We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
There’s a sweet spot in the power bank market in the 1,000 to 2,000 Wh category. That capacity is perfect for the average person who wants something for outdoor activities. It’s also great for someone who needs a small backup for their home that’s enough to run a couple of key machines and keep communications online. This Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is at the bottom of that range. But with a 200 Watt solar panel and some smart packaging, it might be the perfect choice for those buyers.
The Bottom Line
The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 has a 1070 Wh LiFePO battery and can sustain 1,500 Watts AC. For outputs, it has USB-C, USB-A, 12V socket, and 120V AC Sockets. It weighs about 25 pounds and is about 13 x 9 x 10 inches(L x W x H). On a normal home wall socket, I can charge it from about 30% to 100% in less than 90 minutes.
Having used it outdoors with solar panels attached and indoors without, I’ve powered devices with as low of demands as 170 Watts and up to 1500 Watts, without worrying about heat or even an excessively loud fan. The power bank has four buttons. One is to turn on the light, so needless to say, this is super easy to operate. Although it feels heavy, it’s one of the smaller and lighter units in the category. Every part from the handle and case to the cords and connectors is high quality. From Amazon, just the Explorer 1000 v2 power bank is $499.00, and a combo with two 100 Watt solar panels, the single 200 Watt panel combo isn’t currently available, is $899.00. If you want to buy the same 2-panel combo straight from Jackery, it’s $1,299.00.
| Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 | |
|---|---|
| Value | 9/10 |
| Quality | 9/10 |
| Ease Of Use | 9/10 |
| Packaging | 9/10 |
| Overall | 9/10 |
What are the specs of the Jackery 1000 v2 Solar Generator?
This is one of the smaller and lighter power banks in the category. Even after a few weeks of testing, the 25 pounds feels heavier than I expect it to be. The next lightest power bank I’ve tested was the DJI at 33 pounds. I think the single fold-up, cooler-style handle is better for one-handed carrying. But I prefer the two integrated handles found on competitors. The 200 Watt SolarSaga panel is also stupid-sturdy. Folded up, it’s 24 x 21 x 1 inch and unfolded, it leisurely stretches out to 92 inches in length. It weighs about 14 pounds and has an ingeniously simple device for aiming it at the sun to maximize charging.
The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 has a 1070 Wh LiFePO battery and can sustain 1,500 Watts AC. For outputs, it has (2) USB-C, (1) USB-A, (1) 12V socket, and (3) 120V AC Sockets. For inputs, (2) DC 8mm barrel connectors, and (1) 120V AC C14 connector. It weighs 24.5 pounds(on my scale) and is 12.9 x 8.8 x 9.7 inches(L x W x H). On a normal 120V AC home plug, I can repeatedly get from 30% to 100% charge in less than 90 minutes.
Jackery Solar Power And The Freedom To Fly
It’s starting to cool down here in Vegas; “cool” means high 90s. My son and I still head out to the RC flying field early in the morning, but we don’t have to retreat from the sun after an hour. I brought the Jackery to the field with the solar panel to charge batteries on site. Our Hitec RDX4 charger maxes out at about 400 Watts. We normally don’t push it that hard ourselves. At 250 Watts, we could have lasted all morning with on-and-off charging. But, some friends plugged in and we were all flying carbon neutral.
You can see in the photos, the SolarSaga 200 Watt panels are big. Luckily it wasn’t a busy day at the field as the big tables are normally filled with airplanes and helis. As I’m writing this, these big panels are sold out. It might be a blessing in disguise if you plan to use your panels anywhere space is an issue.
On busier days, I’ll have to throw this on the roof of my car and hope for the best in terms of aiming directly at the sun. This brings up the brilliant solution Jackery uses for aiming. There’s what looks like a horizontal bubble level on one end of the panel. Only instead of being filled with liquid, it has a dot on the lens and then a bullseye at the bottom of the cup. When the panel is pointed right at the sun, the shadow of the dot is in the center of the bullseye. I doubt Jackery thought of this, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it.
Using The Jackery To Power My Morning Routine
I’m a coffee guy; if you’ve read my stuff in the past, you already knew this. I grind my beans every morning. I normally use a Chemex pour-over coffee maker instead of a typical drip machine, and I use an electric kettle to heat water. I’ve used my morning coffee making on power banks as a bit of a functional benchmark. When I tested the DJI, the power meter read a loss of 13% capacity with everything said and done. The 1500 Wh Pecron only registered a 6% loss, while the Jackery registered an 11% loss.
This is obviously not a strict, scientifically accurate method of measuring efficiency. There are slight variations in my coffee routine that might change the starting temp of the water. Small differences in the coffee beans might change the draw from the grinder. And on top of all that, I trust the readout on the power banks about as much as I trust the fuel gauge in my car.
Some of you are looking at the photos and have a very relevant question. The answer is, YES. In the event of an emergency, this power bank, even without solar assistance, does have the capacity to smoke a brisket or pork butt in a Traeger Pro Series. You won’t have to build a fire; like a caveman.
What Do You Do With An Off-Duty Power Bank
I’m often asked, “What am I supposed to do with one of these when I’m not using it, and how am I supposed to remember to keep it charged?” Well, the Jackery, like the Pecron, is designed to be used as an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS. That means you can leave it plugged into the wall at all times and then plug whatever devices you don’t want to lose power in a blackout, plugged into the Jackery. Not all Power banks can do this as they have to be able to switch from pass-through powering of the devices to switching to battery power almost instantaneously. Jackery says the Explorer can do it in less than 20 milliseconds—that’s pretty quick. Even though this is a LiFePO battery, which is better at sitting at maximum charge than a LiPo, I still wish I could adjust the capacity it considered idle.
The Verdict
If you’re the type of person who gives value to something, either consciously or subconsciously, based on how dense it feels, you’re going to love picking up the Jackery Explorer and the SolarSaga panel. These units both have solidity engineered into them that few consumer products can match. This is lighter and smaller than most competitors, but every time you lift it, you’d swear it was a solid-metal block, but in a good way.
That heavy-duty feeling is present in the extra thick cables, the chunky connectors, and even the silicone plugs that seal up connector ports on the solar panel. The Jackery feels expensive and I feel that until I look at the price compared to competitors. The 1500 Wh Pecron is discounted to $659.00 on Amazon right now, so that’s a comparable price, for the higher capacity power bank. The 1000Wh DJI is $599.00 for just the power bank and $947 for a combo with a single 100 Watt solar panel. So really, this Jackery is a deal at $499 for the power bank and $899.00 for a 200 Watt solar combo.
One of the takeaways I have from testing a few of these is if you stick with the well-known, reputable brands, with LiFePo batteries, you’re going to get a good product. The smaller packaging might be a big selling point for some of you, while others may lean towards something like the Pecron because it has more USB ports. These things are more qualitative decision factors, so give your specific requirements some thought before pulling the trigger.
Lastly, I am enamored with the quality and design of Jackery’s SolarSaga Panels. If I were purchasing this, and I had a choice, I would probably choose to get the smaller 100 Watt panels. The 200 Watt is just a little too big for the way I use it. Other than that one caveat, I have no problem recommending the Jackery Explorer to anyone looking for a power bank and/or solar generator.