Idiot seeking information on Anker SOLIX, solar power, other power stations

#1

Hi, for brief details I’m a guy with severe brain damage from an injury so I know absolutely nothing about this topic, but I need to learn about it and would greatly appreciate your help.

I live in a nice small 1 bedroom apartment of only about 500 square feet. My goal is to decrease my electrical bill because it’s too high. But I don’t think I will have a way to use solar panels. The landlord probably wouldn’t let me hang anything on the roof.

What I need to know is if SOLIX or other similar products can work without panels, and how?

Ty!

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#2

Everyone starts somewhere. Yours is a completely reasonable question. Here’s how I’d answer that given your landlord will be unlikely to approve solar panels on your roof.

First, you want to know which appliances are costing you the most to run. Then you’ll want to find a device or devices to power those items.

Any SOLIX device can be charged via solar or AC (wall plug).

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#3

Thanks for the help!

Since posting I found out panels might work for me. I have a small Juliet balcony. I measured it at roughly 85 inches long It’s also only about 8 inches wide.

I googled for a pic of a similar looking balcony to give an idea of what I mean:

P1000443-500x500

Does anyone know of panels that could fit in a location like this?

As far as what appliances are costing me, I assume it’s first that I’m keeping the air at about 68°f. Beyond that, probably a mix between fridge, PCs/TV etc., and beyond that I don’t know. I’m hoping an Anker product can be a practical option that works, though I still don’t know how.

#4

Orientation to the south and the right angle is important.
Otherwise you will be disappointed.

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#5

Fortunately it does point directly to the south. The sun throughout the day is going into my place, and my cat especially loves that fact while laying on his perch!

#6

There is another thing.
I don’t know where you live.
But if your apartment is a rented one ->
in some countries you need the permission from your landlord (lessor) to install such a panel,

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#7

I’m sure there are panels that will work for you in this location/direction.

Another community member just shared this app with me, and so far, I really like it. It’s called Optimal Tilt.

Whatever you find for panels, you’ll likely want to be able to adjust its tilt.

If you’re NOT in NA, Anker sells balcony solar panels in the UK and EU and maybe AUS.

I think there are a lot of things to consider here, but I don’t want that to be discouraging to you. No one’s solar operation is ready out of the box. Anyone who plans to use it for more than fun makes a really study of their home/RV, use cases and the appliances they intent to power.

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#8

Thanks for being so helpful! Anker support did suggest that this is a good option, and of course I assume they’re right: https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Waterproof-Conversion-Efficiency-Powerhouse/dp/B0BK8YWY9Q?th=1

If I did get these, can anyone explain what else I need? I get lost when someone says “home power kit” because I can’t even really find what those are in google. I assume it’s a SOLIX version whatever but I have no idea how they are used. So, I put the panels on my balcony and probably connect it to the machine somehow, hopefully not with a cord. That gives power to the machine that I can use. But does that mean I need some other cord from wherever I keep the power kit to go directly to the refrigerator, microwave, oven, TV, etc. etc.? Like I don’t really want cords all over the place and hoping someone can summarize if possible how this works.

#9

No sweat. I get it. There are a lot of options, but to a degree, it’s all the same thing: A big to giant rechargeable battery with plugs and ports in it.

You will have a cable between the power station (aka big rechargeable battery) and the panel. The panel uses the cord to deliver the sun’s energy to your device (aka power station or big battery).

I’d recommend starting with something small. A couple good options are the Anker SOLIX 757 and the newly released Anker SOLIX C1000.

Both are extremely popular. Both are portable. Both can power your TV, heater, power tools and naturally, keep your portable electronics charged.

It might seem like a “waste” to spend $1,000 on a portable device, when what you really want is a whole home power solution that’s off-grid. A portable device is just more manageable however AND you can take it with you when and if you move.

A whole home power backup solution requires electrical work with your panel, perhaps a sub panel and maybe even a transfer switch. One such solution we offer is called the SOLIX F3800. It can be installed as a permanent home backup solution or it can be used as a portable unit. (It weighs 132 pounds, so portable is subjective here.) There’s also the cost – it can easily cost you $10,000 for the unit, the sub panel, the solar panels and the electrician’s bill.

Let me know if you’re following this, and if I can help answer more questions.

#10

Important to point out, too, that ALL of our SOLIX power stations can be charged any one of these three ways:

  1. By solar panels, which are portable
  2. By wall plug in your house (AC), which can be controlled with a lamp timer so you’re only charging when your electrical costs are low.
  3. By AC via the round 12v port in your car), which makes them super useful for outdoor events because you can recharge while you’re driving
#11

A key question is the cost of your electricity (per KW Hour/KWH) and whether it is the same price all day of lower at off peak times. The average cost will help estimate how long it might take you to recover the cost of your purchase with solar (and if it would be possible), while variable rates would help determine whether you can save money by charging up the power pack during off peak times for use with power is more expensive. For solar, if your electricity costs 15 cents per KWH (fairly average), you’d need to use something like 7000 KWH before you’d break even on a $1000 investment (a very large amount). For offpeak AC charging, you have to estimate about 75% efficiency when allowing for charging losses and output losses, so the difference between peak and off peak rates must be over 25% for it to have a chance to break even, and then that might still take a long time.

If you buy these units for other purposes (off-grid power, or backup when the grid is down) then any electricity saving at home is free (you can ignore the equipment costs), but buying them just to save money on electricity costs as home is rarely practical - unless grid power is very expensive and you have a lot of sun (or there is a huge difference between peak and off peak rates).

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