Gunner Quinn
This is the second of a four-article series on post-SHTF lighting options. It covers the basics of portable power stations (PPS) as well as what kinds of lights to consider using with a PPS or other 12-volt DC source of power.
I hope those who read Part 1 of this series on off-grid lighting came to realize that for a post-SHTF world, a portable power station (PPS) is not only far less expensive than candles or oil lamps, but also healthier and safer. When managed properly, not only can a PPS provide all or most of the light we’ll need per day compared to the limitations of candles or oil lamps, it will also have other important uses for recharging laptops, remote-alarm batteries, and night-vision gear to name but a few.
Candles and oil lamps for post-SHTF lighting are ancient technology and our thinking should be modernized to 2025. For those who are still planning on using oil lamps for post-SHTF lighting, what are the odds that on Day One you’ll have several drums of lamp oil on hand to provide suitable lighting just for the first year?
After testing out and using one of the small 500-watt units for the past few years, I now highly recommend a PPS for any serious prepper and have it as #7 on my top-10 list.
PORTABLE POWER STATION BASICS
Since there are so many different kinds of lights available to use with a PPS, and since we’ll want to light as many areas of our homestead as possible, let’s take a look at some of the basics of how PPSes work and the various ways they can be used to provide lighting.
First, a quick review from the previous article.
So-called “solar generators” are misnamed since they don’t actually generate electricity unless they include photovoltaic (PV) panels. Without them, they’re more appropriately called portable power stations and are basically a glorified battery pack which can be recharged either by solar panels or a 120-volt adapter. A PPS has various kinds of outlets and can provide energy for 5VDC, 12VDC, and 120VAC applications. A typical PPS has a minimum of four USB outlets (5VDC), several types of 12VDC outlets including a cigarette-lighter adapter, and even a 120-volt AC inverter outlet similar to the ones in our homes. These various outlets can be used to recharge our phones, laptops, and lights, as well as run non-battery devices when plugged directly into the PPS. While cellphones will be useless as communication devices in TEOTWAWKI-ville, the many apps can still serve useful functions.
In a permanent grid-down world, a PPS will be charged using a solar panel. An inexpensive 100-watt solar panel (currently $55+) is the best option (IMO) for smaller PPSes. Its standard solar-panel plug matches an adapter outlet on the PPS. It’s a very simple plug-and-play setup so no solar-panel knowledge or experience is required.
JWR Adds: There are several good brands of PPSes on the market. These include Anker, Jackery, Bluetti, Oupes, EcoFlow, and Goal Zero. Be sure to research the country of manufacture, before you buy. Many of these are now made in China. In this new age of tariffs, it is probably worth paying more to buy American, so that you’ll have long-term customer support. Several PPSes have been individually reviewed in SurvivalBlog, over the years. (Put their brand names in our search box.) You can also read other reviews, online. Traditionally, both PPSes and automobile “jumpstart packs” used gel cell batteries. But in the past three years, most of these brands have transitioned to using lithium batteries. Be sure of the battery type before you buy. Lithium batteries have a much longer service life, decent self-discharge rates, and no “memory” effect. I have been particularly impressed with the customer service provided by Goal Zero.
WHAT TO USE A PPS FOR TODAY
Today, PPSes have many practical uses for things like camping or using power tools for that project on the north 40. Today, a PPS is a convenience. After the SHTF, it can be one of our most valuable preps. Since this article focuses on post-SHTF lighting, and since many people won’t want to pay for an expensive 2,000-watt model before they have a realistic understanding of what a PPS can and can’t do, perhaps an inexpensive 300-to-500 watt model ($140+) can help you get your feet wet. If you intend on using its full capabilities today for that weekend at the cabin, or a four-day power outage, and later on if the SHTF, then by all means do some further research and buy the largest PPS you can afford. The higher the watts, the more you can do with it. The higher-rated units generally cost from $650+ for 1,000-watts, $1,200+ for 2,000 watts, and $2,500+ for 3,000 watts.
By the end of this article you’ll understand what kinds of things your PPS will power and for how long. Just as an example, a 2,000+ watt PPS can power your 600-watt washing machine after the SHTF and almost everything in your home that plugs into a 120-volt outlets. But keep in mind that the higher the wattage of your devices, the less time they can run before your PPS needs recharging. Some big inductive or resistive loads such as space heaters, hot plates, or any devices with a heating element are quite impractical to power with a PPS. Even with a large 3,000-watt model PPS, a small space heater will run for less than two hours. [JWR Adds: In simple terms, the way to visualize a heavy resistive load is that a heating element is almost like a short circuit. The heating coil glows red because of a hefty current passing through the metal of the coil. In a resistive load, the resistance of the load limits the amount of current as calculated by Ohm’s Law. For example: A 2,200-watt heater operating at 220 volts = 10 amps. If another path for the current is created (normally, this is unintentional) it would allow the current to bypass the normal load (take a “shortcut”), and that is a “short circuit”.]
WHY A PPS IS THE BEST CHOICE FOR POST-SHTF LIGHTING
Compared to candles and oil lamps, a PPS is by far and away the least expensive, healthiest, most efficient way to provide bright light in several rooms at a time. Even the smallest 300-watt models will get the job done if LED lights and conservation measures are used. When managed properly, even on a single charge it can store enough energy to provide an adequate amount of light where needed. Best of all, there’ll be no groups of people gathered around the light trying to maximize usage as would have to be done with candles or oil lamps.
For those adept at home wiring, if we end up with a long-term lease in TEOTWAWKI-ville some of the 120-volt AC circuits in our homes and shops can be converted over 12-volts. Some aspects of DC electricity are counter-intuitive so to prevent issues, an understanding of the limitations of DC such as circuit lengths and wire sizes must be understood. While a PPS can be this versatile after the SHTF, 99% of people will want to use it in the traditional ways it was designed for as a stand-alone unit.
PPS WATTS Versus APPLIANCE WATTS
For those who understand electricity, please pardon the oversimplification and definite non-kosher use of some of the terminology, as well as ignoring maximum discharge levels. My purpose is to make this as understandable as possible to those unfamiliar with the topic.
There is some confusion about what the number of watts means on a PPS compared to the wattage of an appliance. Most of the negative online reviews on any particular PPS bears this out. Some of these reviews can be quite entertaining.
PPSes are sold as providing so many watts. With a 500-watt PPS, the 500 refers to the total number of watts it can store in its battery. The wattage is calculated on a per-hour basis meaning a 500-watt PPS can provide 500 watts of electricity for one hour, or 500 watt hours. On an electrical device, a 100-watt fan for example, the watts indicate how much electricity that fan uses when it’s running. If it runs for one hour, the fan uses 100 watt-hours of electricity. Since our 500-watt PPS can provide 500 watt hours, it can run a 100-watt fan for 5 hours. A 10-watt light bulb will run for 50 hours before the 500 watts stored in the PPS battery are depleted. A 2-watt LED reading light can run for an incredible 250 hours off a single charge of the PPS.
The 500 on a 500-watt PPS also refers to the total number of watts it can supply at one time. It won’t have any trouble providing enough electricity to run a 100-watt fan or a 400-watt food processor, but once the appliance wattage gets above 500, as in a 700-watt waffle maker or drill press, the PPS can no longer keep up with the electricity demand and will shut down after just a second or two.
When reading reviews on various PPSes, most of the negative reviews are from people who had higher expectations than they should have for the size of the PPS they bought. Most complain it wouldn’t do what they wanted or didn’t stay charged for very long. These types of complaints are caused by a lack of understanding of the wattage limitations of the PPS they bought. Unless you buy the high-wattage models, the ad photos of campers sitting around the campfire with a guitar singing folk songs while frying fresh-caught fish on a hot plate just won’t be happening. Keep these wattage limitations in mind when shopping for a PPS. Tomorrow’s installment will help you understand these details.
(To be continued tomorrow, in Part 2.)
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