Guide
What is a solar generator? Power stations with solar panels
We may earn commission if you buy through our links. It never changes our rankings. How we work with suppliers.
A solar generator is not a generator in the usual sense. It is a battery power station sold with one or more folding solar panels. The panels charge the battery; the battery runs your things. There is no engine and no fuel.
Is a bundle good value?
Sometimes. Add up the price of the power station and the panels on their own and compare. Bundles are often cheaper, but check the panel is the size you want: a 100 W panel will take a full day of good sun to put about half a kilowatt-hour into a battery in a UK summer, and much less in winter.
Three checks
- Does the panel plug in? Panels end in different plugs (Anderson, XT60, DC8020, MC4). Bundles match; separate buys may need an adaptor.
- Solar input limit. The station's maximum solar watts caps how fast panels can charge it, however many you add.
- UK weather. Expect the panel's rated watts only in strong, direct sun. What to expect in UK weather.
A solar generator is not the same as plug-in solar, which feeds your home's wiring through a wall socket.
Panels worth a look
400 W · 9.9 kg · about 0.94 kWh a day
From £599.99
EcoFlow 160W Lightweight Portable Solar Panel8.9
160 W · not published · about 0.38 kWh a day
From £199
Questions buyers ask before buying
It's a lot of money for something I'll hardly use.
Price it against what it protects: a freezer full of food, a working router when you work from home, a CPAP machine through the night. A 1 kWh station that covers fridge, router, lights and phones for about half a day starts at £419. It also earns its keep outside power cuts: camping, the garden or a van. Who gets value.
Power cuts hardly ever happen where I live.
Most are short. The ones that matter come with winter storms and can last a night or more, and they are hard to plan for. A station sits in a cupboard charged and ready, needs a top-up every few months, and doubles as a camping or garden battery the rest of the year.
Will it actually run my things?
That is the right question, and the box rarely answers it. Pick your appliances in What will it run? and you will only see stations with enough output and battery for them, with the hours each one lasts.
Aren't lithium batteries a fire risk?
Almost every current model uses (lithium iron phosphate) cells, which are far more stable than the lithium-ion in older gadgets. Buy from the maker's UK store or a big UK retailer, keep the vents clear and charge it indoors. Fire risk explained.
Won't the battery be dead in a few years?
LFP stations are rated for 3,000 to 10,000 charge cycles. Used once a week, even 3,000 cycles is over 50 years, and five-year warranties are now common. How long they last.
I'm not technical. Is it complicated?
No wiring and no fuel. You charge it from a wall socket, then plug things into it like a normal socket. Many switch on by themselves when the mains drops. If weight worries you, filter by it: some 1 kWh models are about 11 kg and smaller ones under 6 kg.
Ready to choose?