Frequently Asked Questions
Customer Support
We personally test and use all of the solar equipment so we know the exact ins and outs of each one. We also include extra items and discounts in our kits that you don’t get anywhere else. You also get top-of-the-line extra customer service rather than only being dependent on the manufacturer. We have personally run entire houses, off-grid cabins, off-grid RVs, vans, events, and much more so we know firsthand what systems work best for different situations.
For the most part, most systems have at least a 2 year manufacturer warranty, but that is not true for ALL the systems we offer.
First, contact us and we will see if we can troubleshoot with you the issue. If we can’t solve it, then we will open a ticket for you so that the unit can be fixed.
Solar Technology
A transfer switch is a way to supply power to your house from a different source other than the grid/electrical company. It typically is two pieces. One is a large plug that is usually put in the garage or outside of the garage which has thick cables that connect to your electrical panel inside the house. The second part is a small metal plate that allows you to turn off the power from the grid, and supply power to your electrical panel from the plug in the garage. You can connect a solar generator or gas generator to that plug and power your house.
Pulse Width Module is a type of charge controller. It is a simple computer that helps control how much power is made from the solar panels. PWM charge controllers are very affordable, small and lightweight. They will not help the solar panels make more power as an MPPT charge controller will. In almost every case, it is best to go with an MPPT charge controller instead.
Maximum Power Point Tracking is a type of charge controller. It is a computer that helps the solar panels make more power especially when there are not ideal solar conditions. The MPPT costs more, weighs more and is larger than an equivalent PWM charge controller. It is almost always recommended to go with an MPPT charge controller because it will help make much more power from solar panels than a PWM.
Volts x Amps = Watts. For example, a laptop that uses 120 watts and .5 amps would use 60 watts. (120 x .5 = 60) That means in the course of 1 hour it will have consumed 60 watts of energy.
Watts is the result of multiplying volts and amps together. It is essentially how much energy is flowing through a cable at one time. For example, a toaster will use 120 volts and about 10 amps to run. 120v x 10a = 1,200w.
The same applies to solar panels. An average 100w solar panel will make about 20v and 5a of power. 20v x 5a = 100w.
Whether you’re running a device or charging a solar generator’s battery, the unit of measurement is watts.
Volts are basically the range in which certain devices can work within. Think of it as a shoe size, you may have a size 8.5 foot but sometimes a 9 fits well and other times an 8 fits well. Even though you have a size 8.5 foot, other closeby sizes also work for you. If you get a size way too big or too small the shoe will not work at all.
Similarly in houses, the average voltage in the outlets is 120v. But you can still run devices even if you only have 105v or if you have 130v. It’s a range in which devices can receive power.
Amps are how much power is actually being used in a device. For example with a refrigerator, it operates on 120v power but it isn’t running all of the time. It will only turn on when the internal temperature reaches a certain point and the compressor kicks on. So when it’s plugged in but not working, it’s using zero amps. But when it starts cooling the food down again, it could be using 3 or 4 amps.
Watt-hours are how we measure battery capacity. It’s the result of multiplying the voltage of the battery and the total amp-hours in the battery. This is a far better unit of measurement than amp-hours which some people use. The problem with using amp-hours is it doesn’t tell us at what voltage the battery is at.
For example, if there are two batteries where one has 74ah and the other is 148ah, it would seem like the second one has much more battery capacity. But if battery #1 is a 24v battery and battery #2 is a 12v battery, then they have the exact same amount of usable battery capacity. 24v x 74ah = 1,776wh. And 12v x 148ah = 1,776wh.
This is how we determine how much power a device will use over the course of one hour. For example, a fridge will use about 400 watts when it is running to cool the food. But if it only runs for 15mins (25%) of an hour, then it will only use 100wh of power from the battery. So if the battery is 1,000wh of capacity, and the fridge uses an average of 100wh/hr then we can see that the battery will run the fridge for 10 hours before it is empty.
It is how many hours in a day the solar panels are capable of making their maximum power output. In the USA, the average is 5hrs per day. But this changes greatly depending on the location. Northern states have fewer solar peak hours than southern states because the southern states are closer to the equator. Also, the time of year makes a big difference because we have more sun during the summer and less during the winter. The opposite is true for countries south of the equator.
We focus on having solar generator kits that are capable of recharging in 5 hours or less because the average is 5 solar peak hours per day.
Direct current means that the electricity being used does not need to be converted to AC (alternating current) in order to run the device that is connected. DC power is more efficient meaning it uses less overall power when compared to AC power. Common items that use DC power are RV fridges, tire pumps, phone charging adapters, camping lights etc… DC requires no inverter as long as the device being used is designed for DC power.
Alternating current is more common than DC (direct current) power. AC power has to be converted from DC power. This conversion means that there is a power loss, but the loss is fairly minimal. More common for running items around the house. AC power requires and inverter to convert the power from DC to AC.
Nominal voltage is a way of defining a voltage class. For example, a 12v battery will rarely be exactly 12v. Depending on the type of battery chemical the voltage range can be anywhere from 10.8v to 14.4v. That means anywhere in the voltage range the battery will operate, but, at lower voltages, the battery generally doesn’t work as well.
No. There are no circuits inside solar panels so they do not need to be protected from an EMP.
Yes. There are many circuits inside solar generators that need to be protected from an EMP. We recommend the Tech Protect Faraday Bags because they have been tested and proven to be 100% EMP proof. It is recommended to nest (double bag) items inside the faraday bags due to the threat of Super-EMP weapons.
IP65 stands for the protection level the junction box has on a solar panel. IP65 means that it is dustproof and waterproof against low-pressure jets. See the image below
IP67 stands for the protection level of the junction box has on a solar panel. IP67 means that it is dustproof and waterproof against submersion at 3ft for 30mins. See the image below
Solar Generators
Use this solar generator comparison chart. We have developed 6 different levels of solar generators so that they may all be fairly compared against each other. You can also watch this video that helps explain the comparison chart.
Nearly every solar generator currently on the market has “pass-through charging.” This means nearly every solar generator is capable of being charged while also running equipment.
This varies a lot from person to person. One person may just need to run a fridge, freezer, a light, and a phone charger. Whereas another persona may need to run their well pump, laundry, 2 fridges, 3 freezers, chargers for everyone in the house, and much more. For this reason, we recommend you use our Kit Calculator or Contact Us and we are happy to find out exactly what system will work best for you.
The short answer is, Yes! But it depends. Nearly all well pumps use 240v power. Only a few solar generators are capable of making 240v power. This means you have to use one of those units, and you will need a transfer switch on your house so you can get power from the solar generators to your well pump.
Yes, it’s possible. Not necessarily easy. First, it is imperative to make sure that the alternator is designed for high power discharge otherwise you’ll kill the battery and eventually the alternator. One option many people do is run-heavy gauge cables into the vehicle from the alternator and then connect those cables to a pure sine wave inverter. This gives you 120v outlets inside the vehicle so you can use wall chargers, appliances, and other devices directly off of the power being generated by the vehicle’s alternator.
Solar Panels
Because having solar panels connected in series increases the voltage but not the amperage they are much more efficient. It is easy to send volts over a long distance but difficult to send amps over a long distance. Series connections keep the amperage low which means you can use thinner wires safely.
The disadvantage is that solar panels connected in series will all be equally as powerful as the weakest solar panel. If there are five solar panels in series and one of them has shad on it, then the other four will make the same amount of power as the single panel in the shade.
When solar panels are connected in parallel the amps go up which means there is more resistance in the solar cables which means they have to be thicker in order to get that power over longer distances. It is generally considered less efficient because of the necessity to use thicker cabling.
But when solar panels are connected in parallel they all work independently of each other. This means if there are five solar panels and one of them is in the shade, the other four will work at full strength and not have their output power affected by the one solar panel in the shade.
Titan Generator
First of all, no one has done as much research and testing as I have when it comes to each component of the kits. Many people use cheap quality flexible panels that look similar to the Flexx 100 panels but do not come close to the same amount of power production. Second, I have been working on the Titan with the manufacturer almost since its inception. I have had first-hand experience with it when NO ONE else has.
Yes. Since the Titan uses a Lithium-Ion battery it needs to be protected. Lithium-Ion batteries have micro-inverters in them that can be damaged from an EMP attack.
No. If there is an opening in the faraday/emp bag then it does not work. Also if there were cables sticking out of the bag, the cables would act as an antenna and would guide the EMP into the bag.
Yes. All that is needed is the proper Anderson SB50 connection cable and the batteries can be strung along however preferred. Be sure to use 6 AWG cables since that’s the thickest the SB50 connector can fit.
Yes. Simply ensure that if using something like a wind turbine that it is a 24v setup not a 12v. It can charge from an AC charger while charging from solar panels while being run.
No. Since a car’s alternator makes 12v power and the Titan uses 24v power, the alternator cannot be used for charging. One option is to have a 12v 750w or 1,500w inverter installed in the car and use the 1 AC wall charger for the 750w inverter or 2 AC wall chargers for the 1,500w inverter.
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