The easiest way to have power camping or van living is to use a power station with a solar panel.
The 1000-watt power stations are perfect.
They are complete with a good inverter and a solar controller all built in.
Plus, the batteries are usually LiFePO4 chemistry.
That battery chemistry is the best available right now.
The prices are good, and they last ten years when used properly.
The inverters are pure sinewave at 60 hertz.
That’s exactly what your local power company delivers.
The power stations can handle most electric demands
that you would usually need when camping.
Another great aspect of the self-contained power system
is you learn what uses up power.
How much power is used by everything you plug into the power station is easy to see.
You know immediately how many watts you are using and how long you can use it.
That helps you to figure out a way to use less while still getting everything done.
The inverter cooker I used burned up a lot of watts.
The power requirements varied but initially it needs 1800 watts for a second.
Then the power went down as you set the level of heat you want to use.
At about 300 degrees the power consumption is around 800 watts.
If you’re patient, you can use a lot less power and still boil your water.
I found a 500-watt inverter cooker on Amazon.
It works great but it is slower than the high-power unit.
When it’s plugged into my power station it doesn’t use the same amount
of power as the high wattage bigger inverters.
All my food gets cooked fine just a little slower.
Using the smaller inverter leaves more power in my power station.
You may also be able to set up a few solar panels and
charge a power supply while the sun is shining.
We charge our Bluetti and Jackery power stations every day.
Then use the power supplies to power up our TV and lights all evening.
We use the same system when camping and when hurricanes hit our area of Florida.
We used our solar power to keep the freezer, refrigerator and lights on.
These power stations are easy to use because they are complete.
By that I mean, you don’t need a solar panel controller, battery or
sixty hertz sinewave inverters.
It’s all built into the system. That makes it a better choice for most people.
You don’t need to study how to be a solar tech to use a power station.
Plug it in and you’re done.
Rick Mercier 2025-2
