Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After extensive research, I purchased my Wagan eCube 1500 on Amazon and put it through some testing. Here are my conclusions: Pros: 1) The unit IS very competitively priced. The two primary considerations for a "solar generator" are how many WATTS of solar power does it generate, and how many Amp-Hours of battery storage does it store. This unit is 80W/55Ah. I found products that had MORE and cost MORE and products that had LESS and cost LESS. I did not find any product that had more and cost less. 2) The specifications are accurate The specifications are written pretty much exactly like all of the competitors specifications. Watts, Amp-hours, inverter watts, etc. I saw a review that implied the specifications were deceptive or difficult to understand - not true. 3) The unit comes in a very slick and portable enclosure. You might save some money if you went out and bought separate solar panel(s), battery, charge controller, high-power inverter, various plugs/switches/connectors, and a portable enclosure. However, that would take some time, technical expertise, and in the end it would not look as slick or be as portable. I can't imagine that would be worth it for too many people. 4) Expandable: Allows an additional solar panel and battery. I plan to add an external panel Cons: 1) My unit came missing one of the (many) screws in the cover. Not a big deal (it's redundant) but annoying. 2) I sent a few emails with questions I had to technical support with no response. Finally, I called and got a live person that was very helpful. 3) You can AIM the solar panels, but it's clumsy. If you want a little faster charge, you can simply tilt the entire unit towards the sun. I did this and it works fine, but is clumsy. You do this by wedging a block of wood, stick, or something under a corner. My Application: I bought this unit to provide AC power in the event of an emergency situation, or for camping or bugging-out. I like solar generators compared to gas-powered generators, because they obviously don't require gas, and don't make noise. This unit has a monster inverter (1500+ watts) - capable of operating any plug-in device all the way up to a hair dryer or microwave. Of course, a hairdryer would run down the battery in less than 10 minutes - not a great use of backup power. I see my primary application being to operate radios, TVs, computers, cell-phones, battery chargers, and perhaps some low-wattage lighting. For these types of devices, you can get many hours of use. The unit could take up to 2-3 days to fully charge the battery via solar alone (note: you can also charge it via AC or car battery). If you were using the unit every day to it's full capacity, with only solar power, you might never get more than 1/2 to 1/3 of it's full battery charge capacity - which just means less run-time for whatever you have plugged into this. That's pretty much how all solar generators work. You would need 1000's of watts of solar power to really operate a home and all of your electrical goodies. Anything less than 1000's of watts is really just for less demanding backup applications - and these all come down to how many WATTS and Amp-Hours the solar generator provides. I'm planning on adding a 150W solar panel (about $300 on Amazon) on my roof and leaving that connected to the eCube 1500, while it's stored in my storage closet, with it's built-in panels closed. This will keep the unit permanently charged and ready to go. That way, if I lose power, I can still have backup power continuously in the home for my small appliances, and I can still unplug the roof panel and take the eCube (including it's own built-in panels) with me if I leave the home. Because the external panel is about 2x the wattage of the built-in panels, it will charge the unit's battery in about 1/2 the time. Personally, I feel pretty well prepared for any sort of short-term or long-term power outage with this little unit. It's not as nice as having a $25,000+ solar plant, but it's just about perfect for having some back-up power when and where you need it.