Discover the powerful integrated solar generator!

Well, this idea excites me! Jackery has transformed the humble rooftop tent into a powerful solar generator that allows any car to escape the power grid for a weekend or more. Although it's just an idea shown off at CES so far, Jackery claims to put the tent into production at the end of 2024.

The retractable solar panels are claimed to produce up to 1,000 watts when the car is parked and the tent is open and facing south. That's enough to generate 4.96 kilowatt-hours per day in the western United States, or 4 kilowatt-hours as you move east, according to Jackery's estimates. There's no mention of its wind resistance, but that's not an issue for a concept parked on ugly carpet inside the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Rooftop tents can already be equipped with solar panels made by a number of companies, including Jackery. But these panels tend to be lightweight and flexible so as not to overwhelm the tent's folding mechanism, and they rarely cover the entire surface area due to incompatible dimensions. This results in a relatively low solar energy conversion efficiency for the available area. The Jackery Rooftop Tent maximizes energy production by filling the entire roof with solar cells, then extending them outward, incorporating the wiring needed to power the Jackery Power Station.

A typical CES tent runs a separate 1.26 kWh E1000 Plus power station, capable of providing 2,000 watts of AC output. That's enough to run a 1,150-watt portable air conditioner for about an hour, a 60-watt car refrigerator for about 45 hours, or a 900-watt electric stove for an hour, or longer if you add LFP extension batteries to store up to 5 kWh of total power. the hour. The E1000 Plus can also be charged from the car while driving (seven hours for a full charge) or from a wall socket (1.7 hours).

It is not clear who Jakiri collaborates with in producing the tent. However, the concept is equipped with a foam mattress, insulation, dimmable lighting with color control, and waterproof fabric with blackout windows. Jackery says the production version will come “complete with built-in charging unit” (whatever that means), with more details to follow somewhere in the fourth quarter.

It's still too early to call it a trend, but I'm excited to see solar generator specialists like Jackery and EcoFlow (through its partnership with Winnebago) embrace the community of adventurers, truck enthusiasts, and weekend warriors with fully integrated solutions that make it easy to enjoy the convenience of living/ Modern work outside the network.