"Battery Packs" are storage devices. "Battery Packs" aren't "Solar Generators". Refrigerators aren't "Food Generators".

[1000arms]

... As far as hilarious...
I find expressing batteries in mAh. Unless a battery is less than 1Ah, it seems using mAh is marketing deception ...

I can understand a company advertising, "Our older batteries were 900 mAH, but our new batteries are 1200 mAH!" That seems quite reasonable and honest.

I also think labeling a 30 AH battery as a "30,000 mAH battery!" is dishonest.

I think too much advertising today is aimed at tricking/confusing the unaware. I created this thread to help keep people from being fooled by what I consider to be a deceptive marketing term.

 

[OllieChristopher]

I also think labeling a 30 AH battery as a "30,000 mAH battery!" is dishonest.

Why would you say that? 30,000 mAh is the same exact thing as 30 Ah. That is 100% honest and forthcoming.

I think too much advertising today is aimed at tricking/confusing the unaware. I created this thread to help keep people from being fooled by what I consider to be a deceptive marketing term.

I'm pretty confident that the members on this platform are not deceived or tricked by marketing. The bottom line is the end user enjoying and using the product for what it is intended and advertised for.

I saw the price and description of the solar generator I purchased and it is doing exactly as advertised. My Jackery Explorer is 300 watts with a 500 watt peak and 293 watt hours. It puts out at least that amount as advertised. Just by doing quick math in my head that comes out to about 28.7 amp hours.

When I hook up my solar panel it becomes a solar generator. I have both a solar generator and portable power station all in one nice package. Jackery is 100% upfront and forthright in their advertising and marketing for their various devices.

Also the specs on Jackery's website and manual are spot on and accurate.

 

[jadmt]

If all these set ups are so easy and cheap to make why doesn't someone start selling them prepackaged? Seems like the market is ripe for it. put it in a nice, neat lightweight package like the jackery 1000 and make some coin. I had to haul my spare AGM battery down to the shed to jump my mower and dang thing is heavy. I will admit I am a sucker for good marketing and convenience.

 

[OllieChristopher]

If all these set ups are so easy and cheap to make why doesn't someone start selling them prepackaged? Seems like the market is ripe for it.

I'm of the opinion that it is going to be very difficult to make something DIY lightweight and compact as the Jackery Solar Generator for the price point they are being sold.

 

[OllieChristopher]

Its honest, but goes against convention whats taught early as gradeschool.
Stupid as saying ”My job pays 8000 nickels per shift” or a 30/24” wrench.

I do not agree. Millivolts and milliamps are a very standard unit of measurement in the electrical and electronics industry. I would not compare it to counting money or wrench sizes. Stating it as a criminal motive is way far fetched.

Of course legitimete ’ExPo Guys are immune. But seems you have not followed electrical topics on this platform much or have exposure to much of the electro-ballroller population at large.

I would encourage you to please tread lightly as to making an assumption of me.

I have indeed been following a whole bunch of topics on this forum including but not inclusive to the electrical topics. While I am a fairly new member, I'm pretty confident I know as much as the next guy in regards to portable solar generators and their purpose.

As I and many others have stated, solar generator technology is moving at a fast pace. The market and manufacturers are listening to the consumer and end user of the products that are being developed. It's a time to embrace and be happy there are choices in the market for all of us to choose. It's a disservice to try and look for the negative or find fault in something that actually works and does as advertised.

 

[1000arms]

I can understand a company advertising, "Our older batteries were 900 mAH, but our new batteries are 1200 mAH!" That seems quite reasonable and honest.

I also think labeling a 30 AH battery as a "30,000 mAH battery!" is dishonest.

I think too much advertising today is aimed at tricking/confusing the unaware. I created this thread to help keep people from being fooled by what I consider to be a deceptive marketing term.

Why would you say that? 30,000 mAh is the same exact thing as 30 Ah. That is 100% honest and forthcoming. ...

... The answer is in my original post, but, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and answer your question. I'll quote it and highlight it in red. See:

... I also think labeling a 30 AH battery as a "30,000 mAH battery!" is dishonest.

I think too much advertising today is aimed at tricking/confusing the unaware. ...

 

[1000arms]

Its honest, but goes against convention whats taught early as gradeschool.
Stupid as saying ”My job pays 8000 nickels per shift” or a 30/24” wrench. Presenting in unusual alternate formats is usually a nefarious motive.

The dishonest car salesperson said, "This car gets 47,520'/gallon!"

The ignorant person said, "Wow, that is incredible! This must be a green car!"

The experienced person said, "Who are you trying to fool? That is only 9 miles per gallon."

 

[1000arms]

I think "Solar Generator" is a deceptive and dishonest marketing term when applied to a battery pack.

Battery packs are storage devices, which are charged and discharged, but don't generate electricity.

Refrigerators are also storage devices. One can put food in a fridge (at least until it is full), one can take food out of a fridge (at least until it is empty), but, the fridge doesn't generate food.

There are many ways to generate electricity. For example, one could use gasoline, diesel fuel, wind, water, humans, and/or the sun. It can be quite useful to store this energy for use at another time. Perhaps for when the wind isn't blowing, the sun isn't shining, when one wants the quiet of a non-running engine, or simply doesn't want to pedal at the moment. Batteries can be used to store energy for those times. "Battery Packs" have a battery, or batteries, for storage.

Solar panels covert solar energy in to electrical energy. Battery packs don't convert solar energy in to electrical energy, but, rather, they can store electrical energy from gas generators, diesel generators, hydro, humans, and from solar panels.

Please don't be fooled by the marketing term "Solar Generator". Please don't trust any company that uses the marketing term "Solar Generator" on anything that isn't (only) a solar panel.

Hydroelectric Power: How it Works | U.S. Geological Survey

So just how do we get electricity from water? Actually, hydroelectric and coal-fired power plants produce electricity in a similar way. In both cases a power source is used to turn a propeller-like piece called a turbine.

www.usgs.gov

Solar Panel of Photovoltaic Cells | U.S. Geological Survey

www.usgs.gov

If all these set ups are so easy and cheap to make why doesn't someone start selling them prepackaged? Seems like the market is ripe for it. put it in a nice, neat lightweight package like the jackery 1000 and make some coin. I had to haul my spare AGM battery down to the shed to jump my mower and dang thing is heavy. I will admit I am a sucker for good marketing and convenience.

... Perhaps you posted in the wrong thread?

Please keep in mind that:

I created this thread to help people from being fooled by what I consider to be a deceptive marketing term.

I'm not angry, upset, confused, and/or cranky. I just posted this thread to help people.

I am a bit surprised by the number of people who, seem to me, have had an adverse and unwarranted reaction to my attempt to help people by creating this thread, but, I'm not angry, upset, confused, and/or cranky about it.

I hope that everyone that reads this post has a pleasant day!

 

[OllieChristopher]

FWIW in my experience, mAh ratings are used to relate capacity to how long the battery(s) will support a load for a specific amount of time, typically hours, portion of a hour, minutes, and seconds. Having the capacity stated in mAh (vs Ah), just makes it easier to figure out. With experience, most people can calculate the result in their head and get a pretty good estimate. mAh capacity has become a standard measurement, and helps in making comparisons for equivalent voltage and type batteries, or to figure out which battery to select for a specific task. This is associated with a specific time period that is needed for the load to do the task.

In a nutshell it takes more math equations to figure out batteries specific load capacity in Ah vs mAh. It is no problem for the end user to choose whatever they wish as a measurement. So as you can see there is no deception or marketing ploys. Milliamps is strictly a standard of measurement used to accurately calculate battery capacity.

I hope this explains it accurately. I'm in no way arguing to as what measurement you want to use. Whatever you choose is fine. I'm simply explaining as to why you see battery capacity in milliamps vs amps. For those of you that have a MacBook click on the apple in the left hand corner and check out your battery. All measurements are in mAh.

Rockpals has a fantastic deal on a portable power station right now. 520 watt hours and less than 15lbs for only 329.00 with instant coupon. I am not familiar with this brand but that is a hard deal to pass up for someone looking for one of these.

The specs are clear as day and are as follows: 520WH/46.85AH, 500W, 1000W Peak, equivalent 140400mAh/3.7V No fake marketing and the mAh rating is being used appropriately for the description of use.

Add in a small solar panel and you have yourself a really nice portable solar generator to take with you off grid in your travels.

ROCKPALS 500W/520WH Portable Power Station

Rockpals 500w portable power station, 520Wh/140400mAh CPAP backup lithium Battery powers all your devices with over 1000 cycles. Perfect for emergencies, camping,etc.

www.rockpals.com

 

[67cj5]

... It appears to me that you are still complaining about people complaining about not using the correct term, and, for someone who says he/she doesn't care, you seem to do a lot of nitpicking about nitpicking.

AGAIN, NO. I don't care what term they use, It's not going to change one second of my life. You started this pointless thread Not Me. And you are using it against anyone who does not agree with with your way of thinking,

Whether they are a called Solar Generators, W, Wh, A or Ah, Who gives a hoot, As long as your safe and well nothing else matters. 99% of people are smart enough to realize that the term Solar Generator is nothing more than a Glorified Battery Pack.

 

[OllieChristopher]

99% of people are smart enough to realize that the term Solar Generator is nothing more than a Glorified Battery Pack.

And look at the price they are going for!! How in the heck is someone going to put together a 46 Ah portable power station that comes in under 15 lbs? And with all those features at just over 300 bucks.

I'm not sure how good the Rockpals power stations are. I will tell you the Rockpals foldable panels are very compact and work as advertised.

 

[67cj5]

And look at the price they are going for!! How in the heck is someone going to put together a 46 Ah portable power station that comes in under 15 lbs? And with all those features at just over 300 bucks.

I'm not sure how good the Rockpals power stations are. I will tell you the Rockpals foldable panels are very compact and work as advertised.

Yeah I agree, It's a bit like fridges, They are all good and if it does the job then All is right with the world,

I figured out that these smallish Power boxes only have to power the Fridge during the Dark hours, IE My Dometic PLB-40 power pack has 40Ah / 512Wh what ever ?? Anyways To power my Big ARB 78L / 80Qt fridge @ 2*c/ 35*f for 12 hours of darknes the ARB is going to Draw 17% from the 100% fully charged Box so it can be fully charged in less than an Hour, Dometic surgest using only 80% of it's power ?

The PLB-40 Charges at a rate of 17% per hour from the Wall Wart or the Cigar Socket or Solar which is equal to what the ARB used the night before so there really is no need for me to go any bigger when it comes to Battery power noting that I also have 2 or 3 Deep Cycle batteries if needed which is nice but the PLB-40 Charges so fast compared to the deep cycle batteries I never seem to run out of power and I also have a backup PLB-40 in reserve,

My lighting Is Solar powered, My portable TV uses 7w per hour and I have a few heating options, I have picked Items that are low powered because at the time I intended to use Deep Cycle batteries until I realized what a PIA they can be when it comes to charging with limited Sunlight,

Another thing a person should be aware of is most of us would be better off with two smaller 4/500w or two 1000w Max versions instead of one of the 1500w/2400w models, Reason being is the 1500w /2400w versions need at leased 6/700w of solar to be able to charge them in 3 or 4 hours and these big Monsters can't be Charged from a Cigar Socket, where as a 500w version can be charged in 3 or 4 hours from a Cigar Socket or a 100/120W Solar Panel,

Sure it's nice to have one of those Huuuuge Monsters just for the bragging rights alone but Charging them Is a PIA where as 2 X 500 or even 2X 1000w Packs does it all, They Charge fast and if one does get a bit low you can swap it out with a Full one and Charge the one thats getting down and another good reason to have 2 smaller ones is so you can have power at two different places in camp at the same time, Or power the fridge with one while the Kids are Charging or playing with their PC's/Tablets on the Other,

 

[OllieChristopher]

That's good info and I never thought of a few small ones instead of one large. I almost considered the Dometic PLB-40. It's one of those buy once cry once items. I could not overlook the Jackery. I was price driven on that and my solar panel.

 

[1000arms]

... It appears to me that you are still complaining about people complaining about not using the correct term, and, for someone who says he/she doesn't care, you seem to do a lot of nitpicking about nitpicking.

AGAIN, NO. I don't care what term they use, It's not going to change one second of my life. You started this pointless thread Not Me. And you are using it against anyone who does not agree with with your way of thinking, ...

Well, it seems quite apparent to me that you do care, because you keep posting in a thread that you try to claim is pointless.

I created this thread to help people from being fooled by what I consider to be a deceptive marketing term. If you want to think a battery pack is a "solar generator", well, that is your choice!

I posted this thread because I don't want anyone buying a "solar generator" as a gift or for themselves, without knowing what the product truly is. I think respect and care for others is a perfectly good reason to start a thread.

 

[1000arms]

... 99% of people are smart enough to realize that the term Solar Generator is nothing more than a Glorified Battery Pack.

I created this thread to help those who don't know.