I had mentioned a few months back that I was testing out an EcoFlow Delta Pro portable battery pack. I used it when doing some remote astrophotography late in the summer. It is a pretty compact unit that has 3.6kwh of storage along with a 3.6kw inverter, 1.6kw solar input, and the usual DC outputs.

When I used it this summer I paired it with a small Honda 1800W generator, which worked well. The biggest downside was the lack of integration. Ecoflow has their own generator that is designed to be a companion to the battery unit, so I picked one up.

It is a similar generator to the Honda, being 1800W AC output plus some DC outputs. The biggest advantage is the combination of the autostart (it has an electronic starter) and the integration into the battery unit. It can also run on propane which is very convenient for stored fuel situations.

You can configure the battery back to control the generator. If the battery level reaches a certain level it will auto fire up the generator to recharge the batteries, turning the generator off once things are charged. That makes a super automated power system that doesn’t require much intervention, and is very efficient. Using just a generator alone is very inefficient if you have varying and low loads. With the battery/genset combo you get the advantage of only running the generator at nearly full load to recharge, which is where the engine is most efficient.

There is also the small advantage that the generator has a special DC output for that charging, which removes a second AC/DC conversion.