I’ve been watching a lot of van life videos on YouTube lately.
Van life is all about converting vans into recreational vehicles and living in them full time.
I’m not sure what draws me to those videos, but I’m quite sure I’m not a good candidate to live in a van for more than a few days.
One thing that almost every van lifer has in common is a portable power station and solar panels to provide power for small appliances and electronics and charge their gadgets.
Today we’re looking at two portable power stations that would be perfect for a van lifer or anyone looking for backup in case the power goes out.
Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Pro
Jackery is one of the big names in portable power stations, and it has a full line of products. I’ve been testing the Solar Generator 2000 Pro (starting at $3,599), which is made up of the Explorer 2000 Pro power station with two or four or six SolarSaga 200-watt solar panels.
One point before I begin.
Jackery uses the term solar generator. When I’ve written about these systems in the past, I get emails telling me that it’s just a battery, not a generator, because generators create electricity and the Explorer 2000 Pro only stores electricity, it doesn’t create electricity.
That’s true, but with the bundling of solar panels, the Explorer can create power from the sun, even while you are using the power stored in the battery.
You might not agree with Jackery’s use of the term solar generator, but that’s what it calls this product.
The Explorer 2000 Pro is Jackery’s largest power station, with a 2,160-watt-hour battery combined with a 2,200-watt inverter with a peak capacity of 4,400 watts. Peak capacity is the amount of power that can be provided for a few seconds when a connected device is powering on.
This means the 2000 Pro will run almost anything you can plug into it, including power tools, air conditioners and full-size refrigerators.
Keeping it charged
The 2000 Pro can be charged in just two hours from a wall plug.
If you are using SolarSaga 200-watt solar panels, Jackery says two panels will fully charge it in about seven and a half hours, four panels will charge it in four hours and six panels will charge it in two and a half hours.
You can also charge it from a vehicle’s 12-volt port (what I used to call a cigarette lighter port) in 24 hours.
The battery pack is made from lithium-ion cells rated for up to 1,000 recharge cycles to 80% capacity.
Also, the charger is internal, so there’s no bulky power brick to carry around. It charges with a universal PC power cord or car charger cable, which are included.
The 2000 Pro has a very nice LED screen to show you a live view of input and output power and overall capacity, as well as time left to charge or time left to empty.
Ports
The 2000 Pro’s inverter provides 120-volt power at 60 hertz to three 120-volt AC outlets.
It has two Quick Charge 3.0 USB-A ports that can provide up to 18 watts of power and two USB-C ports that can provide up to 100 watts of power.
There is also a 12-volt car port providing 10 amps.
It’s not small
The Explorer 2000 Pro has an integrated handle, like a drink cooler.
It weighs 43 pounds and measures 15.1 inches by 10.5 inches by 12.1 inches.
As I was lugging it around, I was wishing for some wheels. It is not something I’d want to carry for very long.
The solar panels are substantial, but they fold and have integrated handles.
Unfolded, they measure 21.25 inches by 91.33 inches by 0.98 inches, and they weigh just under 18 pounds.
Each panel has three built-in kickstands so you can point them toward the sun.
You need a lot of space to set up six of these panels, and plan on it taking about 15 to 20 minutes to get them all unfolded, stood up and pointed correctly.
Run time and pricing
Jackery says the 2000 Pro can run a full-size refrigerator for 3.3 hours. It can run a microwave for about 96 minutes and a projector for up to 15 hours. You can see more run time estimates on Jackery.com.
The Explorer 2000 Pro by itself costs $2,299. Individually, the SolarSaga 200-watt panels cost $699. There’s a discount for buying them in a bundle.
The solar generator bundle with the power station and six SolarSaga 200-watt panels costs $6,199. There are also bundle prices for buying the power station with two or four panels.
There is a five-year warranty if you purchase from Jackery’s website.
Jackery remains a leader in the power station market. The Solar Generator 2000 Pro is well-built, easy to use and provides power for almost anything you can plug in. It also recharges quickly.
Pros: Large battery capacity, powerful inverter, quick charging.
Cons: Expensive.
Bottom line: This power generator is hard to beat.
Oupes 1800W Portable Power Station
Oupes is a brand I hadn’t heard of before, but its power station has some impressive features.
First, let’s talk about the name. In this case, 1800 watts refers to the inverter output capacity, not the battery capacity.
This power station has a battery capacity of 1,488 watt hours. .
The Oupes’ battery is lithium iron phosphate, sometimes called LiFePO4 or LFP.
The battery is rated for 2,500 recharge cycles to 80% capacity. Long battery life is a key feature of LFP batteries.
As the name suggests, the inverter provides 1,800 watts of continuous power with a peak output of 4,000 watts.
This inverter capacity can power almost every device you could imagine, including refrigerators, electric stoves and microwave ovens.
The Oupes weighs 40 pounds, and it measures 15.1 inches by 9.56 inches by 13.3 inches.
There is a built-in handle on top and a nice bright LED light on the backside.
Ports and charging
The Oupes has three AC outlets that share the 1,800 watts of electricity output, along with two Quick Charge USB-A ports (18 watts), two Power Delivery USB-C ports (up to 60 watts), two DC ports and one car port.
The Oupes can be charged by four 100-watt solar panels in just 3 1/2 hours. It can power up from one AC outlet in eight hours or two AC wall outlets in four hours. The car port cable can charge it up in 15 hours.
The battery management system protects from over-voltage, short circuit and overheating and it will adjust the charging input to protect the battery.
You can use all the ports at once, and the unit does allow for pass-through charging (using the battery while it is charging).
Screen and pricing
The Oupes has a color LED screen to show the amount of power coming in and going out, as well as the overall battery percentage and the approximate amount of time you can run at the current output level.
What can it power?
Oupes estimates the power station can charge an iPhone 131 times or a power a 30-watt fan for more than 43 hours. It can power a 32-inch TV for 12 hours or charge your laptop 22 times.
The Oupes 1800W power station sells for $1,399 from Oupes.com.
Bundled with four 100-watt solar panels, it costs $2,199. These were the prices at the time of publication.
The 100-watt solar panels sell for $249 individually.
Oupes warranties its products for two years.
Pros: LFP battery, plenty of ports, flashlight.
Cons: None
Bottom line: This unit compares favorably with other.
Comparison
I happened to write about these power stations today because they were released and sent to me around the same time, but I don’t mean for this to be a direct comparison.
A fairer comparison would be between the Jackery Explorer 1500 and the Oupes 1800W, as they have very similar battery capacities and inverter capacities.
I will let you make your own comparisons, but I will point out the Jackery Explorer 1500 has a lithium-ion battery with a lifecycle of 500 charges to 80%, while the Oupes’ LFP battery is rated for five times more cycles (2,500).
