Portable Power Station VS Lithium/Inverter

[chuckburt28]

Hoping to get everyone's take on the benefits of a totally installed lithium/inverter/solar system vs a system using pre-installed solar plugging into a portable power station like Bluetti or Jackery.

The idea I'm leaning towards would be to buy a Bluetti Ac200L, and whichever camper manufacturer I choose, I would have the solar pre-wired or I would wire in a plug so it can plug into the Bluetti. I am hoping to power lights, fridge, charge phones, and maybe eventually run things like kitchen devices as needs present themselves. Tune will wire for you, others may or may not.

My concern as I go through and compare manufacturers is that an entire electrical system is $3-6K including 200ah lithium, decent amount of solar, and inverter. Compare that to $1k to 1.5K for a portable power station that I can use wherever I want or have to use in home emergencies. Am I missing something? Will the solar not plug in and charge correctly, will the portable power station not do as well powering higher amp devices, what is making my imagined better setup so much cheaper?

 

[Verkstad]

Only if I traveled fulltime would I pay for a substantial built in system.
Being a weekender, I would buy a suitable of the the dozens of portable setups.
Or more likely just assemble a "diy powerbox" that fits my needs.

Btw,
A pedantic pet peeve shared by many...
In electrical context, Devices dont consume electrical energy as their principal function.

 

[trabs00]

I can relate to your situation. I am a long weekend warrior with a maybe 2 trips of a couple weeks a year.
I went with a "semi-built in" Ecoflow setup that powers my fridge, hot plate, lights, maxxair fans and charges phones etc.
It is about 20' to disconnect and remove it if I want to use in the house, but it gives me that flexibility if needed.
They always have sales or free "X" with purchase. I got a portable solar setup for "free" but have yet to use it. I have an alternator charger setup that does well enough for now while overlanding between dispersed camping spots. I would love to hard wire for a solar setup on the roof of my pop up but will likely just keep my setup and for longer trips maybe bring the portable solar to plug in... it's just kind of bulky when panels are not mounted on the roof.

 

[chuckburt28]

Only if I traveled fulltime would I pay for a substantial built in system.
Being a weekender, I would buy a suitable of the the dozens of portable setups.
Or more likely just assemble a "diy powerbox" that fits my needs.

Btw,
A pedantic pet peeve shared by many...
In electrical context, Devices dont consume electrical energy as their principal function.

Thank you for the clarification, I certainly am here to learn.

So, it sounds like a portable setup would work just fine, the major difference is the fact that the system is stationary? I was just making sure the downsides weren't in performance or in compatibility.

 

[Bergger]

I've used a Jackery 1000 to power everything in my AT Summit for the past 3 years. It's worked great. It powers the fridge, lights, usb plugs, maxx air fan, and the Truma Vario heater. So glad I went with a portable system over a built in one. It allows me to completely empty the bed of my truck for normal use. Also as you mentioned it is much cheaper. And if you have an inverter and 120v plug in the bed of your truck you can even skip the roof mounted solar panel. That's what I did. I have the Jackery plugged into the 120v plug and that charges it while driving. I then use a portable Jackery solar panel at camp to charge it when needed. This allows me to place the panel in the optimum location especially when I park the truck in the shade. I usually use just a 100 watt panel as that seems to be plenty but do have a second one so I can expand it to 200 watts if needed. Also much cheaper than a hard mounted panel set up. I recommend going portable power.