How to chose portable power stations

1. Output power: Can I run my devices or appliances?

When hiking, we need electronic devices like cell phones, camera, headlamp, GPS, etc. For long-distance road-trip, in addition to the aforesaid devices, we may also need drones, rice cookers, coffee makers, ovens, on-board refrigerators and other high-power equipment. To keep these things running, a supply of electricity is necessary.

Power banks and portable power stations are available in the market. The former is mainly used for charging low-power devices; the latter is used to supply power for high-power equipment, acting as a small “power station”. We need to choose the right one with suitable output power.

The output power is namely rated power, like 500W, 1000W, 2000W, etc., which determines whether we can run an electronic equipment or not. Please check the wattage of your device. The portable power station should work if the load doesn’t exceed its rated power. For example, if you have an 800W electric oven to be used outdoor, but your portable power station has a rated power of 500W only, then you can’t run the oven. You should check the appliance labels or literature to find out the correct power consumption. If you have no idear, you can refer to the following list which points out typical values for the wattage of some devices you would find in your home so that you can chose a suitable portable power station.

https://www.daftlogic.com/information-appliance-power-consumption.htm

2. Battery capacity: How long can I run my devices or appliances?

Battery capacity is one of the most important parameters of portable power stations. Its units are mAh (milliampere-hour) or Wh (watt-hour).

How to calculate the number of times each device can be used? Just multiply power capacity by actual loss, say normally 0.9, then divide by equipment power, so we get the result of charging times. In this way we can probably estimate how big capacity we need according to the number and power of electronic equipments. Of course this is only an estimation. In actual use, the use time can be affected by environmental temperature, conversion rate and other factors.

How long can it run my device?
Working time = portable power station’s Watt-Hours * 0.85 / operating power of your device.
Example: Let’s assume the portable power station has a capacity of 2048Wh, and your device’s power consumption is 60W (might be a mini cooler)
2048Wh*0.85/60w = Roughly 29 hours of working time
Please note the actual power consumption varies based on many factors.

3. Power interface: Does it adapt to my electrical devices and appliances?

There are many interfaces of portable power station. For charging, there are three kinds of interfaces, namely wall charging, car charging and solar charging. Solar charging speed is affected by the number and material of the panel, the intensity and angle of sunlight.

For discharging, portable power stations are equipped with output ports like AC, DC, USB, and Type-C to connect our devices and applicants.

Choose the right output voltage ranges 100-110V or 220-240V and plug type. If you are not sure, please refer to https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/