Solar generator for home vs. for camping?

Generators are awesome, and portable generators are doubly so. Generators help power your devices while you’re on the go or can really impact the quality of life in your home during an emergency, like if the power goes out. But we understand that it can sometimes be difficult to figure out when to use a generator for your home vs. when you’re on the go, like when you’re camping, for instance.

The thing to keep in mind is how they differ. We already mentioned this in What is a solar generator? but there are three main types of generators that we feel are the most common to residential homes: portable generators, inverter generators, and standby generators. The thing that can be confusing here is that two of the three types of generators (portable and some inverter) can be taken on the go (such as when you’re camping), but all three types of generators (portable, inverter, and standby) can be used for your home. If you don’t want to invest the time, money, or effort into installing a more permanent generator solution (also known as a standby generator) onto your home, you don’t have to. You may have to do a bit more maintenance on your generator, but if you don’t mind, then that’s absolutely your prerogative.

Have you been thinking about getting a generator but are not sure which one you need? We think that’s a great idea, and we’re here to help with that. In this article, we’ll go over the differences between a permanent generator you might install directly into your home electrical system vs a portable generator you can take on the go, like when you’re out camping. We’ll also talk about the pros and cons of each type of generator and what you’ll want to keep in mind before you buy a generator. Our goal is to help you make the most informed decision possible, but you can’t do that without all the facts, so let’s get started.

Solar generators for home

Like we said before, if you want, you can use any one (or more, if that’s your thing) of the three types of generators for your home. It just a matter of how much effort you’ll have to put into maintaining each one. Let’s go over each type and determine how they might impact the level of work required to maintain them, shall we?

Standby generator for the home

Standby generators are permanent. We use this word because, in order to put a standby generator onto your home, you have to permanently install the equipment and connect it to your electrical system, much like you would a solar energy system.

Pros:

The thing that’s most convenient about standby generators is that they traditionally run on natural gas lines (sometimes propane) that run directly to the generator itself. This means you don’t have to continually go out and check to see if your standby generator is running low on gas.

The other cool thing about standby generators is their automatic detection feature. “What is that?” I hear you asking? It’s a capability built into the generator, allowing it to automatically start working as soon as it detects that your power has gone out—and vice versa. As soon as your power comes back on, your standby generator will automatically identify that the power is back on and turn itself back to “standby mode” until it detects the next power outage. Pretty neat, huh?

Cons:

Standby generators are permanent, which means they need to be installed onto your home. That generally means they’re more expensive and require a more complex setup than an inverter generator or a portable generator. It must be connected to your electrical system and a natural gas system, which could mean a new bill for you in terms of utilities. On the other hand, you won’t have to think about going out to turn on your generator or checking to see that it has enough gas, which is nice. It really just depends on what you want to do with it and how much time/effort you want to spend on it. Also, how often does your power go out? Maybe not enough to justify having a standby generator. Again, it’s really up to you to determine whether or not this would be a worthwhile investment.

Inverter generator for the home

Inverter generators can be permanent or non-permanent. (For the purposes of this article, we’re going to use the term “portable” to represent non-permanent inverters.) This is because, on some inverter generators, the inverter itself must be installed onto your home, and on others, the inverter is built into the generator and is thus integrated into the portable generator directly. In the “home” section of this article, we’re going to strictly discuss permanent inverter generators, because the portable inverter generators are ones you’d be more likely to take with you camping. But again, remember that either option can be used for your home if you so choose.

The thing to keep in mind with a permanent inverter generator is that it contains the same primary parts (engine, fuel tank, and alternator) as a portable generator, but it also comes with an inverter, similar to the kind of inverter on a solar energy system. Just like with the inverter on a solar energy system, the inverter on a generator is used to convert the DC current to AC current.

Pros:

In terms of pricing, permanent inverter generators hang in the middle range, though they’re less expensive to install than a standby generator.

Permanent inverter generators also don’t require you to connect them to a natural gas system, which means you don’t have to pay for another utility bill. Instead, they normally use gas or solar options to power their units. For solar inverter generators, the unit includes a built-in battery, which means the generator runs on more stable, renewable energy. And, as you know, we here at Vivint Solar love things that are good for the environment.

Permanent inverter generators with a solar element to them are also way quieter than their gas-run brethren.

Cons:

Again, in terms of pricing, permanent inverter generators are usually more expensive than portable generators (including portable inverter generators) because they have to be installed on your home, which means you may pay for the work required to install the equipment instead of just the equipment itself.

If you choose to invest in a permanent inverter generator that runs on gas, you will have to check to ensure that there is enough fuel to power the generator when the lights go out. If you have one that runs on solar, you’ll want to ensure that it’s always installed in a location that’s accessible to sunlight, no matter how inconvenient a place that is.

If you get a gas-run inverter generator, they can be much louder, which may get a little annoying—something to keep in mind.

Solar generator for camping

With a generator on the go, we really only look at two categories: portable generators with an inverter and without an inverter. The unifying thing between both options is that they’re both portable, which means they can power your devices while traveling. Let’s go over each type and determine how they might differ in terms of impact on your lifestyle.

Inverter generator for camping

Again, we know this might get kind of confusing, but an inverter generator is actually a portable generator because you can take it on the go. The biggest difference between it and a non-inverter portable generator is...queue drumroll...the inclusion of the inverter itself. Like we said earlier, the inverter on a portable inverter generator is built into the unit itself, so it can be taken with you. This also means that the solar capabilities of the unit are pretty cohesive. They work efficiently as a single unit as opposed to several moving parts like you’d have on a solar energy system.

Pros:

Because it’s packaged together and doesn’t require installation, the portable inverter generator is going to be on the cheaper end of the price spectrum. There’s no need to pay someone to install it for you, so there won’t be any extra costs there, and it’s a single unit that can easily be purchased at a local store.

Just like with a permanent inverter generator, a portable inverter generator also harnesses the power of the sun to generate energy, which means it runs on sustainable, cleaner energy. Things that are good for the environment are good for everyone.

You can take it with you. That’s the whole thing about camping with a generator, right? It’s not permanently installed onto your home, so you can use it to power things like your portable smoker, camping trailer, swamp lights, or even cell phone charger if your tween just can’t last another minute without snapping that pic of her charbroiled smore.

Like the permanent inverter generator, this one is also fairly quiet due to the nature of solar and the generator running on an internal battery as opposed to an engine based system.

Cons:

It is a manual operation, but that’s kind of what you sign up for when you choose a generator on the go. You’ll have to closely maintain your portable inverter generator to ensure it gets enough sun exposure so as to provide you with enough power to last you for as long as you need to power your equipment.

This also means that you’ll have to be more judicious about your usage. With this type of generator comes more regulation about how often you let that tween charge her cell phone or how long you run those lights.

Portable generator for camping

This section is going to be much shorter because a portable generator without an inverter has a lot of the same pros and cons as a portable generator with an inverter. The main difference is that it doesn’t run on solar. Instead, traditional portable generators are made up of a basic engine structure (engine, fuel tank, and alternator).

Pros:

These generators are traditionally the least expensive options, and still power enough devices to make them worth the investment.

Normally smaller than all their other counterparts, portable generators are lighter and easier to carry.

Cons:

Noise. Portable generators are usually extremely loud, so when camping, be sure that you are stationed far enough away from your outdoor neighbors so as not to upset them...unless that’s what you want to do, in which case...go for it? I guess? Hey man, we’re not here to judge.

Because they traditionally have smaller engines than the other types of generators mentioned above, you’ll need to closely monitor their fuel intake and ensure you bring enough gas so as not to worry about running out while taking in that beautiful mountain scenery.

That’s all we have on the docket for today. If you’re interested in more information about solar generators, or other solar-related devices in general, feel free to visit our Learning Center. There you’ll find answers to commonly-asked questions from other outdoor enthusiasts just like you.