solar panels I ordered were Renogy 100w monocrystalline just like my old ones, except that these were N-Type as opposed to the more standard P-Type..
I had no idea what any of that meant so I looked it up and the short of it is that it has to do with its construction, it has always been known that N-type while more complicated and expensive to manufacture, they are much more efficient and harvesting sunlight and have a longer lifespan -- but here's the interesting part.. The primary reason the less efficient P-type solar panels became the norm goes back to the Apollo missions and other space craft.. Evidently N-type panels cant take the radiations of space, it causes them to break down - but not hear on earth. The market then just kind of followed suit with NASA's choice, and that's why P-type became the standard.
I thought that was interesting. So how do the N-type panels I bought perform?? Like wow, I'm really blown away, I've never got near this performance with my P-type panels. During peak sun the two 100w panels are showing as high as 235w input to the solar generator, and even when cloudy I'm pulling in 140-170w
I've never seen any panels that actually perform well above their actual rating, nor have ever heard of a 100w solar panel actually producing 100w, but these do. I still cant beleive it, but they are and t does a beautiful job of topping my batteries off every day (so far)
They on Amazon
Renogy 2PCS N-Type 100 Watt Solar Panels 16BB, 12V 200W Solar Panel 25% High-Efficiency, PV Module Power Charger for RV Marine Rooftop Farm Battery and Other Off-Grid Applications 100W (Pack of 2)
$169
@richpowers That's great that you are getting that wattage input even on a cloudy day. I thought you got a Ecoflow for some reason. They all have liFePO4 batteries and have fast charging even with solar. Even when cloudy the 140-170 watts input will get you back to 80% or more in a couple of hours max so you wouldn't need to be without power for long. It can also charge while being used. Best to do that so you don't keep completely discharging and charging with complete cycles.
@richpowers That's great that you are getting that wattage input even on a cloudy day. I thought you got a Ecoflow for some reason. They all have liFePO4 batteries and have fast charging even with solar. Even when cloudy the 140-170 watts input will get you back to 80% or more in a couple of hours max so you wouldn't need to be without power for long. It can also charge while being used. Best to do that so you don't keep completely discharging and charging with complete cycles.
I did get an Ecoflow Delta EF3Pro - 1800W (3300W Surge, Pure Sine Wave) with 1260Wh capacity. Refurb unit $360. That's what I bought the new solar panels for.
Anyway, I am so satisfied with it and like it so much that I figured it might be wise to get another while still available at that price. So I did a few days ago and hooked my old solar panels to it. That totals about 2500 watt hours of capacity on board, and 400watts solar to top them off each day. I can easily run a microwave if I want - or anything else. But these have no app control, only their new models do.
@mark Oh by the way - Your link to the Bluetti you have (at the beginning of this thread) Right now and for the next 24 hours Mothers Day sale for only $169 - that's not a refurb, that's brand new!
@richpowers Yeah everything goes for a better price after I get it. Is that on Amazon? Don't forget that everything is higher in Canada. Amazon USA is always significantly less for the exact same thing. The dollar value has a lot to do with it but it has been that way forever. And now the tariffs add to it. As for the apps why do you need a smartphone to access the functions? What is wrong with the menu on the unit itself. Everything is an "app". There's nothing wrong with yours the way it is.
@richpowers Yeah everything goes for a better price after I get it. Is that on Amazon?
It's at the USA link you provided in the first post
As for the apps why do you need a smartphone to access the functions? What is wrong with the menu on the unit itself. Everything is an "app". There's nothing wrong with yours the way it is.
I agree, I'm fine without it and lack of it is why the bargain prices. It was the best bang for the buck to acheive a reasonably ample supply of renewable power.
The app is nice for monitoring performance and things, graphs and so forth peaks and lulls etc.
And you know, that app capabilities has got to trickle power consistantly anyway. just like your suppose to turn off its ac outlets if not using because I will constantly trickle
Here's a picture of my simple set up with Bluetti AC2A powering station and box for internet and phone if power goes out. Laptops have own power back up. I could use the DC outlet for back up so not using the inverter but the Decade uses 16 volts A/C, the Schlockwood uses 18 volts DC, so I need the A/C for the adaptors. The small laptop really doesn't need to be on the bluetti as it has it's own battery but if it is not charging it makes little difference.
Just before that you said "I can run my station with this for a whole day" - and I'm wondering if you really could?
You appear to factoring out what the laptop would draw over the course of a day. You point out the laptop has it's own battery, but you know its own battery will only last a couple hours at most.. so you really need to factor in the laptop draw too... I kind of doubt you could run your station for 24 hours with a full charge on a 300w battery bank... UNLESS maybe you had a solar panel connected to it too, which could be both powering the station and keeping the batteries topped at the same time during the day, and only at night would it begin draining the battery.
Now would that 300w capabilty take it through the night? I'm not sure, it's all dependent on how many watts your laptop draws, but it seems to me at best you would be cutting it close by the time the sun comes out.. then theres the question of how big a solar panel your using to recover.
I just dont know if a 300w station would really be enough.
But then again, that might not be what you meant by "all day". Maybe you aren't saying it would keep it on on air 24 hours, but just during daylight hours.
Anyway, your saying that had stuck in my head, but I'm not so sure that your statement is accurate.
I'm also curious about "the Decade uses 16 volts A/C", - well, does the Decade have some kind of built in inverter that converts it to DC before it actually hits the transmitter components? - I thought all portable transmitters actually operate DC? Just like most TVs actually operate DC and have a DC converter built in before it hits the circuitry.
Isn't this correct? or am I totally confused
@richpowers Regarding the Decade, The power supply is actually on board. The wall adaptor is just is a transformer.
My station with the Procaster or the Decade, Schlockwood, and small 10" laptop with the screen off and not charging(fully charged uses less than 10 watts of power, all combined.
I have another power station smaller than the Bluetti only 5.5 lbs and 192 WH(65000mah)
300 watt AC max and fully charged it ran the station by itself with the Decade from 12 noon to a little past 11PM. It would have gone longer but on AC it shuts down at 10% left to not let the batteries run down to nothing. for complete discharge the remaining 10% to calibrate the meter the DC out 12 volts can be used just to discharge the rest of the way. The Procaster working on 12 volts DC direct from the power station took another couple of hours to get to 0% and shut down.
@mark Sounds pretty good, I guess I was basing my thoughts on my last laptop (actually one before last), tha one drew more power than my TV, like around 35watts or more, but then again it was one of those higher proccessing ones who's higher performance tends to suck power.
I've ran my station on battery power before about 7-8 years ago with a standard car battery and a 100w panel as an experiment but I dont think I brought a laptop out there, I dont recall what I had used as an audio source.. I think it was a cheap mp3 player or something. I'm just not sure , but don't think I had brought the laptop out there because I used it daily on land.
Oh I remember now! There had been these really small android tablets that had their own little folding case which also held a little key board. They were real cute and only about $20 each (new!), I had bought about a half dozen of them and gave them as Christmas gifts to a few friends - It was one of those which I had used for audio!
@mark I googled "how much battery to power a 50w laptop for 24 hours?" and here is the ai response:
AI Overview
To power a 50W laptop for 24 hours, you would need a battery with at least 1200 watt-hours (Wh) of capacity. This is calculated by multiplying the power consumption (50W) by the time (24 hours). In practical terms, you might need a larger battery to account for inefficiencies and to ensure the battery isn't completely drained.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Power Consumption: A 50W laptop means it uses 50 watts of power per hour.
Total Energy Needed: For 24 hours, the total energy needed is 50W * 24h = 1200 Wh.
Battery Capacity: A battery's capacity is measured in watt-hours (Wh). So, you would need a battery with at least 1200Wh to power the laptop for 24 hours.
Practical Considerations: Deep cycle batteries, like those used for solar power systems, should ideally not be discharged below 50% to prolong their lifespan. Therefore, you might need a battery with a capacity of 2400Wh to ensure 1200Wh of usable energy, according to Quora.
@richpowers If your laptop is using 50 watts of power it must be charging, the screen on full brightness, your processor working overtime! I can see a high end gaming laptop approaching that especially in use while charging and a high end processor but my broadcast computer 10" screen, celeron 4500 processor, screen shuts off after 5 minutes so not on while operating, and fully charged, not in charge mode is using under 10 watts just operating Salamandra. My 27" Samsung LED TV uses only 25 watts. I think there's mistake about liFe PO4 only able to be discharged to 50% and not have the use of their full capacity. The 3000+ cycles they are rated at is full cycles of discharge/charge. 100% to 0% and back to 100%. And that is still having 80% capacity that they were when new. So if only discharging to 50% and never lower that should give you double the cycles to 80% original capacity! In that case, you'd never in your lifetime have to replace batteries so no built in obsolescence. Something else will go not the batteries. So yes maybe full discharge/charge cycles will have less cycles than only ever discharging to 50% but with 3000+ cycles(some have 3500 cycles) from full discharge it doesn't matter. You are not discharging and charging every day. And you will usually charge before 0% so don't worry about the battery life. In fact the instructions say that even if not used once every 2 to 3 months to discharge batteries completely and recharge and this keeps the BMS calibrated so remaining charge indicator is accurate.
I keep thinking about earlier in this thread when you mentioned that in the case of a power outage your station could stay on air 24 hours via you Bluetti 300w - and that still didn't sound feasible to me... but now that you say its only using about 10w running Salamandra with the screen off - Well that really changes things...
Based on what I've researched (googled) the average power draw of Windows laptops range anywhere from 30w to 70w. Naturally higher the end laptops use the most.
For example I had a Dell Lattitude Studio (still have it but the screen broke), it's one of those laptops that had full desktop computer capabilities. Its average power consumption was about 40-45w when watching a Netfilx movie or something and up to 80w when charging.. now granted that's a higher processing pc then the average laptop is, but I mention it only to emphasize how much power consumption varies between laptops.
My 26" Roku tv averages about 30-35w power draw (dependent of course on the amount of action happing on the screen, brightness, volume, etc.). I suspect a non-smart tv would use less.
But back to laptops.. In looking for ullltra-low power consumption I first bought a used mini-pc, but that involves adding external monitor keyboard mouse etc (which I already had), and it just is more convenient and space saving to go with a laptop.. So after research I decided on an old Acer Aspire 1810T (or 1410, as it's identical - one is US the other European version), because they are particularly well known for being so efficient: Its screen is also a small 11".
Acer Aspire 1810T:
"Efficiency Rating of 17.4 (lower is better), outperforming the average for ultraportables and netbooks, according to Laptop Mag."
Power Consumption Details:
Off and Charging: 21W
Idle (Desktop, with charging): 29W
Idle (Desktop): 10-11W
Half Load (one core): 16W
Full Load: 22-23W
Battery Life:
Light Use: Up to 8 hours
Movie Watching: Around 4 hours
Video Playback (80% brightness): 5 hours 22 minutes
CPU at 100% (Battery Eater's Classic test): 3 hours 21 minutes
I found one on ebay, single owner, excellent condition, with Windows XP already installed and ready to go - I paid $30 with free shipping, should be here today - That's going to be dedicated to the station. - Then I went ahead and also bought another similar Acer Aspire latop for $32 to use for personal use to leave the other dedicated.
So then, based on your experience, my station should also be able to operate at about 10w per hour, which is only 240w per day... in which case a dedicated 300 watt power station now makes sense.
The Ecoflow has USB C outputs that can directly power the 19v input to the laptop, I just need a barrel plug adapter to fit.. so that will eliminate the power brick thus make it even more power efficient.
But... I havent decided what kind of external sound card to get (I prefer to use one) and havent figured in what power difference that might make (if any), I'm not sure what power draw the transmitter has but with a 100mw output it can't be much!
I want to power the station on it's own dedicated power station and solar panel, it's not necessary but that way it it will be an entirely stand alone operation.
The "Low Power Guy" who's long established low power broadcasting blog mysteriously dissapeared last year has documented his unsuccessful try at a solar part 15 station. I then wrote him and told him all he needed was a bigger battery and perhaps a larger solar panel, as I was able to keep one going at least a week before disconnecting it years ago.
Anyway, that has been just a test, this time the solar station will be for real and intended for 24/7 use.
But in spite of your first hand experience and the factors discussed, I am still not quite sure a 300w power bank would be enough.. But I really don't know yet.
Oh, and I may just get a stand alone battery, theres no real reason to get another power station which would cost more, all I would need is a 12v to 19v step up.
Oh - and I think your right, the not discharging below 50% is more of a lead-acid battery issue and not lithium
I mentioned the Low Power Guys solar experimentation, here's a link to his conclusions in part 5, you can go back for the first four parts. I think all he really lacked was a big enough battery.
Solar powered low power radio, part five - upon reflection
https://web.archive.org/web/20220528044316/https://lowpowerradio.blogspot.com/