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It’s More than Just a Big Battery

Depend on the Sun, Not the Grid

Derrick Story
Live View
6 min readJul 23, 2024

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A common pushback I receive when reviewing portable power stations is they are nothing more than an expensive big battery charging smaller ones.

My first thought after such a comment is, “Did you read the article?” I feel like I’ve explained that these devices are far more versatile and sophisticated than a bunch of lithium batteries packed into a box. They can efficiently store electricity from solar panels and other sources, and then distribute it to a variety of applications ranging from big appliances to smartphones. Many are wirelessly enabled and some are programmable.

I’ve set up a power station lab at my studio with a 100-watt solar panel on the south-facing back patio. I run its power cord through the wall via a pass-through hole that was once used for a Direct TV dish that was installed by the previous owner, and subsequently removed by me. This allows me to leave the panel on the back patio, but still lock up the studio when I’m not there.

100-watt solar panel set up semi-permanently on the back patio of my studio.

Inside, I have a 1000-watt AC70 Bluetti Power Station that receives electricity generated by the solar panel. During the summer, we’re talking…

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If we were to sum up Live View in one word, it would be passion. Our writers are here because they want to share articles about topics that inspire them. This is the space to explore their discoveries. Contact Derrick at dstory@gmail to be a contributor.

Derrick Story
Derrick Story

Written by Derrick Story

Photographer, writer, podcaster — www.thedigitalstory.com — Editor of "Live View" on Medium.com.

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