If you’re planning on escaping from the demands of urban living – whether that’s a camping holiday, road trip or even going off-grid – then you’ll benefit from investing in a portable power solution. Choose a decent piece of kit and you will be rewarded with multiple benefits: besides bringing the all important energy, a good portable power station should be easy to carry around, require little maintenance, operate quietly in the background and keep your energy costs down.
Unlike traditional generators, modern power stations don’t burn fossil fuels, making them a cleaner choice for your immediate environment, while also helping you to reduce your carbon footprint. Find a product that can be charged using solar power and the environmental benefits become even greater.
California-based company Jackery is one of the leading suppliers of portable power stations, having been founded in 2012 with a mission to bring greener energy to all. 2016 saw the launch of its first outdoor portable power stations, with portable solar panels following two years later. Since then it has sold millions of products around the world and scooped up plenty of industry awards on the way.
Now they’ve upgraded two of their most popular products, bringing even more power to their customers. We’re going to take a look at them in a little more detail, along with options for solar panel charging.
Jackery Explorer E1000 v2 Portable Power Station - £749 (or £949 With SolarSaga 100w Panel)
The Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station is a lightweight product that provides a 1070 Wh capacity and1500W output, 50% higher than Jackery’s earlier generations. It’s perfectly adept at providing sufficient power for electrical essentials such as refrigerators, kettles and microwaves and, with up to 100W dual Power Delivery (PD) charging, it can keep your phone, laptop and other devices charged simultaneously.
There are three ways you can charge the power station – wall charging (1.7 hours), car charging (12 hours) or solar charging, which takes 7.5 hours with two Jackery’s 100W solar panels. There’s also an emergency super charging function that can be enabled through the app which fully charges in less than an hour. Besides being quick to charge, it also has a quiet mode (under 22dB) which charges in 5 hours. With its compact design (247mm x 224mm x 327mm) and a weight of just 11kg, this device is perfectly portable, and is tough enough to survive a life on the road.
The E1000 v2’s LiFePO4 Battery is capable of operating for 4000 cycles at 70% capacity (which is up to 10 years daily use) and it has USB-A/C ports, with an AC charge cable included. This power station also has various safety features including Jackery ChargeShield 2.0 making it a reliable product whether you’re camping outdoors or using it as a home power back-up.
Jackery Explorer 240 v2 Portable Power Station - £199 (or £299 With Solar Saga 80W Panel)
This power station is a great choice for anyone enjoying an outdoor adventure, with its diminutive size and foldable handle and buckle allowing it to be tucked into a backpack. And at just 7.7lbs it won’t be adding excessive weight to your load. Despite its small size, it packs a surprising amount of power – its 256Wh capacity can charge a 29W phone 11 times or keep a 5W light illuminated for 21 hours.
As with the Jackery Explorer E1000 v2 it can be charged via an AC wall socket (2 hours), car (5 hours) or solar (5 hours with Jackery’s 80W solar panel). One hour flash charging can be operated by the app which can be connected via bluetooth and WiFi.
It comes with five ports, including USB-A and USB-C, for multiple device charging and has an LED light and LCD display screen, making it handy around the campsite at night. Its uninterruptible power supply (UPS) has a response time of less than 20ms, providing seamless power switching for laptops and other devices that need continuous operation. This means that you’ll stay up and running during power outages without losing essential data.
The Jackery Explorer 240 v2’s battery is capable of lasting for 3,000 cycles (up to 10 years lifespan), is safe and impact resistant. If you’re looking for a hard-wearing, reliable energy source to accompany you on your next adventure, then this power station provides you with a good supply at a very reasonable price. It also comes with an AC charge cable.
