Jackery rooftop tent / "solar generator"

[Mr. Ham]

Jackery’s rooftop tent is also a powerful solar generator

I was excited to see this. At 4.96kWh per day, that's what, almost a 4% charge?
So better than nothing I guess, but not going to solve our off the grid charging by any means. I bet the cost would not be worth it either way.

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[mikehmb]

I don’t follow how they got 4.96kWh from a 1kW system in a day. Unless the system is immensely lossy, you should be able to get <N hours> * 1kW = NkWh

Also, not following the east vs. west claim.

ETA - Jackery says you can’t charge your car from it. Boooooo.

 

[Mr. Ham]

Oh yea I missed that part. makes sense though, then it would need a j-plug or whatever they're called. but maybe you could use your travel charger into one of their BIG power banks. Either way. Not worth it.

I don’t follow how they got 4.96kWh from a 1kW system in a day. Unless the system is immensely lossy, you should be able to get <N hours> * 1kW = NkWh

Also, not following the east vs. west claim.

ETA - Jackery says you can’t charge your car from it. Boooooo.

 

[jjswan33]

I don’t follow how they got 4.96kWh from a 1kW system in a day. Unless the system is immensely lossy, you should be able to get <N hours> * 1kW = NkWh

Also, not following the east vs. west claim.

ETA - Jackery says you can’t charge your car from it. Boooooo.

A 1kW system will not often pull 1kW, only in optimal conditions. For example the peak I see on my 300W of panels in direct sun is ~240W. I was thinking 5kWh might be an overestimate at least on the average day.

From a overlanding prospective this type of thing makes a lot of sense, they discuss it in the article.

“Rooftop tents can already be fitted with solar panels made by any number of companies, including Jackery. But those tend to be lightweight flexible panels so as to not overwhelm the tent’s folding mechanism, and they rarely cover the entire surface area due to mismatched dimensions.”

I had thought about some type of deployable system for my camper but I’d also have to upgrade the struts perfectly.

Not sure why they call it a solar generator unless they plan on providing a battery as well. All that said if you really want to charge a vehicle with it you just need the right inverter and your good to go.

 

[mikehmb]

A 1kW system will not often pull 1kW, only in optimal conditions. For example the peak I see on my 300W of panels in direct sun is ~240W. I was thinking 5kWh might be an overestimate at least on the average day.

From a overlanding prospective this type of thing makes a lot of sense, they discuss it in the article.

“Rooftop tents can already be fitted with solar panels made by any number of companies, including Jackery. But those tend to be lightweight flexible panels so as to not overwhelm the tent’s folding mechanism, and they rarely cover the entire surface area due to mismatched dimensions.”

I had thought about some type of deployable system for my camper but I’d also have to upgrade the struts perfectly.

Not sure why they call it a solar generator unless they plan on providing a battery as well. All that said if you really want to charge a vehicle with it you just need the right inverter and your good to go.

Oh I agree - it would be great for overlanding, and as you said, with the right inverter you could get some juice back into the truck.

But even at 20% efficiency loss, there are plenty of places where you could get >10 hours of sun - especially overlanding (I grew up in the desert, so perhaps my mental images of overlanding are very different than others’).

I’m just shouting at clouds. Love the concept.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I don’t follow how they got 4.96kWh from a 1kW system in a day. Unless the system is immensely lossy, you should be able to get <N hours> * 1kW = NkWh

Also, not following the east vs. west claim.

ETA - Jackery says you can’t charge your car from it. Boooooo.

5x system size is actually quite optimistic for an average over the course of a year in my area.

 

[docwhiz]

I don’t follow how they got 4.96kWh from a 1kW system in a day. Unless the system is immensely lossy, you should be able to get <N hours> * 1kW = NkWh

Also, not following the east vs. west claim.

ETA - Jackery says you can’t charge your car from it. Boooooo.

Rough rule of thumb for solar is 5x kW for daily kWh.... YMMV

 

[BCondrey]

You can indeed charge an EV from a Jackery...

I own a Jackery 1000 explorer and did some experimenting last weekend.

The problem with solar generators like this is they have no ground, and the charger in the truck requires a ground. I was able to charge my R1T after constructing a cable that tied neutral to ground. The jackery put out 1000W for 45 minutes, charging at 9A. The truck says it received 0.5kWh, and the miles went up by two.

The jackery can be charged from the solar panels at the same time it is charging the truck. I couldn't determine how many kw the panels are putting out, but if I backed the charging amps down to 5A or 6A, I bet the panels could keep up during the day, that would get me about 1.3 miles per hour of charge, plus whatever else I wanted to run off the Jackery at night.

I have two solar panels to go with the jackery, and my next test will be to see how much the panels help the jackery and at what point it actually keeps up.

 

[BCondrey]

One other thought... Wouldn't it be easier to buy a bunch of panels, and a solar generator, and use them independently of the tent? That way you wouldn't have to park the truck in a certain orientation. I bet it would be cheaper too.

 

[Count Orlok]

not a jackery fan but that set up is interesting. For battery "generator" I prefer solid state lithium options that are starting to hit the market.

 

[docwhiz]

One other thought... Wouldn't it be easier to buy a bunch of panels, and a solar generator, and use them independently of the tent? That way you wouldn't have to park the truck in a certain orientation. I bet it would be cheaper too.

It can be done...

 

[bgmaxey]

not a jackery fan but that set up is interesting. For battery "generator" I prefer solid state lithium options that are starting to hit the market.

Wait, did you use first person present tense? Was your account hacked?

 

[Count Orlok]

Wait, did you use first person present tense? Was your account hacked?

TBH, it is taxing to maintain character 100% of the time. Or at least that is what The Count has told me,.

 

[Santa Cruz Rivian]

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/6/24027729/jackerys-rooftop-tent-solar-generator-ces-concept-date

I like the idea, a few extra miles a day, plus more if you have set up your camp. But... How much range are you losing in aerodynamics and what's the price.

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