We’re excited to have gotten our hands on a Portable Power Station (& it’s a beauty!) and some powerful 400W Solar Panels from AllPowers.
Just as we were finishing our 30,000 km road trip around Australia earlier this year, we were lucky enough to be gifted a portable power station and quickly realised how much easier and more comfortable it is to live on the road without a limited energy supply, and now we don’t think we can travel (..on longer trips) without one!
Since then, we’ve moved to the other side of the world and due to weight restrictions, it didn’t make sense to bring the heavy power station in our luggage to France, so when AllPowers recently reached out to us and said they’d send us one to charge our European camping adventures, we jumped on the offer.
AllPowers sent us the impressive 2400W 1500Wh S2000 Pro Portable Power Station & to charge it up on sunny days while keeping things clear, green and off-grid, they also included the 400W SP037 Portable Solar Panel. These are both high quality, powerful and top-of-the-line products that are sure to satisfy all of our energy needs when we leave the city behind and head camping in the French country side or on longer road trips throughout Europe.
AllPowers are predominately online, so rather than trying to find somewhere to pick up our new gear, conveniently, we had the S2000 Power Station & SP037 Solar Panels sent directly to us in France, just like any of you would do when purchasing online throughout their website: iallpowers.eu.
Both items arrived without hassle in mint condition, as they should, due to some serious packaging. It was an exciting moment taking the power station and solar panels out of the boxes and admiring the glossy packaging!
At the moment, we’re living in the middle of Bordeaux, a built up city in the south-west of France, so we headed out to Le Blanc, about half way to Paris so that we could find some space (& some sun) to test out out our new gear and have a play.
The first thing that we noticed and the most obvious observation was the weight of both items and heavy duty design, and it was rightfully expected for something packing that much power.
The power station weighs 14.5 kg (31.97 lb), but with two tough handles on either end that have been bolted onto the unit, it was still easy to move around, which is essential for something that needs to be portable and re-positioned frequently to either be close to the solar panels or whatever it is that we’re needing to charge, and of course when you’re packing it away and moving on to the next campground.
Much the same as the power station, the solar panel had a handy carry strap and the five panels all folded together, making it easy to set-up, re-position when you’re chasing the sun, and when you’re on the move, it packs up to a relatively small size of around 110 cm x 60 cm, allowing it to go under the bed in the caravan or in the back of the car.
First things first, we tested all of the power outlets on the power station, which includes:
- 4 x AC Outlets (Continuous: 2400W, Surged: 4000W)
– These allow you to plug-in most home appliances, but we mainly use them for running the second screen on the computer, charging cameras, laptops or plugging in lamps (and other appliances) if we’re planning on staying at the one place for a while - 4 x USB Outlets
- 2 x USB C Outlets
- 1 x Car Oulet (13V 10A)
– Just like the 12 volt/cigarette outlets that you’d find inside most cars - 1 x 30 A RV Outlet (220V-240V, 30A Max)
– this is a really cool feature, it’s used to plug straight into an RV!
The Power Station came with around 69% of the battery charged, and even with the most power-consuming items connected to it (such as running the fridge inside the house after charging up everything else) that we could find, it barely used a bar and charged up all of our equipment just as fast as being connected to the mains power at home.
After making sure that all outlets work and that it can handle a heavy load, we moved onto checking out the inlets and evaluating how well the solar panels worked.
Once the five solar panels are unfolded, there are five stands on the back (one for each panel), so that we could face them in the direction of the sun.
There was hardly a cloud in the sky and it was around 25°C, ideal conditions for using the solar panels to charge the power station. We plugged in the solar panels and placed the power station in a handy little bag that came with it, to protect it from harsh sun, then left lunch and a hike in La Brenne.
A couple of hours later, we returned to a fully charged battery, so we’re not sure exactly how long it took, but it was fast and to no surprise as the panels are a powerful 400 watts, almost twice the amount of the ones that we took around Australia to charge our caravan and equipment.
Solar Panels aren’t required to charge the power station, an included cord plugs into the back of the unit, allowing it to be charged from mains power outlet/..a standard power point that you’d find at home. It’s a good idea to charge it right up using either method before you head out travelling, then top it up with the solar panels or any mains power connection while you’re on your trip.
Our overall opinion is that these are a couple of impressive bits of equipment that are made to be durable and of a high quality, while serving their purpose and providing plenty of power. It’s a great item to take on camping and caravan/RV trips as having enough power will almost certainly be a challenge at point or another.
We’re really glad to have been sent these from AllPowers so early into moving to France from Australia so that we won’t be left in the dark and without power as we begin to explore Europe, one campground at a time.
Now that we’ve tried out the 2400W Pro Portable Power Station and the SP037 Portable Solar Panel, we’re even more excited to have them in our possession and ready for some upcoming travels. We’re heading to the Netherlands next month and Eva’s parents are bringing along a camper trailer that they recently purchased, and we’re grateful to AllPowers that keeping the tent warm and well lit won’t be a worry!
For those that are looking to purchase the 2400W 1500Wh S2000 Pro Portable Power Station and the 400W SP037 Portable Solar Panel, head directly to the AllPowers website: https://iallpowers.eu/ and enter the discount code: WF30 to receive 30% off your online order!
If you’ve used some gear from AllPowers before, we’d love to hear what you thought of it in the comments section below.