This portable battery station can power your home for 2 weeks and is now 41% off

What’s the deal?

He Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus It’s on sale at Amazon for $1,299 right now, down from its usual price of $2,199 — that’s 41% off.

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Why does ZDNET recommend this offer?

If you see the sun regularly, solar generators are the way to go. They allow you to capture and store the free energy radiated by the sun, convert it into electricity, and store it in batteries.

Solar generators consist of two parts: a portable power station (like a power bank, but larger) and solar panels. Power stations come in all shapes and sizes, from small boxes you wouldn’t have a problem carrying short distances to large wheeled boxes you wouldn’t want to carry too far.

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Jackery, a household name in the power plant business for over a decade, has a new power plant called Explorer 2000 PlusAnd this device is a game-changer. You can scale it up from a single unit that lasts one or two days of camping to a series of batteries and solar panels that can power your home for two weeks.

You read that right: two weeks.

See on Amazon

Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Technical Specifications

• Ability: 2042.8 Wh
• AC outlet: AC output (×4): 120 V~ 60 Hz, 20 A max.
  AC output (×1): 120V~ 60Hz, 25A max.
  Total AC output:3000W max, 6000W surge peak
• USB-A output:x2 Quick Charge 3.0, 18W max.
• USB-C Output: x2 100W max (5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, 20V up to 5A)
• Getting out of the car: 12 V ⎓ 10 A
• AC input: 120V, 60Hz, 15A max.
• DC input:11V-17.5V, 8A max.
  17.5V-60V, 12A max.
• Battery:LFP (LiFePO4 battery)
• Nominal load cycles:4000 cycles up to 70% or more capacity
• Weight: 61.5 lbs/ 27.9 kg
• Dimension: 14.7 x 18.6 x 14.1 inches/37.36 x 26.90 x 47.3 x 35.94 cm
• Operating temperature:-10 ~ 45 °C/14 ~ 113 °F

Note: I’ve been reviewing the UK version of the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus, which has different power sockets and input and output voltages, but is otherwise equivalent to the US version.

It’s big.

You may notice something sitting on top of my Explorer 2000 Plus. It’s a PackPlus E2000 Plus add-on battery that adds 2042.8Wh of electrical storage capacity to the system.

This is even bigger!

4,000Wh not enough for you? You can connect up to five PackPlus E2000 Plus battery packs to a single Explorer 2000 Plus for 12,000Wh of storage.

A single PackPlus E2000 Plus weighs 41.9 pounds (19 kg), so the two units combined weigh over 100 pounds (46.9 kg).

Still not enough? No problem!

You can link two Explorer 2000 Plus units together, each connected to five PackPlus E2000 Plus battery packs, for a massive 24,000Wh of energy storage capacity – enough, according to Jackery, to power the average home for two weeks.

This configuration It will cost you about $22,500but there is not much that can compare to the power and flexibility it offers.

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Okay, let’s back up a bit and look at the Explorer 2000 Plus.

Compared to many power stations, this is a fairly simplified unit. On the front there is a compact display, a few buttons and a handful of power outlets.

To make moving the power station easier, there are convenient handles on the side, a retractable suitcase-style handle, and wheels.

Yes, wheels. The retractable handle and wheels make moving the power station easier, especially if additional batteries are used.

If you have an additional battery, a cable is used to connect the two units together.

There are a few things I look for when testing a power plant.

First, the inputs, outputs, and ratings must match the published specifications (see specification list above).

The Explorer 2000 Plus passed all my tests with flying colors.

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The power outlets had no problem supporting a continuous load of 3000W and even peaks of 6000W. If you push the power station beyond this, then the Explorer 2000 Plus gracefully shuts off and waits for you to reduce the load.

Under heavy loads, there are fans that kick in to keep everything cool (which also come on when the drive is loaded), but these fans are quiet (just 30dB, or the noise level a library makes) and the Explorer 1500 Pro can handle a continuous load of 3000W without any difficulty.

It is a very well designed unit.

The USB and 12V outputs also meet specifications. The 100W USB-C ports are particularly useful for those of us who charge and power our laptops from a power station.

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The 2000Wh capacity is huge. It can charge your iPhone over 80 times or run a mini fridge for over 12 hours. It will also power a portable air conditioner for a couple of hours or a high-powered welder for 40 minutes.

That’s a lot of power and this is just the Explorer 2000 Plus. Just one PackPlus E2000 Plus Battery Pack (currently $200 off) double this.

As for recharging, the unit takes two hours to charge when plugged into AC or six SolarSaga 200W Solar Panels (currently discounted by over $200), seven hours with two 200W SolarSaga solar panels or 25 hours with a 12V car adapter.

I also like to test durability and so far the unit has been thrown in the back of a truck, dragged around different places and dropped a bit roughly more than once without any ill effects.

It is a really durable product.

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Another thing I like to test is longevity.

There’s nothing better than taking it out into the wild and relying on it for several weeks. I haven’t been able to do that yet, but I’ve been using the Explorer 2000 Plus as much as I can and have put it through about a dozen charge cycles. So far it’s holding up well and I haven’t had any issues.

Everything is well built and sturdy, it can take a beating and delivers what it promises without relying on extreme, overpriced specs.

ZDNET’s buying advice

He Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus is a solid and expandable portable power station. If you are looking for a power station, either for home use or for your outdoor adventures, it is a great choice that will give you years of use. If your unit does have any issues, you can turn to Jackery’s excellent warranty.