Choosing an Outdoor Battery Power Supply
If you want to keep your home running during a power outage, an outdoor battery power supply is the way to go. However, you’ll need more than one battery to fully power your appliances and devices.
This model has a good mix of ports, a fast charge speed, and is relatively light for its size. It’s also a modular power station, so you can add more capacity when needed.
Power and Battery Capacity
When choosing an outdoor battery power supply, consider the power and capacity that it will offer. The more charge the power station holds, the longer it can operate without needing to be recharged. This, of course, comes with a tradeoff in weight and volume.
The number and types of ports available on the power station will also impact its portability and functionality. You want to choose one with a variety of interfaces, including AC, USB, USB-C, DC, PD, and car charger ports. The more ports, the easier it will be to use and connect devices.
You will also want to find out how quickly the power station can get a full charge. This is important because you don’t outdoor battery power supply want to spend all day waiting for it to recharge, especially if you are camping in a remote location or off the grid.
Look for a power station that can reach a full charge in 1.1 hours on standard AC outlet power or 43 minutes utilizing solar charging. Lastly, you will want to make sure that the power station has expandable capacity, so that you can add on extra batteries if needed. This feature is especially helpful for power-hungry gear like a laptop, CPAP machine, or electric cooler. It is also a great option for emergency situations such as a natural disaster or community circuit rectification.
Weight and Volume
A power supply needs to be compact and light enough for easy travel, but also must have sufficient battery capacity and output. For camping, that might mean a balance solar energy system supplier of size and power, plus all the ports you need for cameras and other electronic devices and multiple ways to recharge.
The inverter on an outdoor battery power supply converts DC power stored in the battery into AC power that can be used to run equipment. Most models use either a modified sine wave or pure sine inverter, with the latter producing cleaner, more stable power for sensitive electronics like laptops.
Whether or not an outdoor power supply features solar charging or vehicle charging is another important consideration. Depending on your needs, you may want to have the ability to recharge in a car or at home while working or camping, or you might prefer to be able to quickly replenish the power from a solar panel when not using the device.
The more interfaces a power station supports, the more types and quantities of devices it can charge, and the better your experience will be with its functions. Look for a rich assortment of USB, PD, DC and car charger ports, as well as quick-charge capabilities. For added safety, choose a model with overvoltage, overcurrent and short-circuit protection to safeguard the connected devices.
Applications
An outdoor battery power supply is a convenient portable energy storage device that can provide DC or AC emergency power and backup in complex and changeable environments. It can be used as an auxiliary power unit on construction sites, at gatherings or to run kitchen appliances in case of a grid-outage or power restriction, providing a green, noiseless and pollution-free alternative to thermal generators.
Typical users of an outdoor power station are outdoor lovers, such as camping enthusiasts, fishing fans and RV travelers, who often spend long periods outdoors without municipal power supplies and need to charge mobile phones, cameras, drones or lighting. They also like to connect solar panels to the power station and recharge it with sunlight, saving on electricity costs.
Another group of users is short video and live broadcasters, who shoot in locations with little or no electricity. They need high-capacity and fast-charging outdoor power supplies for their equipment. Then there are the professionals who work in fields where electricity is not available, such as geological exploration, pipeline maintenance and earthquake-stricken areas. They need an outdoor power supply with a long cycle life, which means it can be charged and discharged more than 2,000 times. For this purpose, the popular choice is lithium iron phosphate (lifepo4) batteries. These can withstand frequent charging and discharging with little damage.
