Wagan EL2546 Solar e Cube 1500

After extensive research, I purchased my Wagan eCube 1500 on Amazon and put it through some testing.Here are my conclusions:Pros:1) The unit IS very competitively priced.The two primary considerations for a "solar generator" are how many WATTS of solar power does it generate, and how many Amp-Hours of battery storage does it store. This unit is 80W/55Ah. I found products that had MORE and cost MORE and products that had LESS and cost LESS. I did not find any product that had more and cost less.2) The specifications are accurateThe specifications are written pretty much exactly like all of the competitors specifications. Watts, Amp-hours, inverter watts, etc. I saw a review that implied the specifications were deceptive or difficult to understand - not true.3) The unit comes in a very slick and portable enclosure.You might save some money if you went out and bought separate solar panel(s), battery, charge controller, high-power inverter, various plugs/switches/connectors, and a portable enclosure. However, that would take some time, technical expertise, and in the end it would not look as slick or be as portable. I can't imagine that would be worth it for too many people.4) Expandable: Allows an additional solar panel and battery.I plan to add an external panelCons:1) My unit came missing one of the (many) screws in the cover. Not a big deal (it's redundant) but annoying.2) I sent a few emails with questions I had to technical support with no response. Finally, I called and got a live person that was very helpful.3) You can AIM the solar panels, but it's clumsy.If you want a little faster charge, you can simply tilt the entire unit towards the sun. I did this and it works fine, but is clumsy. You do this by wedging a block of wood, stick, or something under a corner.My Application:I bought this unit to provide AC power in the event of an emergency situation, or for camping or bugging-out. I like solar generators compared to gas-powered generators, because they obviously don't require gas, and don't make noise.This unit has a monster inverter (1500+ watts) - capable of operating any plug-in device all the way up to a hair dryer or microwave. Of course, a hairdryer would run down the battery in less than 10 minutes - not a great use of backup power.I see my primary application being to operate radios, TVs, computers, cell-phones, battery chargers, and perhaps some low-wattage lighting. For these types of devices, you can get many hours of use.The unit could take up to 2-3 days to fully charge the battery via solar alone (note: you can also charge it via AC or car battery). If you were using the unit every day to it's full capacity, with only solar power, you might never get more than 1/2 to 1/3 of it's full battery charge capacity - which just means less run-time for whatever you have plugged into this. That's pretty much how all solar generators work. You would need 1000's of watts of solar power to really operate a home and all of your electrical goodies. Anything less than 1000's of watts is really just for less demanding backup applications - and these all come down to how many WATTS and Amp-Hours the solar generator provides.I'm planning on adding a 150W solar panel (about $300 on Amazon) on my roof and leaving that connected to the eCube 1500, while it's stored in my storage closet, with it's built-in panels closed. This will keep the unit permanently charged and ready to go. That way, if I lose power, I can still have backup power continuously in the home for my small appliances, and I can still unplug the roof panel and take the eCube (including it's own built-in panels) with me if I leave the home. Because the external panel is about 2x the wattage of the built-in panels, it will charge the unit's battery in about 1/2 the time.Personally, I feel pretty well prepared for any sort of short-term or long-term power outage with this little unit. It's not as nice as having a $25,000+ solar plant, but it's just about perfect for having some back-up power when and where you need it.

The cube itself is sturdy, but the wheels and handle are very cheap and break under the 100 pound huge awkward cube. This product seems good in theory, but I wouldn't know considering the one I bought was charged 3 times and did not hold a charge longer than a couple days. I returned it. Annoying waist of money.

I purchased the eCube thru Amazon in Feb., though I had to wait until winter had loosened its grip on Ohio to run a test (mid March) . I also purchased a 70w Renogy panel (about $ 100) bringing the potential solar input up to its 150w maximum. The first sunny day I set it up in my backyard from about 11am till about 3:30 pm, during which the yard was clear of shadows. A power strip on a Kill-a-watt meter was hooked up to four appliances: A 32" Samsung LED TV (40 w) a CFL bulbed torchiere lamp (15 w) my son's old dorm fridge (600w(!) for a few seconds on startup, then 80w on about a 30% duty cycle for an average load of 30w) and a slow cook crock pot full of stew on low (125w) . During the trial the TV and light were switched on and off, and the fridge of course cycled on and off-- everything ran like a top. I check the current put out by the Renogy with a clamp on DC ammeter and it read about 4 amps, so solar replenishment was about best case. During trial toward the end I hooked up the Wagan AC charger to an inverter on one of my hybrid auto' s power points to see if it would work concurrently with the solar input ( it did). At the test' s conclusion the Kill-A-watt meter registered upwards of 600 watt hours had been supplied by the Wagan unit. The Wagan' s LED battery voltage reading was12.3 VDC. Independent measurement with a Schumacher battery charger indicated 52% charge. It was fully charged via the AC charger 8 hours later.I wouldn't take these numbers as gospel but they are a good indicator of what the unit can do by way of providing food , light refrigeration & entertainment in the event of an outage. If there's no sun the Wagan AC charger (75 w continuous input) could be run out of my hybrid car, which runs the engine about 2 minutes out of 20-25). I'd like to think this unit would run a sump pump or furnace blower for a few hours, but I'll leave those tests for another day.

Have been using this unit on camping, running tools on my property, for back up, etc.. It is well built and does the job.

It worked when I test it 3 years ago test it 7 months it worked. Tested it today and it will not work don't waste your money on this

Just received my solar cube and the unit itself seems very nice. Unfortunately it arrived with the top housing cracked. Customer service offered a new top housing which would require taking the top of the unit apart and putting it back together again-- but said the location of the crack should not effect (sic) the device operating. So since I don't want to remove 15 screws, disconnect the solar panels, change the housing, reinstall the solar panels and screw down the 15 screws again, I guess I'll have a cracked case. :(

I bought mine from Wegan, but thought I should comment, here. I had it plugged in for a very long time. then, when I tried to use it, it was dead. I replugged it in after a few days. It charged up, but died right away. I wish it had a litnium ion battery, as I have lots of them and they are always plugged in and work when I need them. I called Wegan and she said they would put in a new battery, if I sent it back to them! I am going to take it to a battery store to see if they can put in a new battery. I don't want to take this apart because I know I will really mess it up. I love the way the solar panels can be tilted according to the position of the sun.. I guess I should try it before I really have to....advice to all for that.