Jackery Explorer Portable (Solar) Power Station and SolarSaga Solar Panels

I've had my

$999 Jackery Explorer 1000 , 1002Wh Capacity with 2xSolarSaga 100W Solar Panels, 3x1000W AC Outlets, Portable Power Station Ideal for Home Backup, Emergency, RV Outdoor Camping Black, Orange

Jackery Explorer 1000 for a few weeks now and have gotten to play around with it a bit. There is lots of information available on the internet regarding these, and other, portable power stations (sometimes referred to as Solar Generators).

My order was placed for the Jackery Explorer 1000 and 2 SolarSaga 100W solar panels exactly 1 week before they arrived at my doorstep. Considering they are sold with free shipping, 1 week to go from the West coast to the East coast is reasonable.

I'm new to the whole "YouTube content creator" thing, so here's my attempt at an unboxing video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKEIxgOd734

So first impressions:
Overall, I'm pleased with it. The unit feels very solid in your hands and hasn't let me down. It is not very heavy at just over 22 lbs. A spouse or teenager could carry it easily, but I probably wouldn't ask my 4 year old to carry it (though she can and has). I tried shaking the unit to see if anything was loose or simply held in place by gravity. No matter how I held it or shook it, everything inside stayed firmly planted in place.

Let's get my one complaint out of the way. The 12v cold of my "budget" fridge doesn't stay firmly seated in the 12v outlet. That's it. That's the only gripe I have. That being said, supposedly the ARB 12v cord fits my fridge and stays seated in the Jackery 12v outlet. I'll have to order one and see. So it isn't a true complaint against the Jackery.

Things I really like about this unit:

• PASS-THRU CHARGING - Many of the competitors do not allow pass-thru charging (meaning you can charge it and use it at the same time). The Jackery allows pass-thru charging so that you can have it plugged into your vehicle (or wall, or solar) and still run/charge another device. For instance, most car outlets will put out around 40W and most 12v fridges will pull around 50-60W meaning you can't power the fridge adequately with your cigarette outlet. But the compressor doesn't run all the time, so you constantly have that ~40W going into the Jackery and have the available 55W +/- available for the fridge compressor when needed and you don't have to unplug or switch things around. Like those old rotisserie ovens...you "set it and forget it!"
• Solar charging - free power. Duh!
• It has an 8mm input and an Anderson connector. It also includes a dual 8mm to Anderson adapter for connecting 2 panels at once. So you can use that to connect both Jackery solar panels, or another brand that uses the Anderson (which I gather is pretty common).
• I love that it shows both the input and output wattage. Many of the competition only shows one or the other, but not both. I think that's a handy piece of information to have on the fly.
• Power to weight ratio - It packs a lot of power into a reasonably small package
• It will shut itself off after a while of no use so that you don't come back to dead battery when you need it. - I've read at least one case where someone loaded a fridge full of frozen food and the fridge didn't kick on within the allotted time. The good news is that I saw where a Jackery rep stated that they were looking into how to tweak that setting to allow greater user acceptance. So the company listens to feedback!

Things that I'm neutral about:

• All outlets and displays on one side - this could be a positive or negative depending on use, but I like being able to read the display as I'm plugging something in.
• The flashlight. It has a built in flash light that will be great for walking to a campsite, but not for spotting animals or game. It's good to have, but I'm not carrying this thing as a primary source of light. (well, maybe to power some lights, but not for the flashlight) In the end, it's a nice add-on and I'd rather have it than not.

For those who like more info, here are some test results:

My unit arrived with 38% battery remaining. I used a 120V outlet in my house and the supplied AC charger the first time I charged it. I remembered seeing a video that recommended putting the power brick on its side to maximize the amount of heat dissipation, so I did that. It took 4 hours and 40 minutes to reach 100%. What I found interesting is that it reached about 98% (an increase of 60%) in 4 hours. If memory serves me, it was pulling 160W during that time. It then seemed to dial down the input to 0-40W for the remaining 2%. This is probably a "smart" feature to help maintain battery life, but could be annoying if you are waiting for it to reach 100%. Simple solution is to charge it the day before you know you will need it.

My first test was using it to power a 12v fridge from an ambient temperature of 77* down to 32*. Using AC power, it took 58 minutes to achieve freezing temps and approximately 5% of the battery capacity. At this time, I heard the built-in fan of the Jackery kick on. It was louder than I would have expected and took my by surprise, but it wasn't overly loud. Now that I know it has a fan, I won't be surprised the next time I hear it kick on. I also moved the fridge from the garage to the truck and opened the lid to place a single powerade inside so that my daughter would have something cold and refreshing after her soccer game. I also increased the temp setting to 37*. I let my wife take her to soccer, so I don't know how many times the fridge was opened during that time. All said and done, the Jackery lasted 20 hours and 55 minutes (round up to 21 hours) keeping an essentially empty fridge at 37* on AC power inside a truck with an ambient temperature of 80* outside. Interior of the truck was likely above 80.

Second charge came by way of the 2 Jackery SolarSaga 100W panels. I started my test on a completely cloudy day (100% cloud coverage) and the two panels only registered ~30W for the first half hour. After that, I started seeing some blue spots in the sky and the Watts started to gradually increase. The first 1.5 hours got me from 38 to 47% (a whopping 9% increase in battery). At that time, the skies were mostly blue and the input wattage had increased to 130W. Within another hour and I had reached 63% and clouds started moving in again. When the units were in the shade, they pulled 30 watts compared to 130W when in full sun. The Jackery reached 97% in 6 hours and 30 minutes on solar. Unfortunately, I had to leave the house and did not get to keep an eye on that last 3%. Again, this was a reasonably cloudy day.



Second discharge came at the hand of my 12v fridge again, but this time on DC power. The fridge was on MAX mode (as opposed to ECO) for both tests. Ambient temperature was a little less at around 70*. It took under 57m and 3% to reach freezing temperatures. This is when I found out that the power cord for my fridge didn't stay firmly planted in the Jackery. I don't know how long the fridge had been off, but it read 32* when I powered it back on. To keep this from getting too long winded, the Jackery Explorer 1000 powered my fridge on DC power for 48 hours and 32 minutes before reaching 32% battery remaining. At that amount of power consumption, it is reasonable to expect it to last 3 days on a single charge.

Third charge was again with the 2 solar panels and it took 5 hours and 40 minutes to reach 97% from 32% (65% increase) on a reasonably sunny day. I stopped the test at 97% because I needed the fridge in the truck and didn't have time to let it charge any more.

I will certainly keep this thread updated as I get more use out of it. I really with I had been able to get it to my folks after hurricane Sally as this might have saved them from having to throw out an entire fridge worth of food.

 

It's worth mentioning that we currently have a Group Buy here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...r-stations-and-solarsaga-solar-panels.682431/

and Jackery is doing an 8th Anniversary sale that might even be better than the Group Buy pricing in some cases.

 

Awesome review, I did use my Explorer 1000 on a couple of trips to run the projector and apple tv for thursday night football on my trip to Acadia and it worked out perfectly for me.

Its worth noting Jackery is running a Fall Sale also

 

I know how I plan to use the Jackery, but how are most people planning to use it? If there's something you'd like me to test, just let me know!


Time to charge using AC adapter?
4 hours 40 minutes to go from 38% to 100%

Time to charge using DC power (maybe next road trip)?
Est. 10 hours to increase 50% while simultaneously powering a 12v fridge/freezer.

Time to charge using single solar panel?
11 hours to go from 19% to 100%

Time to charge using dual solar panels?
TBD

Time to sustain 12 v fridge using AC power (0 degrees)?


Time to sustain 12 v fridge using AC power (32 degrees)?


Time to sustain 12 v fridge using AC power (37 degrees)?


Time to sustain 12 v fridge using DC power (0 degrees)?


Time to sustain 12 v fridge using DC power (32 degrees)?


Time to sustain 12 v fridge using DC power (37 degrees)?
3 Day 19 hours

How effective is the flashlight?

 

Is a single panel worth it with the Explorer 1000?

Jackery seems to want to sell you on buying two solar panels to accompany the Explorer 1000. Why wouldn't they? Of course they want to sell more product. That's why they are in business, right?

Not everyone can afford to purchase two panels because they are expensive. So I decided to see how much charge I could get with a single panel from sun up to sun down.

Sunrise was at 7:42 and I had the panel setup at 7:50am. As you can imagine, I wasn't getting much power. The input reading showed between 1 and 5 W and 19% battery.

After 45 minutes, I was still at 19%, but was getting 6-10W. Since I wasn't in an open field, there was some shade from the nearby trees (maybe 100 yards away?).


Here's my chart:
Battery % - Input Watts - Elapsed Time
19% - 1-5W - 0m
19% - 6-10W - 45m
22% - 10W - 2h 18m
25% - 88W - 3h 1m
41% - 89W - 4h 39m
50% - 85W - 5h 44m
52% - 91W - 5h 57m
57% - 85W - 6h 34m
72% - 68W (87W) - 8h 29m*
78% - 70W - 9h 25m
87% - 35W - 10h 25m
100% - 0W - 11h**

Sunset was at 7:03pm and my last check was done at 6:50pm.

*I repositioned the solar panel to face the sun again

**Considering I had 13% to go and was down around 35W (and dropping) I didn't think I would reach 100%. I had not yet reached sunset and was blown away when I saw it sitting at 100%. Since it was at 100% when I looked at it, I don't know what time it actually reached full capacity.

What is perplexing to me is the fact that I gained 9% in just over an hour (look at the 41-50% lines above) while generating roughly 85-89W. How is it possible that I gained 13% in 35 minutes while producing roughly 35W (last 2 lines). That just doesn't add up to me! I don't know much about how solar panels work. Is it possible that the panels continue to produce power for a period of time after they are heated up?

I was curious how much a shadow would impact performance and placed my hand above a small section of the panel and noticed about a 35W drop in output, so even a small shadow blocking a small section of the panel can have a big impact.

To answer my original question for this thread, Yes! I think it is is worth buying a single solar panel to charge the

$999 Jackery Explorer 1000 , 1002Wh Capacity with 2xSolarSaga 100W Solar Panels, 3x1000W AC Outlets, Portable Power Station Ideal for Home Backup, Emergency, RV Outdoor Camping Black, Orange

Jackery Explorer 1000. If you are going to be stationary and able to reposition the panel, you can get pretty close to a full charge in a single day!

 

I did purchase one solar panel but have not used it yet. Stay tuned.

 

Where do you store the solar panel when you're on the road?

 

I haven't really had to figure that out yet. I don't have the camper top anymore and haven't done anything longer than a day or two. The 1000 has enough capacity to run the fridge for 3+ days, so they really haven't been needed yet. I just charge it up at home in the back yard and it's good to go.

That said, I would likely put them behind the passenger seat if they needed to be in the cab.

 

Something I didn't think of to test with the Jackery 1000 when I was putting together my list. Heated blankets.

This whole COVID thing has me working at home still. My home office is on a side of our house the gets little to no sun ever. With the temps dropping, it gets cold in here and stays cold. So I started looking at space heaters, which all seem to run at 1500W. The E1000 can handle a 2000W surge, but space heaters (at least I'm pretty sure) run at a constant 1500W. Obviously, about 50% more than the Explorer 1000 was designed to run. So I had to find an alternative. Enter the electric blanket.

For $30, I got a Sunbeam heated throw blanket from Walmart. Really, the Sherpa lining is pretty warm without even being plugged in, but that doesn't test the Jackery very well. So plugged in and turned on to the low setting, I think I used about 20% capacity the first day. The second day was a little colder, so I ran it longer and on the medium heat setting and it used about 40%. I'll try to get it charged back up to 100% and get y'all some more official numbers; but as of right now I would say that it will power the heated blanked for 2 days on low/medium setting before needing to be recharged. FWIW, I tend to feel like it needs to be recharged around 30-40%.

 

Oh, and running a fridge on AC power. I'm a little disappointed in the power consumption of my fridge on AC power. The plug on my ICECO fridge doesn't stay seated in the Jackery 12v outlet very well at all. Like to the point that it isn't useable. I've heard from multiple people that the ARB plug fixes the issue, but I just haven't ordered the plug yet. So when I took my son on a road trip to pick up my SOS skids and see the monster truck show a few hours away, I figured I wanted to take the fridge. Who doesn't like cold drinks on road trips. Not to mention it was HOT that day. Felt like it was 90+ degrees and we were in direct sunlight the entire time. Actual temp was somewhere around 73, but it sure felt a LOT hotter than 73.

I'm not sure when the Jackery ran out of power, but it was sometime the following day. Fridge set to 37 degrees to allow for temp fluctuation without freezing our drinks.

 

I have the 500 and tested it with my Setpower AJ 30 fridge (Amazon). I set the fridge at 37, plugged it in to the 500 and walked away. It went 76 hours before it got to 10%.

 

Medium heat setting used 18% plugged into AC power over 3 hours (auto shutoff for the blanket).

 

Ok, so I went on a trail ride and decided to bring along the Explorer and the fridge. I mean, who doesn't want cold drinks on the trail, amiright?

Jackery started the day at 43% and was connected to the OEM 12v outlet to charge while the ICECO fridge was connected to the DC out on the Jackery (via the ARB cord). When I got home, the Jackery was displaying 95%.

The day started around 9:15am and ended around 7:15pm. So the Jackery increased by essentially 50% in approximately 10 hours of driving (while simultaneously powering the fridge). Had the fridge not been connected, I'm sure it could have reached full charge.

When the truck was running, the Jackery showed an input of 78-80W. When I got home and turned the engine off, the input dropped to about 30W.

The fridge pulls approximately 45W when the compressor is running and 1W when the compressor is not running.

The ARB plug stayed firmly planted in the Jackery. As previously discussed, the plug that came with the "budget fridge" did not stay connected well enough to run the compressor. The ARB plug seemingly solved this issue.

After shipping, Amazon was the best deal by at least $15:

$37 ARB 10910076 Power Cord Cable for ARB Fridge Freezers DC 12V

https://www.amazon.com/ARB-10910076-Power-Cord/dp/B01EHUO8Y2

 

THIS! And great feedback too. Friggn love my iceco and even more so now with the ARB plug.

And happy new year to you CowboyTaco!

Edit: And love my Jackery 500 too.

 

So far, my only "issue" is the size of the unit. This past trail ride, I was solo. I put the unit on the front passenger floorboard so that I could keep an eye on it. In a true road trip fashion, I'm likely to have a passenger. The size of the 1000 pretty much eats up any space on the floor of the rear seat.

So really, I just haven't found the sweet spot on where to store the Jackery. The good news is that the AC power cord is long enough that I should be able to locate it just about anywhere inside the cab.

I'm kind of thinking that a 300 would solve this problem and be plenty sufficient to power the fridge on a multi day camping trip. While the power consumption of the fridge on AC is atrocious, it seems to only sip the power when running on DC. Stay tuned for some comparison data as I work to fill in post #4 above.

 

Man I'd go for the 500 if I were you for that extra capacity for the 2nd day of trip and it's overcast and you'd like to stay planted at camp. Make sense? Believe I reported 78-83% remaining (sheesh I can't remember but it's on here somewhere) after a night of keeping the iceco at 32ish degrees - energy save mode. In saying that, I do have to tilt up both back seats to accommodate battery/fridge. So fridge on passenger side and jackery right behind me. Last solo trip this seemed to work for me and the entire cab was packed. The little 250..I could put on floorboard behind me but the 500 is a tad too big for that.

And spot on about DC. Doubt I'll use anything else unless it's plugged into solar.

 

I can't remember the last time I stayed in one camping spot for more than a single night. Maybe that'll change with kids in the picture, but we tend to find a place we want to explore, setup camp, explore, camp, move to another area we want to explore, repeat. I think I remember seeing reports of people with the 160 go for 2 days without a recharge, so I'm thinking the 300 should be plenty. Plus, I like that the 300 is smaller and has more than one AC outlet. Not that I really have anything I need to plug into the AC outlet, but I like that I have that option.

 

If anybody is in the market for the Explorer 500, it is currently $80 off. $419 is the lowest price I've seen on it!

 

Post #4 updated.

Jackery started at 100%. I had planned to disconnect the fridge when it got to around 25%, but didn't catch it til it was at 1%....OOPS!

Anyway, ICECO fridge with the 55w SECOP compressor (same as ARB) ran for approximately 3 days and 19 hours on DC power set on 37* degrees in a room that was HVAC controlled around 65 degrees. Almost 4 days isn't bad considering the Jackery received no charge during that time.