• Ray
    Hey folks. I'm just about to start playing around with a solar generator from a company called Lensun. The last one I looked at was a Renogy Firefly Not great for RVers
    That was over 3 years ago and I know they have come a long way.

    This model 510G has a 48AH lithium battery and 500-watt pure sine inverter plus an MPPPT controller goes for around 500 bucks.
    Anyway just seeing if anyone else is using one and what brand, I see lots of reviews out there for Jackery and Goal Zero. How is it working out for you?
    Looks like the units are aimed at van and tent campers. I could see tough where it may be useful to run a CPAP machine.

    You know I'll give this puppy a good test for my review and likely rip it open and see how the guts look. :wink:

    So far I'm impressed with how light it is and the case design looks good. Got a design thumbs up from Anne.

    Cheers, Ray
  • Ray
    Lensun SG510 Solar Generator - Unboxing and Quick Overview

    In this video, I unbox and detail the features of a new RVing gadget I'm playing with. It's a model SG510 Solar Generator/Uninterruptible Power Supply from a company called Lensun. Currently priced at $499 US. Stay tuned for my full review once I've had a chance to test the unit out for a while.

    The size and weight of the SG510 are remarkable given its power capacities. The unit weighs in at just under 10 lbs and is 7.25" tall by 5.15" wide by 12.40" long.

    It boasts 510 Watt Hours of capacity when fully charged via a 46 Amp Hour 11.1V Lithium-Ion battery made by brand name LG. The battery can be recharged through either AC or DC input charging ports. The battery can be recharged 1500 times.

    Typical recharge time using a 100-watt solar panel in full sun is around 10 hours. The harvested solar power is fed to an internal MPPT solar charger. Max solar/DC charge current is 5 amps.

    For power output options, the SG510 has 9 ports:
    2 - AC outlets
    4 - 5V 2.1A USB
    3 - 12VDC 5A
    They can all be used simultaneously. Max Output wattage is 700W (500W AC and 200W DC). Inside is a 500 Watts pure sine wave inverter with 1000W surge capability.

    The SG510 has a pair of features not often found in this type of product.

    1) It has a special 12-volt battery jumpstarting port and comes with a set of alligator clip leads. 300 amps max output.
    2) It has UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) functionality. So if plugged in power or solar goes offline the output power continues until the battery is exhausted.
  • Greg F
    Curious how they got 48Ah in a 10 pound device. LFP batteries are typically about 30 pounds per 100Ah capacity plus they have the rest of the SCC and inverter in there.

    Not really in the market for anything like this but it will be interesting to see how your testing goes.
  • Ray

    Once I get the review done, I plan to do what's in there video?
    Just don't want to ruin it before the review starts. haha
    Stay tuned!
  • Kim Anderson
    Nice looking small compact outfit. Can't wait for the review. Have you ever looked into a wind generator to supplement the solar on those windy days and nights when the sun doesn't shine or are they not very efficient for these types of setups.
  • Greg F
    I would be interested in seeing Ray do some sort of improved engine alternator charging. The small amount of charging that happens through the 7 pin wiring harness is negligible. A separate heavier gauge wire that connects the truck battery to the coach battery would mean arriving to camp with a full battery reducing the need to run a generator. This would be a bigger benefit for someone the moves more often than Ray.
  • Ray
    No, I haven't. I hardly see them other than on truck campers and small trailers. I don't think you get much power out of them for the hassle and I imagine they would be noisy or cause vibration in the RV.﻿
    I'd bet if they were worthwhile you'd see them on rigs all over the southwest. :)
  • Ray
    I've heard once you start increasing the charging amps you may be putting stress on the stock alternator. When I ordered the new truck I did up the alternator option from the standard 180 amp to a heavier duty 220 amp model just in case I wanted to do such a thing.
    I know some folks add a second alternator.
    Another thing I could do instead is run my gas generator n the back of the truck while underway, just plug it into the charging port I made. A likely easier way to go for my particular setup than rewiring the truck.
  • Wade Norton
    I’ve have two solar generators. Since installing 1400 watts of solar they never get used. Once we return to the PNW we may need them.

    We used the larger one for hair dryer, CPAP and a few other items. The smaller one we used on the power recliners so we could recline the chairs while Boondocking.
  • Ray
    Hey Wade what are the CPAP wattage and the solar gen battery capacity. I assume running a hair dryer it must be a pretty robust unit.
    How well did it work out? Trying to figure how many Amp Hours a typical CPAP uses in a night.
    I think that's an application a lot of people are interesting in with these devices.
  • Wade Norton
    Hello Ray,

    I forwarded you three attachments in emails. They will mean more to you than they do me. I was a HD diesel mechanic back in the day, but electrical stuff scares me. ;)

    The larger of our two solar generators is a Yeti 1000 lithium.

    Debi’s hairdryer is a small travel size one it only draws 800, about half of what most do.

    The CPAP was a different story. First off I purchased the 12 power supply cable I so I didn’t have the parasitic loss Converting the AC to DC.

    We found the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 would power the CPAP for well over a month without using the humidifier portion. If I turn on the humidifier portion I could go just over 8 days.

    It is SLOW to recharge with 120 plug or solar. It takes the better portion of a day to charge.

    I hope that helps.
  • Wade Norton
    PSS: funny thing, as your note came in I was rewatching some of your older videos.

    Keep it up! And thank you.
  • Ray
    Excellent, thanks, that gives me some good info to go on.
    The 1000 Yeti is about twice the battery capacity of this Lensun. Seems like the CPAP doesn't draw a huge amount of overall wattage, must cycle on an off quite a bit as needed not drawing its max rated wattage all the time.
  • Wade Norton
    Good I hope it helped. It never did pull much. But it was too much for a small 100 watt Sauki (sp) unit. ;)
  • Jim J
    Huge help, we will be boondocking quite a bit when my wife retires, I have been wondering what kind of power draw to expect. Thanks , guys!
  • Ray
    See full review blog post - https://www.loveyourrv.com/lensun-sg510-solar-generator-review/

    In this second video, I put the Lensun SG510 through various charging and powering tests and go over my likes and dislikes.

    Conclusion: I found the Lensun 510G solar generator to be an attractive, lightweight package with good power output and battery capacity.

    But, there were a couple of significant flaws. As with many of these solar generators, the recharge time is excessive at 8 to 10 hours. The product would be much more useful with a recharge time 2 or 3 times shorter.

    A big feature missing is the lack of a 12 volt DC charging port. I would have expected to see a plug for charging from a vehicle cigarette lighter style port. On long travels days, this would be most useful. Also, a lighter socket style 12VDC output cable would have been nice. I had to make my own for testing.

    Because of these two drawbacks, I have a hard time recommending the Lensun 510G to most RVers. People with smaller rigs, day trippers, picnickers or tenters with low power needs may get some benefit as it does pack a decent amount of capacity in a small light package. It also may be useful for home backup power.

    In short, it's not going to replace a conventional style gas generator for longer-term off-grid camping with a larger RV, like our 30-foot fifth wheel.
  • Greg F
    Was hoping for a better capacity test. To me 48AH seems like an incredible claim given the device weight. LFP batteries just aren't that light even without the inverter and packaging.

    The wide variance in battery percentage tells me that the unit is using voltage to measure SOC rather than a more sophisticated system like your trimetric . Lithium power curve is pretty flat and SOC is a poor way to measure capacity.

    If they have some sort of magic that could make such extreme energy density I'm sure the whole world would take interest.
  • Ray

    Maybe its got to do with the different lithium battery type, maybe these 18650 cell packs don't have a big charge/discharge rate but are lighter than say what people are using in RV off-grid systems.
    Looking at some RC LiPo car batteries, the weights seem comparable
    I see one that's 4.3AH 11.1V and weighs 326 grams including wire, plug, and case - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C96GFST
    Have 10 of those and its 43AH and 3260 grams or 7.18 lbs
  • Greg F
    You are probably right. Most common cell type for rv drop LFP is 26650. My own system uses prismatic cells. The 18650 is a cylindrical cell like the 26650. If the energy density is better I wonder what the trade-off is that it isn't used more commonly for larger applications. Tesla for example has used the 18650 since the company started. It looks like that are starting to play with 21700 cells now which claim to have higher energy density but possibly fewer life cycles and less stability/safety.

    I think your assumption that it could be related to charge/discharge rate may be correct although it looked like you were discharging at 1C or so on your heater test? That's pretty decent capability for an off grid application. I wonder if this battery could also take a 1C charge.

    I also wonder if there is a difference in cell stability and safety especially in higher charge and discharge uses. It looked like you got that inverter pretty hot. I wonder what the battery temp was.
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