Portable Power Guide

Portable power on the go is just a need in modern life

Remote work and the desire to get away makes portable power more and more important. The great news is many new portable power packs are comping with higher end features like charge controllers, lithium batteries and true sine wave inverters.

The portable power guide focuses on how and where people use portable power packs and power units. Portable power packs were some of the first items used in smaller RVs for power.

These portable power generators go by a few names

Here are a few of the way people describe the portable power packs on the Internet. There are even more ways, but the devices mostly have the list of components listed below:

• Portable Power Packs
• Portable Power Stations
• Portable Battery Generator
• Lithium Powerpack
• Lithium Power Station

An example of a portable power station that uses lithium battery

A portable power pack is composed of the following components or features:

• Power Inverter: Almost all power packs contain an inverter. The inverter takes the unit’s battery power and provides AC electricity for running various 120-volt gear and appliances.

• Charger: The charger for the powerpack takes 120-volt power from the grid and charges the power pack when not in use. This charger is usually slower and takes an extended time to charge the battery. Fast chargers are often available on the market. There are also power packs that get a DC to DC charging cable that allows charging them from a socket in vehicles or on generators.

• 12 Volt Connectors: The 12-volt connector is the barrel-type plug socket, often called a cigarette lighter socket. This socket allows using car chargers for phones and laptops.

• AC power outlets: These outlets are standard household outlets that can power items like TVs and computers. In our case, it often powered a blender on the beach. Have to have your Pina Coladas! What can I say?

• Integrated Solar Charge Controller: These controllers are a new feature to be added to some power packs. It allows direct connection of a solar panel to the power pack without needing a separate controller. If your powerpack does not have a charge controller, you can use a portable solar kit that has one built in already.

• Battery: This is the heavy-weight component of the powerpack system. One of the first units on the market was an Xpower 1500 by Xantrex. This unit had an AGM battery and weighed a hefty 70 pounds. Today powerpacks often have lighter, longer-lasting lithium batteries installed.

• Form factor case: These cases or the bodies of the powerpack can range from units focused on carrying to those geared toward rolling for easy deployment.

• Jump charger connections: Some powerpacks have the feature to allow for jump charging a vehicle from the powerpack directly.

• Powerpack Accessories: All types of accessories have appeared in powerpacks:

– Flashlights – Air Compressors – Flashing Beacon – Radios

A selection of books about 12 volt power systems