The short answer: a solar generator is worth it if an outage would cost you food, medicine, work or comfort you cannot easily replace, and it is not worth it if you lose power rarely and briefly. For most homes that decide to buy, the Jackery HomePower 3000 is the unit to price first, because it covers the essentials for a day or two and ships with its own panels. This page helps you decide whether you are in the “worth it” group before you spend anything.
The three questions that decide it
Nearly every good reason to own one comes down to these.
- How often, and how long, do you lose power? Your utility’s outage history for your area, and your own memory of the last three years, are a better guide than national averages. One four-hour outage a year is a very different case from a storm season that takes the grid down for two days at a time.
- What would you lose? Write down the things that matter: a fridge and freezer full of food, a CPAP, an oxygen concentrator, a well pump, a sump pump, a home office, heat or cooling in a climate where that is a safety issue. If the list is a phone and a lamp, a power bank is enough. (See our full guide to running a well pump on backup power.)
- What is the alternative? Not owning a backup means spoiled food, lost work or a hotel. A gas generator means fuel, noise and a place to run it outdoors. The comparison is against what you would otherwise do, not against nothing.
A simple way to put a number on it
Do this sum with your own figures. The numbers below are made-up round numbers to show the method, not prices.
| Item | Example | Your figure |
|---|---|---|
| Food in the fridge and freezer you would lose | 300 | |
| Hotel or alternative for one night | 150 | |
| Paid work you could not do in a day | 200 | |
| Cost of one typical outage to you | 650 | |
| Outages like that per year | 1 | |
| Cost of outages per year | 650 |
Multiply what one outage costs you by how many you expect in a year. If that number, over five or ten years, comes anywhere near the price on the product page, the battery pays for itself. If it is a fraction, you are buying peace of mind rather than saving money, which is fine, but it should be a deliberate choice.
What a solar generator covers well
These loads are where a battery is clearly worth having, because each one has a real cost if it fails. The draws are typical ranges; your appliance label has the real figure.
| Load | Typical draw | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 100 to 200W running | Food safety. See how long a battery runs a fridge |
| CPAP | 30 to 60W | Sleep and health. See the CPAP page |
| Oxygen concentrator | 50 to 300W | Medical. See the oxygen concentrator page |
| Router, modem, laptop | 50 to 150W | Work and contact. See working from home in an outage |
| Sump pump | 400 to 1,000W while running | Flooding. See the sump pump page |
| Furnace blower | 300 to 700W | Heat in a gas-furnace home. See the furnace page |
What it does not cover well
A fair answer includes the cases where it is the wrong tool.
- Whole-house electric heat or central air for days. Electric heat runs at 5,000 to 15,000W, which no home battery sustains for long. See can a solar generator run a space heater and an air conditioner.
- Heavy appliances at once. A dryer, an electric range and a water heater together draw more than most units can supply. See washer, dryer and electric stove.
- A multi-day outage with no sun. A battery is a store, not a source. Panels add back some energy each day, but in grey weather you are living on what you stored. See the three-day outage guide.
Solar generator, gas generator or nothing
| Solar generator | Gas generator | Nothing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Higher per watt | Lower per watt | None |
| Running cost in an outage | None | Fuel | Spoiled food, lost work |
| Safe indoors | Yes, no exhaust | No, carbon monoxide risk | n/a |
| Noise | Silent | Loud | Silent |
| Long outage with heavy loads | Limited by battery and sun | Runs while fuel lasts | n/a |
| Other uses | Camping, tools, home office | Tools, camping | None |
Our solar generator versus gas generator page goes through safety, noise and fuel in full.
Check the current price of the HomePower 3000 at Jackery
If the answer is yes, which one
- Fridge, Wi-Fi, lights, a CPAP, for one to two days: the HomePower 3000.
- The same plus a furnace fan, or room to grow: the HomePower 3600 Plus, which holds 3,584Wh and expands.
- A well pump or central air that needs 240V: the Solar Generator 5000 Plus, which holds 5,040Wh and supplies 7,200W at 120V and 240V.
If you are not sure what size you need, the sizing guide turns your list of loads into a number, and the home backup buying guide lays each unit out against it. Our three-model comparison shows the differences side by side.
When we would say no
If you lose power for a couple of hours once a year, nothing in your home is medical or time-critical, and you have a place to buy ice and a power bank for the phones, you do not need a solar generator. Spend the money elsewhere. If your outages are frequent, your list matters, or you want one battery to do outage duty and a second job, it is a sound purchase.
Keep reading: Best solar generators for home backup · Solar generator vs gas generator · How to size a solar generator · Can a solar generator power a whole house? · Jackery HomePower 3000 review · Cheapest 240V home backup power
Not sure which one to buy? Answer three questions and get one answer.