Hi Bob! I just watched you on the PBS video about older people living the van and RV minimalist life style. I've been subscribed to your channel for about a year now. I'm a 53 year old, full time RV dweller. Lost my apartment 2 years ago. I have to say, I absolutely love living this lifestyle!! So much stress was lifted off of me. At first ,the stress of losing housing was incredible. I found your channel and it changed my life!! I wanted to thank you for all your great work you put into your videos. You really are helping people. Again,. Thank you Bob!!

I have two Jackeries. I love them. I got the big one. 2 months after using it the solar panel stopped working right. When I got back home I got a hold of Jackery. They had me a replace panel within 2 weeks. No problems. They stand by it.

Jackery and $100 solar panel from harbour freight works PERFECT!!! you need to buy the box of 6 connectors $11 at harbour freight too and then you can plug with no problem.. i have the jackery 290 and is awesome!!

500 dollars divided by 1095 days of use is about 45 cents a day to keep yourself comfortably powered. Sounds good to me.

I am glad I bought the Jackery because I am not ready for a permanent setup. I go camping in my minivan, and take the Jackery with me to power my portable fridge/freezer and other items. Everything is taken out of the van when I come home from camping. Some day I will get a permanent camping vehicle, and I can easily move the Jackery into it, and later upgrade to a permanent system. For now, the Jackery is perfect.

Plug and “pay”. With so many how to videos I challenged myself to build my own set up in a Minivan. 100 amp hours + 200 watt solar panels. The learning experience alone was worth it.

I have six 100 watt Renogy mono panels MrBob. After 3 years of full-time use they still put out 100 watts each. Renogy is a great company and they're happy to answer any questions we might have. Good video! - Hal

I bought that exact Jackery setup a month ago to go in and out of my rig on fishing camping and hunting trips. It's appeal goes beyond it's simplicity. It's extremely PORTABLE and it works flawlessly. It also ran my Alpicool LGT60 @36°/22° Fridge/Freezer for more than 40 hours on a single charge. That's far better performance than any other comparable setup I've see tested.

It has a 2 year complete warranty. Took 2weeks turnaround. They sent me shipping label, I mailed it back and they sent me a brand new one. Good for starting out.

The battery does not quit after 500 cycles, it will last 500 cycles to 100% charge and then it goes down to about 80% capacity. A cycle means using the battery down to 0% and fully recharging. if you keep the battery charged up will last longer.

I have the Jackery 500w and the 100w Saga panel. The most I can get out of the solar panel is 65 w bright sunshine here in florida ( because of the pwm controller? ). Charging by house electricity the charge is 83w thereabouts . Charging by car its about 40 watts or so. Because the charge rate is highest with house electricity I have a 300w pure sine wave inverter and I charge with this while driving. The main reason for the Jackery 500 is to power my fridge which is an alpicool 20 liter model. In the eco mode set at 37 F , with a fully charged Jackery it will last 37 hours with 25% power remaining. I don't live in my van so it is not converted. I do a couple road trips every now and again. I am sure as Bob pointed out , that there are more economical alternatives but for me the portability is worth it.

That 500 charge cycles is to get the battery to 80% of its capacity. The battery will still work it just won't have as much charge. If you bought the 500W battery, after 500 cycles of charging you would have 518 kWh * 0.8 = 414 kWh. The battery is still useful, it just won't last as long as a new one.

I have no doubt that buying the pieces and building it myself would be cheaper, but I would have no clue where to start to build my own! Lol

Finally someone not sponsored by Jackery! so he is honest and knowledgeable.. thank you!

Great video. Bob is always informative. But I've already decided for my Needs I'm getting the Jackery 1000. Yes. It is a bit pricey but for me I think its worth it.. And one thing to consider that nobody has tap on yet. The advancement of solar power is getting cheaper all the time.. The Jackery 1000 is 999.99 bucks right now. But give it a couple of years and the price will come down. I remember my family buying a VCR for 700 bucks back in the day. Lol

We just received the J 1000 and solar panel, $1300. Works great. Ran 60w of lights, on 110v

Good info. We bought the J-500 and folding panel to fit in our car to use have on vacations and when the FD/PD says we must evacuate our home. After a major breakdown and tow, we had to rent another car for 10 days and the Jackery system fit into a slightly smaller car. At home we have the rigid panel and system as you suggest, but will always travel with the Jackery. Thanks Bob....Jim

You’re speaking my language! Chemistry! You made the scientist in me smile big. And, I did not know the difference in the Li batteries however. Good information and things to consider. The original 100W Renogy panel you helped me install and did a video on in 2015 is still in commission. Thanks Bob!

As far as I’m aware, after 500 cycles, the battery is still good but it’s capacity is just reduced to 80%... maybe something worth mentioning.

I know that the Jackery is definitely more expensive than a decent Renogy setup. However, there is one thing the Jackery offers, and why I pay the premium cash for it. Portability. Next year, I am trading in my current RV, so every dollar I put into an install on that is wasted once the RV changes hands. I definitely don't want to tear out solar panels and such.