Power Bank 300W. Source Lazada search
It is amazing what you can do with a 300W power box and solar panels! At home I have a VTOman 300W power supply and also a Bluetti AC2a power supply. Both of which are rated for 300W with a 600W burst mode. Both are rated for 200Wh. Both of which I've hooked up to a powerful solar input and got great use out of. However the price tag in Canada is about $500 which is about P20,000.
So, when I see this power box advertise that it is competition to those aforementioned units and it comes with a solar panel I'm incredibly skeptical. However, wen I purchased the item last year I only had the fridge to run it with. I also had no power meter so I couldn't really put it through its paces the way I would normally like. Then when I was using it a year ago my charging unit for the box blew a circuit and stopped working late one night. As a result the box has sat for a year. Well, I shouldn't say sat. My nephew has been charging it the the solar panel it came with and it has served them well running a small 6" fan and as a cellphone charger and charging up a rechargeable flashlight. Very useful during brownouts!
However, this time I bought a power meter so I can check out some stuff. I can absolutely say that the unit does not live up to its claims! Then again for the price I never really expected it to.
First up: Can it charge a cellphone?
Now I already knew that the USB-A ports work. My nephew has been using them for a year. No problem except they are old style and it takes forever for it to charge a cellphone.
With very light load (cellphone)
So how about I throw a 20W USB-C charger into the unit? Fast charging is so much nicer than waiting all nice for a cellphone to get charged up.
What is the result? Success. Now this picture shows it trying to charge up my entry level Samsung A03s which was already pretty close to full charge. As such it only drew 5W. I also used it on my Samsung S20FE which drew the full 20W but I could take a picture of itself getting charged
How about a high power load? A 200W food steamer?
With 200W load (lunchbox steamer
Now one thing that I truly love is being able to cook food using nothing but sunshine. This little rice cooker and food steamer only uses 200W which is well under the 300W that the box says it can provide. If I could charge this box with solar and cook a meal every day that would be a huge success.
Unsurprisingly when I hook up the rice steamer and push the power button...well, the light flickers to on for a split second and then goes off. The device just can't put out the power so it shuts the AC inverter off the moment the device tries to pull the power. No cooking with this unit
How about a lower load of 50W (fridge)
With 50W load (fridge)
So, 200W was out. How about a 50W fridge? Now I tested this fridge to check its power draw. Unlike most fridges it didn't have a very high initial draw and typically uses only about 50W when the compressor is working. At 50W it is a much lower draw and maybe it can get it working.
Again, no success. Try to hook up the fridge and it runs when the fridge is on standby (virtually no power draw) but the moment the compressor comes on the power box shuts down. Well, perhaps I should clarify that. IF the power box is connected to the battery charger which is 12.6V and 5A for 60W output THEN there is enough power in the power box to get the fridge running. BUT the battery charger is doing the heavy lifting. **I'm almost certain that's why the charger died the first time I had everything hooked up. The fridge, fan and cellphone put too much strain on the charger and *poof dead.
End result?
Well, the unit does power from a solar panel. However the solar panel is about 10W maximum output so it takes a very long time to charge the box. It is fine for really low power items like cellphones, fans, and led lights. It can put out 220v so low power plug in items will work. For minimal tasks it actually works fairly well at a very low price.
However, try to pump up the power usage to more meaningful uses and you find out why it is so much cheaper than true 300W units.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this power bank simply because it is misleading. If it advertised truthfully that it was probably a 25W power box with a 70Wh battery I'd be far more likely to recommend it. At its price tag it is actually kind of nice to have when paired with a small solar panel. It gives a very useful lifeline to people at a very reasonable price.
However, it irritates me when the specs are obviously inflated and wrong.
But that's just me.
Any comments out there?
Thanks for reading
(and to @sej you mention you needed a power box for your fan. Aim higher than this one if you are buying on Lazada. There are much better units out there.)
Hmm.. my fan is portable so I'm looking for something portable as well that I can put
in my bag when I'm out of the house for a whole day and also charge my phone. It only costs around half of that solar powerbank but just as useful. :)
Different power banks have different uses. This one is a base unit. Ok for making sure a fan runs all night and charges your phone. More portable one are absolutely better for around town. Still. If you go to portable they won't last long. To much power and they get bulky. Tough to find the right fit sometimes... especially when they sometimes lie in the specs :(
Lying on the specs are sadly too common for online shops.. we gotta rely on the product reviews so this post is great because I know now how it works and will absolutely consider a different brand when I'm planning to buy
And now you also know the power of the power meter. You can see how much it costs to run an item AND you can see if any item lives up to its claims. Like that little fridge in the article. It says it uses 0.315kwh daily which is really good. Using the power meter it's actually close to 0.5kwh. Still good but not what was claimed