Jackery Solar Generator Explorer 1000

Okay, I will start out by saying I am a U.S Service-member with over twenty years of Honorable service. With that being said I’ve done multiple tours to almost every desert in the Middle East, tours in tropical environments, tours in some pretty secluded off grid undisclosed locations. I only put this out there because I’ve had the pleasure of being a Jackery customer for years and years and the Jackery 240 portable power station, , the Jackery Solar Saga 60w tri-fold panels, and the small Jackery portable chargers were compact and lightweight enough to fit into my pack with ease and leave me room for the other essentials. Imagine being in the middle of nowhere and have a weeks worth of power at your fingertips for recharges, lights, portable fans, small burner for coffee and cooking. Then being able to say it never failed you, always recharged quickly, and has been through the worlds harshest conditions and environments, yet functions like the day you pulled it out of the box. So this began my Jackery passion. Which led me to purchase the Jackery 500. Everything I’ve said above applies to the 500 ten fold folks. Being Military my pay isn’t great so I’ve had to accumulate these items over the course of years, however never have I had to justify spending the money to my wife, as long as I said the word Jackery. Because she’s used the items as well here at home guard. My son plays Football and daughter plays soccer in the Nevada desert just miles away from where the annual Burning Man event is held. Hot dry desert climate, no trees for shade, just direct unrelenting heat. This genius woman, the love of my life used our Jackery Portable power stations to run dual fans, and a small refrigerated trucker cooler during daytime practices in a pop up sunshade tent, all neatly placed in one of those little soccer mom wheeled totes, and a folding low loveseat chair. Talk about super mom, with lots of friends who also wanted to stay cool. Then when night fell and the kids weren’t finished with practice, my lovely wife handed over the Jackery 500 to the coaches who then plugged LED lights into it and lit up the field for the kids giving us an extra hour or two to practice without the heat. This convinced her to give me permission to buy the SolarSaga 100w panels. Money was tight but she gave me the go ahead and we’ve never looked back and haven’t got an ounce of regret or buyers remorse for a single product. But this review is neither for the the Jackery 240, the Jackery 500, the SolarSaga 100w or 60w panels. It’s not even for the Jackery portable chargers. This review is to let you know, the day the Jackery 1000w Portable Power Station became available we did not hesitate for a second to buy it. With the stories we heard from friends about California and Washington power outages, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and any one of the many RV trips we take into Gods country to get away from it all for a few weeks, we both agreed this was the best thing for our family. Why use heavy loud generators, carry fuel, deal with all that monotonous nonsense, when you could literally live off the Jackery Families products. I say Family because over the years I’ve had multiple email contacts and numerous phone calls with them, and every interaction was amazing. Courteous, professional, and the products are literally second to none. The Jackery 1000 is my newest addition and there’s nothing I can say about it that the 240 or 500 don’t already represent. Twice the power, twice the life, multiple solar panel options, can recharge through car, wall, or good ol sunshine. I could get technical and go down the path as some of these reviewers do, but you anyone can read the box. I can sum everything the box says by just telling you that these products, put out by this amazing company, can enhance anyone’s life, save somebodies life, and will probably last your the rest of yours. It’s a no brainer for us. I’ve purchased every product so far with a smile knowing its perfect and the people handing it to me care enough to treat you as if you were family.

I was in the market for a generator and after reading all the reviews and watching videos explaining how great their products are, I decided to make the purchase on a Jackery 1000 generator. I was looking for a way to camp in desolate areas where there was no electric available. I have a camper van set up and I needed a way to charge my devices, have light and be able to keep my fridge/freezer running. In my head I had imagined the perfect set up and having a Jackery was the only way it would work, meaning a gas-powered generator wouldn’t work with the set up I had in mind. I’ve been on a couple trips now and I believe I have my system down pat and it works great. I wanted to keep my van as versatile as possible so by buying the Jackery 1000 I eliminated the confusion and extra money it would take to put a deep cell battery system in, which would be permanently fixed in my van. With the Jackery 1000 being portable and so light weight, if I don’t need it and I need space in my van then I simply take it out – not like it takes up a lot of room, it’s small for how much power it puts out. When I need power, I simply put it back in and I don’t have to worry about running wires, or fuses, or converters. It so simply to use and it’s basically just plug and play. I keep it behind my driver’s seat, so it reaches the 12V plug I have in the front of the van, I place my fridge/freezer next to it and plug it right in. Here’s the cool part, when I’m driving, I have the Jackery plugged in the van, so it is charging, but it also has pass through charging, which mean I can run the fridge through it at the same time! So, when I’m driving the Jackery 1000 is charging, yet the fridge/freezer can continue to run. If I have to stop for lunch or I want to get a quick hike in I don’t have to worry about the fridge because when I turn the van off the 1000 switches right over to provide it power – then when I’m back in the van, I start it up and the charging cycle starts again. It’s literally so easy and such a great way to not have to worry about your food getting warm. The great part about having the unit behind my driver seat is that when I reach my destination, I simply crack my driver’s window and run the wires to the solar panels and place them on the roof of my van. It’s all so simple and it’s such a great set up for what I need it to do. Do not hesitate, their products are top notch quality!

I have been the last few years a very happy Goal Zero customer (bought numerous Goal Zero products in the last few years) with the Yeti (lithium) 400 Power Station (retail $599) being my favorite purchase from Goal Zero due to its lightweight (16.3 lbs) and offering a reliable 400 Watts (for the AC inverter there's a guaranteed 300 Watts continuous). However I have found that during power outages and for other uses it just wasn't powerful enough for me. I have been mulling over the purchase of a Goal Zero Yeti (lithium) 1000 for $1,199.95 the last 2 years since it has an AC inverter with 1500 Watt capability) however it's bulky size and heavy 40 lbs make it extremely difficult for me to handle since I have a bad case of Lyme disease. It was the need for a more powerful unit with the capability of a continuous 1000 Watts for the AC inverter which was also lightweight that led me to the looking Jackery Explorer 1000 Power Station (it's only 22 lbs). I watched some user reviews of the Explorer 1000 on YouTube a few weeks ago before the March 17, 2020 release date, and I was impressed so I signed up on Jackery's website to be notified via email when it was officially released and ready for purchase. When the March 17 release date arrived, I decided against purchasing the unit since it can wait until Summer since I really won't need it until the bad summer thunder storms hit my area which cause power outages. However to my surprise Jackery emailed me a $200 off code on March 18, 2020 for what they called #JackeryExplorerDay . This was the incentive I needed, so I purchased on Amazon the Explorer 1000 for $799.99 ($999.99 with $200 off coupon code applied) on March 18, 2020. The Explorer 1000 arrived on March 25, 2020 and I immediately put it through the paces charging a 15-inch Macbook Pro laptop and other items, it worked flawlessly. I also put Jackery's 1000 Watt claim to the test by plugging in my 1000 Watt rated trusty space heater into the AC Inverter and ran it for a couple of hours with no issues until the Explorer's batteries were drained. With this heavy load the Explorer 1000's internal fan was running continuously (to keep the Explorer 1000s internals cool) but the Explorer's fan is fairly quiet and I had no problems watching TV while it was running. The internal fan does it's job well even after running over an hour continuously at 1000 Watts, the exterior case was the same temperature it normally is when it's not in use (this really impressed me). While I charged the Macbook Pro from 0% to 100%, the internal fan only came on briefly twice during the charge that lasted a little over an hour. One small item that I noticed is that when using the provided wall power supply to charge the Explorer and when the Explorer has been changing for an hour or two you can feel very slight warmth around the 8mm power input area where the wall power supply plugs into. Nothing to be alarmed at since it's less than the normal warmth that is felt when touching a laptop power supply after a laptop has been charging for a while. I wasn't able to test the solar power charging capabilities of the Explorer 1000 yet since I haven't yet received my Goal Zero (8mm to Anderson connector) adapter kit (which I have on order) for my Goal Zero Boulder 100 Solar Panel Briefcase (100 Watts). This kit will allow me to charge the Explorer 1000 with my Boulder 100 Solar Panel Briefcase. I also received an email from Jackery that their SolarSaga 100 Watt Solar Panel ($299.99) is out of stock and that they will send an $100 off code for "2 x SolarSaga 100W solar panels" when they are back in stock (which I assume you must purchase 2 100 Watt solar panels to get the discount). I am interested since my Goal Zero Boulder 100 Solar Panel Briefcase weighs 25.9 lbs, and 1 SolarSaga 100W (with the same power) only weights 9 lbs. Pros and Cons of Jackery Explorer 1000 Pros: - Lightweight - Cool running temperature - Inexpensive price compared to competitors - Provides up to a genuine 1000 Watts of continuous power - The flashlight type light on the side of the unit is great feature especially when the power is out or when camping - Plenty of different output connectors - Uses the industry standard Anderson connector for solar panels, this allows you to use just about any solar panel that use Anderson connectors with the Explorer 1000. - It has a cover for the 12 volt output, Goal Zero doesn't provide one on any of it's Yeti models with 12V output. - Well made, the exterior construction is solid and not flimsy. - Easy to read display screen the provides both real time input watts and real time output watts. Cons: - The solid fixed top handle is not the best design, you can't put items (on top of the Explorer 1000) you are powering such as iPad, laptop, a portable lamp on top of the unit. The Goal Zero Yetis have handles that are either flush with the top or are retractable so that they are flush with the top. Because of this some of the Goal Zero Yetis can be stacked on top of each other for better storage or to take less counter space. Explorer 1000s can't be stacked on top of each other due to the fixed handle. - display screen won't stay lit for more than a minute or two and then it goes back to dark and the display screen button has to be pressed again. The Goal Zero Yeti units will allow you to keep the display screen lit continuously. Conclusion: I had high expectations for the Explorer 1000. After using it and testing it for a day it far exceeded my expectations. Of course I can't really give a full accurate review because I'll need to use it on a regular basis for the next few years and see how the unit holds up. My Yeti 400 has stood the test of time, I have used it regularly for the last few years, it still charges to 100% and works flawlessly every time I need it. As mentioned previously I would have purchased a Yeti 1000 had it not been for the bulky size and heavy 40 lbs. The Explorer's light weight, great features, and capabilities have me so very pleased with this purchase. And thank you Jackery, for the $200 coupon code that you sent me. I look forward to purchasing more Jackery products in the future. Which leads me to one request for Jackery, I can see a need in the future for a lightweight 1500 watt Explorer unit, please release a lightweight Explorer 1500 that weighs less than 30 lbs.

Purchased this to use in our cabin in the woods that has no power. Eventually we will install solar panels on the roof, but in the mean time I just charge the Jackery at home and take it with me. It is not too heavy, I can carry it by its handle with no difficulty. At full charge I can run our internet satellite dish (for internet and phone service; there is no cell service) for about 10 hours, and also charge my phone, Apple watch, and iPad, before the charge level is down to 20%. The directions recommend recharging the battery once the charge is at 20% or lower. There are several USB and USB-c charging ports, as well as 3 3-prong outlets. In our late summer, Northern latitude (Northern Vermont) location the 2 100-W solar panels produces up to about 125-135 watts in full sun (I'm sure it would be higher in locations with stronger sun). This recharges the battery in 7-8 hours. I usually just partially recharge the battery once or twice during the days I'm at the cabin when it is sunny, to make it last at least several hours each day during the long weekend that I'm there. Then I take it back home and fully recharge it to be ready for the next trip to the cabin. If I wanted to move the solar panels so they are in the bright sun all day, I wouldn't need to charge it at home. Aside from charging it using home electricity or the two solar panels, there are also cords to allow recharging using a cigarette-lighter type plug in your vehicle. You can also recharge it off of a generator, which we have done on longer trips if there isn't enough sun. I gave it only 4 stars for noise because it has a cooling fan that runs intermittently when in use; in the absolute silence of our cabin, that noise is more than I would like, but really is not bad, maybe as loud as a refrigerator, and MUCH quieter than a generator (which would be our other option). Overall, I am very glad I purchased this; it makes being at the cabin that much more enjoyable knowing that I have enough electric power to keep my electronics powered up, and run our internet satellite dish whenever I need it, all without the noise of a generator.

I've had the Jackery Explorer 1000 for just over a week now. When I first received it, the charge was at 43%. I plugged it in and it charged at a rate of about 144 watts. Took about 5 hours to fully charge it to 100%. -- Microwave Test: First device I tried it out on was my very ancient 0.8 cubic foot microwave. I'm not sure of rated wattage, I'm guessing 800W. It ran on high for 10 minutes straight no problem. The average draw was around 1,040 watts. Keep in mind that actual wattage drawn is normally higher than the rated wattage for microwaves. I ran the microwave for a total of 20 minutes on high. It used up about 35% of the total battery capacity of the Jackery Explorer 1000. -- Full size Kenmore Fridge Test: My fridge is an 8 year old, 19.7 cubic foot, Kenmore fridge with bottom freezer. I just put the Jackery Explorer 1000 on top of my fridge and plugged it in. I just used some books under the Jackery to tilt it just enough to clearly see the display (I'm only 5' 6" tall). I had estimated by calculation that it should last around 17 hours of effective run-time. Upon start up my Kenmore fridge pulled about 600 - 700 watts for a few seconds. Once running the fridge averaged about 120 watts. Keep in mind that fridges tend to only run about 1/3 of the time. I used a "Kill-A-Watt" meter ($34 on Amazon) to verify wattage and total watt hours (Wh) used. In the end the Jackery Explorer 1000 ran my full size Kenmore for 16 hours, 10 minutes. That was within an hour of my original run-time estimate of 17 hours! For reference the ambient room temp was 70 degrees F, and the internal fridge temp was 37 degrees F. The total amount of energy put out by the Jackery Explorer 1000 was 830 Wh. That is basically an inverter efficiency of 83%. That's not bad considering that when the fridge is cycled off, the inverter still draws power. All in all I was very happy with the real world run-time of over 16 hours. That will be very useful in a power outage; very common here in Napa County. -- 40 inch Sony LCD TV & cable box Test: I have an ancient Sony XBR 40 inch LCD TV. I found out that it uses 175 watts, and my cable box uses just 20 watts. Keep in mind that most newer LED TV's would only use about 1/2 that wattage. Anyway I ran the TV and cable box for a full 4 hours, 40 minutes, before the Jackery ran out of juice. I think that a newer 40 inch LED TV would run for at least 8 hours or so. What surprised me is how efficient the Jackery's AC inverter was on this test. The Jackery put out a total of 900 Wh (watt hours) of energy (according to my "Kill-A-Watt" meter). This represents a 90% inverter efficiency. I was expecting closer to 85% efficiency. -- Overall Impressions: When I first got the Jackery Explorer 1000, it look really big. Especially compared to my much smaller Honda/Jackery Explorer 290 (discontinued). Fortunately with the nice sturdy handle, the 22 lbs does not feel like that much. I think what I like most about the Jackery Explorer 1000 is the simple and straightforward display. Watts in / Watts out / Battery %. I also like the fact that the 12V (10 amp) cigarette lighter outlet is regulated at 13.3 volts. Your voltage is the same whether you're at 100% charge, or 2% charge. That is very important for running 12V fridges and CPAP's. I can think of 3 things to improve the Jackery Explorer 1000: #1 Upgrade the USB-C port to 60 watts, instead of just 18 watts. This would be very useful for people with USB-C laptops. Plugging in a laptop wall charger to a Jackery AC inverter outlet is not very efficient. #2 Have a customer replaceable lithium ion battery pack. They could design the unit with a detachable battery pack on the bottom. This would make even more sense when they come out with larger units in the future. A bigger and heavier unit could be split into 2 modules for easier transport. #3 Have an option to keep the display light on longer than 15 seconds. All in all I'm very happy with my Jackery Explorer 1000. In the future I plan to try it out on more devices, and update this review. I'm looking forward to next year when they come out with a Jackery Explorer 1500, or larger model. Hope all this is helpful. :)

UPDATED June 14, 2021 Jackery customer service got back to me and allowed me to return the 1000 and use that amount towards a 1500. The 1500 powers appliances I already own which is what I would expect from a product that bills itself as "Emergency Backup Power". The 1000 is great if you are doing a custom build-out on a camper and purchasing appliances that are smaller than standard household. Jackery products are great, they hold their charge FOREVER and charge up quick when plugged into a wall. I haven't purchased any solar panels yet. I'm giving the 1000 4 starts because it isn't properly marketed. This is NOT an emergency backup power source, if you want that, go with the Jackery 1500. Thanks Jackery for making things right. UPDATED May 25, 2021 ***JACKERY Doesn’t power as many things as you think. Also their customer service is inconsistent.*** Hey Jackery: you say I can use this as an emergency backup power source, so I made the layperson’s assumption that it’s designed to power the things in a normal household. UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Jackery probably doesn’t power any standard kitchen appliance you already own. So what’s the point for using it for an emergency backup? You see all these pictures and reviews of people using Electric kettles, instant pots, blenders, but none of my existing appliances (NONE!) have the right voltage for a Jackery (110) as they are all 120. Then I go and get a 110 kettle and the WATTAGE is too high (it's 1500 and the Jackery 1000 only powers up to 1000). It's like you have to be an electrical engineer to figure out what will work, which seems like a serious design flaw. Do I have to match volts, amps, and watts item by item? NO I SHOULDN'T. Jackery should have designed a machine that works with the standards already established for most kitchen appliances. I discovered this issue because we are renovating our kitchen. I thought, “No problem, I’ll hook my instant pot, electric kettle, Vitamix, toaster oven up to the jackery and cook outside.” But guess what, the Jackery >>>CAN'T POWER A SINGLE ONE<<<< of these items. The JACKERY is great for small things. It powers our phones, laptop, headlamps, walkie talkies while on camping trips like an ace. But an emergency backup??? Hell no. And then try and get Jackery customer service to call you back (their voicemail line hung up on me 5 times after the robo greeting) or explain to you what you can actually charge via email, and it’s crickets. I’m super disappointed. Shelled out one-grand $1,000 (I actually paid for my product) expecting a battery that would work for camping AND emergencies only to find out I bought a glorified power bank for my cell phone and laptop. ——— ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM FEBRUARY 2021 We've had the Jackery for about four months now and use it mostly for camping. The best thing about it is that a lot of campsites have noise regulations that don't allow you to run a gas generator at night, however, since the Jackery is silent, we can have lights on all night long. I also love how light the Jackery is, if you want to hike with it, you could. It would be a bit of a workout, but it's lighter than our other green generator (named after the abominable snowman if you get my meaning.) Not only is the green generator heavy, it doesn't hold its charge as well as the Jackery, which is why the Jackery is the one that travels with us in our camper van. Last thing, we recently were told there might be rolling black-outs where we live, because of high wind advisories. It's so nice knowing that if we had to, we could keep our computers and fridge going with our Jackery. LOVE IT and love that I don't have to keep it plugged in all the time to know it's got a full charge.

Glad I purchased the Explorer 1000 Power Station coupled with the Jackery 100w solar panel SolarSaga. I use it for my 27’ boat due to how quiet the unit is during operation. It powers my mini fridge with no problem and gets enough juice from the sun with a single solar panel. I plan on purchasing another SolarSaga 100w to charge a bit faster. However, one so far one has done the job with the amount of output power I use. I was gifted an off brand 100w solar panel for Christmas and it did not perform nearly as well as the SolarSaga. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra $ on a SolarSaga. We often use the Explorer Power Station to charge our phones, run the mini fridge, and power my led light strips all throughout the boat. When I have the SolarSaga plugged in while powering my mini fridge, it drains the battery much slower and if the sun is strong enough, sometimes it continues to charge or stays consistent. The portability is extremely convenient. When I don’t feel like using the big boat, I hop on my dinghy or go pier fishing and take the jackery with me. The size of the unit and grab handle make it easy. I plug my light under DC power and plug in my radio into AC. Runs for hours. When it gets too cold it will even power a mini heater with no problem. Of course the more output power you use, the faster it will drain. Although, I’m very impressed with how long the Explorer Power Station lasts despite having multiple things plugged into it. I’m excited to take it camping and love the piece of mind that if there was ever a black out or some sort of reason we lose power and find ourselves off the grid, I will still have portable power.

LOVE it....I have used battery pack power stations for nine years now, for power outages, which are frequent where I live. Most of them at most have a 500W inverter, which is great for lights and small appliances, but I wanted one for heavier duty use. For cooking for example. I initially ordered the EcoFlow Delta, which has a lot of good points and an 1800W inverter, and Jackery is 1000. I returned the EcoFlow because the solar/car charging port was broken. If needed in a power out, it is not good if they share a port, because if one breaks, both are useless. Mine would not car OR solar charge. It was also very heavy, though a very good machine...but I decided to get a Jackery1000 instead, due to the weight, and decided I really didn't need a microwave... or I could get a lower watt one. Well I was in for a surprise, I plugged in my microwave, needed to run it four minutes on full power. Heated about 6 cups of a stew. The inverter ranged between 1140 and 1212. The Microwave is a 900W one allegedly but they all draw more power than listed, don't know why but they do. It was mostly at 1170-1180, and hit over 1200 for split seconds about three or four times near the end. So it is not supposed to work, but does. It did go from full to 90% But that is fine. It also has run my Keuric, electric water boiler pot, rice cooker, even...this was great, I have a 750 watt one burner electric hot plate. So you can cook on that when the stove doesn't work. You can plug the fridge in too. I would not run it constantly, but in the past I have topped the fridge/freezer off three times a day for maybe 40 minutes.... and can do this for the duration of the outage, and the food stays frozen. The frezzer may not be a zero degrees as it ought to be, but even at 20 degrees nothing is spoiling. I have the solar panels arriving soon, the two Jackery 100s that can be linked together. I have used solar for years with my other power packs, but will need more panels to be running them all. Really love this machine! ******************************************************************** A PS...... I received the panels.... and unbelieveable in good sun, one actually kicked in 100W, that is in NJ, not the desert! Impressed. And Two work better, and charges quickly even in moderate sun! Best panels I ever used!