A portable solar generator with you will allow you to have all of the amenities that come with living in civilization. One of these amenities is having hot food and toast from time to time. Even without access to electricity, a solar generator can turn your home into a self-sufficient, off-grid living situation.
So what solar generator can run a toaster?
To run a 900-Watt Toaster you’ll need a 1,000-Watt Solar Generator. This Solar Generator will run the Toaster for 30 minutes. With the addition of a 1,000W solar panel, you can the Toaster for up to 2 hours.
In this article, we take you through how to size a solar generator for a toaster and what else you can run off the solar generator
What Size Solar Generator to Power a 900-Watt Toaster
In order to match a solar generator to an appliance you need the power rating of the appliance. A typical household toaster is rated at around 900 watts. A solar generator uses an inverter to run the toaster. You will need an inverter rating that is higher than the toaster. So for a 900-watt toaster, you’ll need a 1000-watt solar generator.
While the inverter rating determines if the solar generator can run the toaster the watt-hour rating of the solar generator will determine how long you can run the toaster.
How Long Will a 1000-Watt Solar Generator Run a 900-Watt Toaster?
When you are determining how much energy a device uses, you must consider the amount of time that it will be used. The amount of power used depends on how long it takes for your toast to brown completely. Some people like their toast well-done and others prefer it barely toasted with just a hint of browning on the surface (or even raw). Both types will take longer for the appliance to do its job than if your bread is ready-to-eat right out of the bag or box without being cut into individual slices first.
A Watt-hour is a product of multiplying a device’s wattage by its run time in hours. To calculate Watt-Hours you multiply the Wattage of the device or appliance and multiply by the number of hours you use the device.
Watt-Hours = Watts X Hours
If you use your toaster for 15 minutes, you will need 225 Wh of energy.
You’ll just need two minutes
A 1000-watt solar generator will have a 24v 50Ah battery. With a lithium-ion battery, you can pull 100% of the battery’s capacity in an hour. However, most solar generators will set a max at around 80% of the capacity. This means you can operate at a max of 50 amps at a voltage of around 21V. This means the solar generator can only provide a maximum of 1000 watts per hour or 1000 Watt-hours.
Since our requirement to run the toaster is 225Wh the solar generator will run the toaster for times over or for an hour.
To calculate the running time of a toaster, you can use the following formula:
Running Time = Solar Generator Watt-hours/operating power of the device
For example to get the running time for a 900-watt toaster
= (1000*0.85)/900
= 0.94 hrs
1000 Watt-hours has enough capacity to run the toaster for around 56 minutes.
A toaster needs around 2 minutes to toast your bread so a 1000-watt solar generator has enough capacity to run it many times over.
How Long Will the Solar Generator Last with a Solar Panel
A 50Ah 24V battery will need 12.5 amps DC to charge. A 300-Watt Solar Panel can provide 12.5 amps to charge a fully depleted battery in around 4 hours. This will depend on the time of day, and availability of sunlight. 4 hours is enough to produce 1000Wh but because of efficiency losses and overcast, this will probably reach 5 hours.
With an additional 300 Watts available we can estimate how long the toaster will last;
(300*0.85)/900 = 0.28 hrs
With the 300-watt solar panel, you can run the toaster for an additional 17 minutes.
Alternatively with a 300-watt solar panel working you can run the solar generator without depleting any of its capacity relying on only power from the solar panel and running your toaster.
Final Words
In conclusion, a solar generator can provide the necessary power to run a toaster, as long as the generator is appropriately sized and has enough watt-hours to support the toaster’s operating power for the desired amount of time. With a solar generator and panel, you can enjoy the convenience of hot, toasted bread even in off-grid living situations, making your home self-sufficient and sustainable.