I figured it would be good to do a 1 year follow up review on the
Jackery Explorer 1000 and SolarSaga 100W panels. Some good, and some not-so-good that was made right.
In short, I absolutely love the Explorer 1000. I'm on the fence about the solar panels.
TL;DR version: I liked the Explorer 1000 so much that I got some additional models. I'm
very happy that I went with Jackery instead of one of the
Amazon value brands that I initially considered.
Explorer 1000
I've been using it nearly
daily to power my 12v fridge. Since none of us get to camp as often as we like, I figured I'd rather use the fridge than let it just sit in the garage heat all summer. Plus, with COVID
STILL going on I'm working from home. The fridge and Jackery are right next to my desk and make sure that I have cold coke during the workday or a cold beer right after the workday. Just a quick tangent on the fridge....the house fridge stays pretty full with food for a family of 5 and I can't justify taking up a shelf with beer. Plus, the ICECO fridge set at 37 has the cans feeling ICE COLD instead of just cold. Beer just tastes better at this temp, so I'd probably keep the beer in there regardless of family fridge status.
If I let it run to 0 percent, I can
power the fridge for about 4 days. However, running it to zero is not recommended. I normally will recharge it on the 4th morning when the battery pack is between 20 and 30 percent.
I did notice that the runtime on the Jackery decreased during the heat of summer despite being in a climate controlled environment. I expected no change since we have central HVAC. I credit this to the fact that the fridge compressor seemed to run with an increased frequency. Not a fault of the Jackery at all if you're pulling more power from it! The runtime has returned to what I thought was
normal now that the ambient temps outside have dropped. So with that, I don't feel like I've noticed any reduction in capacity over the course of the year with multiple charge/discharge cycles.
I also occasionally charge my phone from the Jackery. It's right next to me and why not use power from the sun to charge it up? Even if ever-so-slightly it helps to offset the cost of the unit, why not?
Ok, so what
don't I like about the Explorer 1000?
Well, for starters, the size. I've mentioned before that it doesn't fit inside the Tacoma very well. To use it while driving on a trip inside the vehicle, you have to orient it such that you cannot see the display or anything plugged in. If you're using the plug that came with the ICECO fridge, this means that you might not be powering your fridge (hint: get the ARB plug) and wouldn't know it. This makes it more difficult to see the remaining amount of charge. Not a deal breaker and an acceptable trade off for the additional storage capacity.
I still have yet to use the flashlight as a flashlight. When I'm camping, I'd prefer to have a more portable/compact flashlight. So this feature is nice to have there, but not super practical.
SolarSaga 100W Solar Panel
These are one of the more efficient solar panels on the portable market. At least they were when I initially did the research and I haven't seen anyone claim to have a higher efficiency. It's possible that they have been surpassed....I'm just not sure. I didn't care to look it up right now because that isn't really important. What is important is that these are highly efficient solar panels.
I really like the magnetic closure when it works. The solid "click" that you hear when the plastic around the magnets locks together is a good sound.
My original solar panels (2) died within a year (almost to the day) and a couple of weeks between each other. Jackery made this right by sending me replacements and a return label for the defective panels. The exchange process was very easy for me. So while I'm disappointed that they went out, the company stood behind their product and sent me new panels.
I have asked if there is something that I did to cause them to fail, and at this time have not heard back.
Here's everything bad I can say about the panels. If you've made it this far in the review, please continue to the end and don't just stop at the bad. I suspect that I have reasons for the bad.
The back of the panels is a thick cloth material. In my case, the cloth seemed to shrink over time which pulled the sides of the panel away from the actual panel. I don't know if this caused a performance issue, but the efficiency decreased over time. This is normal with solar panels, I just wasn't expecting it to be so dramatic of a drop. I think I was pulling around 85-90W per panel initially and it was down to about 65W before they died. That seems pretty substantial to me over 12 months.
The magnets stopped clicking together. I know magnets can be demagnetized. I don't know what I did to cause them to stop working together, but the magnets were ineffective after several months. When not in use, I have them folded up and leaning against each other. They still stay closed, so I'm not sure what benefit the magnets really had. However, I do like that feeling and sound they make when they click closed.
I live in Georgia (the state, not the country) and it is hot and humid here. My panels get used 2-3 times per week. I do not leave them outside overnight. I suspect that the humidity and heat caused the fabric to shrink and in turn cause the other issues. Regardless,
Jackery promptly replaced my panels. I think that speaks volumes when a company stands behind their products.
For my non-traveling use, I really should pick up a panel that is designed to be outside all the time.
I liked my Jackery Explorer 1000 so much that I picked up a 300 which fits in the truck much better and is better suited for weekend trips. I also use the 300 to power my fridge while the 1000 is charging. I haven't had to use the Explorer 1000 to power the house fridge yet, but getting 3-4 days on the 12v fridge, I suspect it would last somewhere around 24-48 hours powering the house fridge. I wanted something that I could power the larger fridge for longer in the event of a natural disaster as my immediate family live in hurricane alley (Gulf Coast Florida) and the power goes out somewhat annually. So I'll be doing a review on the Explorer 1500 here soon too.