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The Anker SOLIX F3800, mixed with the brand new House Energy Panel, is essentially the most accessible whole-home backup energy system round proper now. It could possibly energy your own home in an influence outage, can be utilized as a complete backup answer for off-grid properties, and performance because the hub of a completely put in photo voltaic power system for on a regular basis use, seamlessly harnessing the solar to energy your own home.
Anker made a reputation for itself within the client electronics house over the past decade with a variety of inexpensive but sturdy USB chargers, cables, and batteries. Amongst a sea of single use generic manufacturers, Anker stood out as a model shoppers may belief, and because of this, its merchandise discovered their manner into hundreds of thousands of properties all over the world together with ours.
After a wildfire burned our dwelling to the bottom in 2017, we went straight out to purchase the entire vary of Anker USB chargers, cables, energy strips, and energy stations, they usually simply proceed to carry out. Due to the energy of their model and the sturdiness of their merchandise, we had been excited to see them transfer into the transportable energy station enterprise over the previous few years. A handful of small but highly effective gadgets have helped them acquire a foothold with more and more bigger models being launched over the next months.
It felt like a pure evolution that led Anker to the intersection of transportable energy stations and the house stationary storage market. Anker didn’t bat an eye fixed and easily charged into the house with the launch of its SOLIX model, with the F3800 because the flagship product.
Anker SOLIX House Energy Panel is the important product of Anker SOLIX F3800 House Energy System. Appropriate with one or two models of Anker SOLIX F3800, you’ll be able to set up a sensible complete dwelling power system. Anker SOLIX F3800 can energy your own home with the grid and the rooftop photo voltaic concurrently by way of AC coupling. You possibly can retailer extra power generated by your photo voltaic panels in the course of the day to be used at night time, or it may possibly routinely present an on the spot backup energy provide on your dwelling within the occasion of energy outages.
If your own home doesn’t at present have rooftop photo voltaic and you haven’t any plans to put in it, you’ll be able to nonetheless harness photo voltaic power through the use of inflexible or transportable photo voltaic panels along with the House Energy Panel and Anker SOLIX F3800. These choices can give you a house energy system that reduces electrical energy payments and lets you profit from photo voltaic power. Moreover, this technique might be built-in with the grid to energy your own home.
The Anker SOLIX F3800 makes use of iron phosphate battery cells, also referred to as LiFePO₄, because the power storage for the unit. This chemistry is understood for its means to face up to heavy use, hundreds of cycles, and a 100% depth of discharge which is one thing extra conventional lithium-ion based mostly packs merely can’t do.
As well as, iron phosphate cells are extraordinarily thermally steady, that means it’s practically unattainable for it to have thermal points within the occasion of bodily injury to the cells themselves. This makes it the perfect chemistry for stationary storage however traditionally, its low power density made it much less most popular for transportable purposes. In consequence, the Anker SOLIX F3800 is a girthy unit, with a whopping 3,840 Wh / 3.84 kWh of storage capability that strains the definition of transportable at 132 kilos.
This may be expanded as much as an unimaginable 26.9 kWh because of its Modular Pack Design. As much as 6 enlargement battery packs might be jacked proper into the Anker SOLIX F3800 to allow you to buy precisely the correct quantity of storage on your software. It’s additionally a good way to get began with a big energy station with the information you could at all times add extra capability sooner or later as your wants change. Outdated and new Anker battery packs play collectively properly, guaranteeing a long-lasting answer on your power wants.
Iron phosphate battery cells have continued to enhance lately, so the upper weight and bigger quantity penalties for utilizing them isn’t as excessive because it was only a few years in the past. Alternatively, it looks as if the proper chemistry for a semi-portable energy station just like the Anker SOLIX F3800.
Charging
Anker despatched us the Anker SOLIX F3800 to assessment and we had been desperate to get began. Earlier than we may begin enjoying with it, we needed to get it charged up. This may be achieved with a typical wall cable from any AC outlet. Out of the field, it defaults to pulling 1,600 watts from the wall, although it may possibly help as much as 1,800 watts peak AC charging. The charging pace might be adjusted with the Anker smartphone app.
To substantiate this, we plugged it into the wall and tuned the charging pace right down to a meager 1,000 watts to high it up for its first cost. Within the on-line handbook for the Anker SOLIX F3800, Anker recommends absolutely charging the unit earlier than its first use and we fortunately obliged.
If AC charging isn’t your factor, you can even recharge the unit from a typical 12 volt automotive outlet at 120 watts or instantly by way of photo voltaic. If you happen to’re utilizing it as a backup energy answer from your own home, plugging it into the house’s AC system most likely makes essentially the most sense, however you’ll be able to add extra power safety with some photo voltaic panels.
The Anker SOLIX F3800 additionally helps charging instantly from photo voltaic panels from 11-60V by an XT-60 connection. For 11-32V photo voltaic chargers, it may possibly pull in a most of 10 amps and with 15-60V photo voltaic chargers, that will get pushed as much as 27 amps max.
The Anker SOLIX F3800 can settle for as much as 2,400 watts from transportable photo voltaic panels, that are nice in case you’re utilizing the Anker SOLIX F3800 in an RV, trailer, or as a backup energy answer. Simply unfold the panels, join them up with the included MC4 hyperlink cables and you can begin harvesting natural, free vary photons from the solar.
For extra everlasting setups, you can even wire it as much as a hardwired mounted photo voltaic set up which bumps the utmost photo voltaic it may possibly drink as much as 3,800 watts when linked to a House Energy Panel. These installations do require skilled set up and extra {hardware} to get them wired up, however the advantages are apparent.
Wiring the Anker SOLIX F3800 into your own home with the House Energy Panel with some mounted photo voltaic panels on the roof transforms it from a nice-to-have unit into the center of your own home’s electrical system. It drinks up extra solar energy and shops it for the day you might want to preserve your own home operating when the grid goes down. That’s true power independence.
Utilizing the Anker SOLIX F3800
To actually put the Anker SOLIX F3800 to the check, we took it out of the kitchen the place we usually stress check transportable energy stations and went straight into the storage. I introduced out an array of energy instruments together with angle grinders, sawzalls, drills, and sure even a welder.
I’m a hack at welding however I can reliably get issues to stay collectively they usually appear to carry as much as abuse, in order that’s one thing. I plugged my Lincoln Electrical multiprocess machine into the Anker SOLIX F3800 and bought all my provides arrange. As knowledgeable hack, I used to be welding on the ground of the storage as standard and laid down a number of beads on some scrap materials.
The Anker SOLIX F3800 didn’t bat an eye fixed and simply stored pushing energy to the welder. I lay down a number of beads for about 10 minutes and the welder had no difficulty with the ability provided from the Anker SOLIX F3800. The ability ranged from zero when not pulling the set off on the welder to 30 or 40 amps because it ramped up earlier than rapidly spiking to 2,000 to 2,550 watts when actively MiG welding.
The unit had no points supporting this load or the wide selection of energy instruments I used to prep the weld floor and get the fabric trimmed up. The Anker SOLIX F3800 can help as much as 6,000 watts of energy output so it wasn’t a lot a check of the max wattage it may deal with, however simply the pure depth of a welder and energy instruments which might usually draw energy in a short time and at excessive hundreds.
The Anker SOLIX F3800 really bridges the hole between transportable energy stations and glued batteries designed to be bolted in place in a battery wall on your dwelling. It may be used fully by itself or instantly wired into your own home’s electrical panel, relying on what you want it to do. You possibly can add capability to it by buying enlargement batteries or take simply this core unit with you. It is among the most succesful, versatile techniques we’ve seen and from the seems to be of it, there isn’t a lot the Anker SOLIX F3800 can’t do.
The Anker SOLIX F3800 can be utilized as a conveyable unit and comes geared up with 4 wheels and even a luggage-style deal with that lets you transfer 132 kilos / 60 kilograms of mass round with out an excessive amount of bother. It’s not one thing you’re going to take to the park or most likely even out on a tenting journey, nevertheless it’s advantageous for transferring it round the home or possibly out to your off-grid cabin to maintain the lights on and all of your home equipment operating when you’re out having fun with nature.
It might even be an important candidate to be used in an RV, the place you can briefly transfer it from your own home into the RV, maintaining the unit charged up from the car’s alternator or a rooftop photo voltaic system.
As a particular hack, the Anker SOLIX F3800 can be used to cost up your EV with none extra {hardware}. Each different transportable energy station we’ve reviewed had points with this as a result of EV chargers error out. This may be hacked with a floor loop plug, however Anker solved this natively with the Anker SOLIX F3800.
Plugging an AC EV charger into the Anker SOLIX F3800 returns the everyday error on any charger. Anker added a particular button to allow 240 volts output particularly for EV chargers. To activate this mode, double press the 240 volt energy change and the unit mixes issues up internally to allow EV charging with out having to purchase any extra {hardware}.
We examined this with our 240v Wallbox Pulsar Plus AC charger, a gen 3 Tesla Wall Connector, and a 110v Mercedes wall charger. None of them had been in a position to make use of the unit natively in 110v mode however simply linked to the unit and had been in a position to cost from it utilizing Anker’s 240 volt energy change. A lot success!
The Anker SOLIX F3800 can run in 3 totally different working modes to go well with a variety of purposes:
The Anker SOLIX House Energy Panel can monitor the ability output from each the rooftop photo voltaic system and the grid, or can even monitor the ability output from the inflexible photo voltaic panels/transportable photo voltaic panels and the grid. Consequently, it may possibly recharge the F3800 with extra photo voltaic power and make the most of the saved energy to provide the home during times of low photo voltaic manufacturing, thereby enhancing photo voltaic power utilization effectivity.
Setting the On/Off-peak mode by way of the Anker App permits you to energy your own home throughout peak instances and recharge the F3800 throughout off-peak instances, thereby serving to you to save lots of the electrical energy invoice long-term. Its inner Sensible Vitality Administration system works with Anker’s Vitality Optimizer to determine when to make use of power from the solar, the battery, or the grid to maintain your payments low.
When an influence outage occurs, the Anker SOLIX House Energy Panel will routinely change to the F3800 as the ability supply to provide as much as 12 circuits linked within the backup load middle. With correct circuit planning, the 6,000W AC output and 120V/240V twin voltage permits the potential for attaining whole-home backup.
General
The Anker SOLIX F3800 fills an vital hole between transportable energy stations and residential power storage techniques. It’s an ungainly house, however Anker has achieved an admirable job of constructing a versatile, scalable product that delivers not solely the performance, however the kind issue that makes it able to dwelling in each of those worlds with out an excessive amount of of a problem.
At 3.84 kWh of power storage, it’s a huge quantity of capability for a conveyable unit and there’s no getting across the Anker SOLIX F3800’s 132 pound weight. On the flip aspect, 3.84 kWh of storage will not be a ton of energy while you’re powering your whole dwelling. The common dwelling in America makes use of 11 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy per day, so this is able to actually be just for supporting vital hundreds or as a backup system.
Anker knew that and made it potential so as to add extra battery packs, daisy-chaining them into the Anker SOLIX F3800 so you’ll be able to actually construct the superbly sized system with the correct quantity of storage on your wants. Its iron phosphate battery chemistry provides owners the peace of thoughts that the batteries are extraordinarily steady and can present a protracted life with out points.
For extra details about the Anker SOLIX F3800, head over to the Anker SOLIX F3800’s digital dwelling.
Disclaimer: Anker generously sponsored this text and supplied the Anker SOLIX F3800 to the writer freed from cost for the needs of this assessment.
Specs
MSRP:
Anker SOLIX F3800: $3,999 (at present on sale for $3,499)
Anker SOLIX F3800 + House Backup Equipment: $4,598 (at present on sale for $3,999)
Anker SOLIX F3800 + Sensible House Backup Equipment: $5,237 (at present on sale for $4,299)
Anker SOLIX F3800 + 3,800 kWh Growth Battery: $6,498 (at present on sale for $4,999)
Battery Chemistry: Lithium iron phosphate battery cells
Storage Capability: 3,840 wh / 3.84kWh, expandable as much as 26.9kWh with as much as 6 non-obligatory Anker SOLIX BP3800 enlargement batteries because of its Modular Pack Design
Weight: 132.3 kilos / 60 kilograms
Included equipment: AC charging cable & two MC4 3-Port Photo voltaic Charging Connectors
Connectivity: Monitor power enter and output from the Anker app. Connects with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Guarantee: 5-year guarantee
Safety: No Threat of Fireplace and Shock
Energy enter
AC charging (120v wall outlet): 1,800 watts
DC charging (photo voltaic): 2,400W photo voltaic enter max, for a peak cost of 0 to 80% in 1.5 hours with photo voltaic
Energy output
AC output scores: 6,000W, 120V/240V split-phase output
AC output ports: NEMA 14-50 and L14-30 retailers onboard to instantly cost your EV and RV
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