What is battery power station
The battery power station is actually called an outdoor mobile power supply, which is equivalent to a portable charging station. The main feature is the configuration of various types of output ports:

USB, TypeC, can charge general digital devices.
The car charger interface can charge the car battery or supply power to other in-vehicle devices.
It supports 220V AC output, which is equivalent to using mains power at home.

What is the difference between battery power station and power bank?

1. Output power

At present, the mobile phone charging treasures on the market have a relatively large output power of 22.5W. The power bank for laptops can reach 45-50W.

The battery power station starts at 200W, most brands are above 500W, and the maximum can be above 2000W. High power means that high-power electrical appliances can be used.

2. Capacity

Before comparing the capacity, I have to introduce the unit to you.
The unit of the power bank is mAh (milliamp-hour), which is generally referred to as mAh.
The unit of battery power station is Wh (watt hour).

Why is there such a difference?

1. Because the output voltage of the power bank is relatively small, the output voltage of the mobile phone power bank is 3.6V, which is the same as the working voltage of the mobile phone.

It is also because of the voltage problem. If you want to use the power bank to charge the notebook computer (working voltage 19V), you have to buy a special notebook computer.

2. The unit of Wh actually refers to power consumption or capacity, which you may not have seen. But when I say this, everyone gets a bit of an impression:

1000Wh = 1kWh = 1 kWh.

The conversion formula of these 2 units: W (work, unit Wh) = U (voltage, unit V) * Q (charge, unit Ah)

Therefore, a 20000mAh mobile phone power bank has a capacity of 3.6V * 20Ah = 72Wh.

Generally, the battery power station capacity is at least 300Wh. This is the capacity gap.

For example: (without considering the loss)

The working voltage of the mobile phone battery is 3.6V, and the charge is 4000mAh, then the capacity of the mobile phone battery = 3.6V * 4Ah = 14.4Wh.

If a 20000mAh power bank can charge this phone, it can be charged 72/14.4 ≈ 5 times.

A 300Wh battery power station can be charged 300 /14.4 ≈ 20 times.

What can battery power station do?
When you need electricity outdoors, battery power station can help you. for example,

1. Set up outdoor stalls to supply power to the light bulbs.

2. For outdoor camping and self-driving tours, there are many places to use electricity. If you want to use electricity, battery power station can do it.
Use a projector
Boil hot water, cook with rice cooker
Charging of digital devices (drones, mobile phones, computers)
Use a car refrigerator

3. If it is an RV, the battery power station can be regarded as a must-have item when it is outdoors for a long time.

4. Mobile office, when there is no place to charge, you can ensure that the computer or mobile phone can worry about the problem of electricity consumption for a long time, which is much stronger than the battery life of the power bank.

5. For friends who are fishing in the wild, the battery power station can charge the fishing lights in the wild, or use them directly as fishing lights.

6. For photography friends, the more practical scenarios of battery power station are:

Instead of carrying a lot of batteries, it can be used to power the camera light.
Or use it as an LED light for fill light.

7. When working outdoors, battery power station is also a must for high-power equipment.

8. Emergency backup.

It is not only necessary to use the battery power station outdoors. The battery power station can be used as an emergency light when there is a power outage at home.

For example, in the various natural disasters that occurred this year, the importance of battery power stations is reflected when the power outage in the community has not come for a long time. Boil hot water, charge your phone, etc.

What should I pay attention to when purchasing a battery power station? (emphasis)
1. What is the wattage for?
Every electrical device has power usage. If the power of the battery is not up to that, it cannot be carried.

2. The difference between mAh and Wh.
Although it has been briefly introduced above, this is the most misleading point, so let me explain.

To sum up in one sentence: When you only look at mAh, you can't know what the real capacity is, because the power of electrical appliances is not the same.

mAh (milliamps) is a unit of electricity that represents the amount of charge, Q, that a battery can hold or discharge.

The common one is: we will say the capacity of the mobile phone battery or power bank, how many mAh.

Wh is a unit of power consumption and represents the work that the battery can do.

Wh is read as watt-hour, and 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) = 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity.
Conversion between Wh and mAh: Wh*1000/Voltage = mAh.

Therefore, the mAh marked by most battery power station merchants is converted by the voltage of the mobile phone 3.6V, which shows a large capacity.
For example: 600Wh, which can be converted to 600 * 1000/3.6 = 166666mAh.

To summarize a bit:

The battery power station with low power (below 300W) depends more on mAh, because what is more concerned about is: how many times the electric device can be charged.

For a battery power station with a relatively large power (above 500W), it depends more on the Wh, because it can better calculate the power supply time for high-power electrical equipment.

For example, a 500W rice cooker + a battery power station with a capacity of 600Wh can directly calculate the usable time: 600 / 500 = 1.2 hours. If it is expressed in mAh, it is more difficult to calculate.

If you are still unsure, you can swipe to the end of the article. I summarize some electrical equipment, its charging times or power supply time comparison chart.

3. Charging method
Mains (charging at home)
car charging
Solar panel charging (outdoor)
If you stay outdoors for a long time, or if you are outdoors for a long time like a RV, solar panels are still necessary.

When buying a battery power station, different brands will have a set combination: battery power station + solar panel (the price will increase).

4. Extensibility
2 battery power stations are connected in parallel to increase power.
A battery power station+1~2 power packs.
The power pack can only be used as a battery, used together with the battery power station, and has much less functions than the battery power station.

the output waveform
Only pure sine waves will not damage electrical appliances, especially digital devices, so pay attention when purchasing.

The ones I listed below are pure sine waves, except for the little capable people.

5. Model recommendation
1. Below 300W
2. 600W
3. 1000W-1400W
4. 1500W-2000W
Here are a few points:

1. The battery power station below 300W has limited usage scenarios because of its low power.

Emergency lighting
Outdoor stalls
digital device charging
Because it is more about the capacity, when comparing the figure below, the capacity is not displayed in Wh, but in mAh.

2. For battery power stations above 600W, the sorting method I recommend:

First in ascending order of maximum power and battery capacity
Then in ascending order by price.
Why not consider price first?
The reason is very simple, you have to first ensure that the maximum power and capacity are enough for you, before you can consider the price.
And the design of the general battery power station, the capacity is also increased with the power.

3. Some parameter descriptions:

peak power. Some electrical appliances, such as air pumps or flashlights, will have instantaneous power, that is, the power will be very large in an instant.
Others I didn't explain clearly, be sure to leave a message, I will answer carefully.