The number on the box
is not what you get.
Between the cell and your outlet sits an inverter, and it takes its cut. A station advertised at 1,000 Wh delivers roughly 850 Wh to a 120 V plug. Every model here is listed with both figures.
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Prices change constantly; we link to the current listing rather than quoting a number that will be stale by the time you read it.
A power station stores direct current. Your laptop charger, your fridge and your CPAP all want alternating current at 120 volts. Converting one into the other is the inverter's job, and no inverter is free — it draws power to run and loses more as heat.
In practice that costs somewhere between ten and twenty percent. We use 85 percent throughout this site, which is the conservative end of what manufacturers themselves quote. So a station sold as 1,000 Wh puts roughly 850 Wh into your devices.
This is not a scandal and nobody is lying to you. The cell really does hold what the box says. But if you size a unit by the advertised number, you will come up short — and you will find out at the worst possible moment.
The second thing worth knowing: almost every listing here says solar generator. There is no generator inside. It is a battery, and the solar panel is usually sold separately. Read the "what you get" line before you assume a panel is in the box.
Figures are typical draw for common devices. Your own appliances may differ — check the label on the back.
This is the single biggest difference between two units that otherwise look alike, and it is the one most buyers skip past.
LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) typically survives 3,000 or more charge cycles before dropping to 80 percent of its original capacity. Charge it once a week and it will outlast the decade. It also tolerates heat better and is the safer chemistry under abuse.
Older lithium-ion packs manage roughly 500 cycles. They are lighter for the same capacity, which is why compact units still use them, but a unit you charge weekly is worn out in about two years.
That is why battery chemistry carries a fifth of the score on this site. Where a manufacturer does not state the chemistry, we leave the field blank and the unit scores on the remaining criteria — a missing figure is not counted as a zero.
No, and the listings blur this on purpose. A power station is a battery with an inverter — silent, safe indoors, no fuel. A generator burns gasoline or propane, runs as long as you feed it, and must stay outside. The phrase "solar generator" describes a battery that can be recharged by a panel, which is usually sold separately.
Add up the watts of everything you want to run, multiply by the hours you need it, then divide by 0.85 to account for inverter losses. The calculator above does exactly that. As a rough anchor: a full-size fridge alone runs about 1,500 Wh over 24 hours because the compressor cycles rather than running constantly.
Because capacity and weight are normalised within the class. A 292 Wh unit built for a tent is judged against other compact units, not against a 3,600 Wh home backup. Otherwise the biggest battery would win every time, which tells you nothing about which one suits you.
For anything you plan to keep, yes. LiFePO4 typically lasts 3,000+ charge cycles against roughly 500 for older lithium-ion. Charged weekly, that is the difference between a decade and about two years.
No. Even the largest unit here covers a fridge, lights, routers and phones through an outage. Central air, an electric range or a well pump on a long run need a standby generator or a home battery system.
No, and we do not pretend to. Every figure on this site comes from the manufacturer's own listing. Where a figure is not stated, the field stays blank instead of being filled with a guess, and the model is scored on the criteria that are documented.