Solar, battery & generator gear

Plugs in between the wall and a 120 V appliance and shows real watts and kWh over a day — the honest way to fill in a load list, especially for fridges that cycle on and off.

Sits between a 12 V device and its supply and shows watts, amps and watt-hours used — handy for measuring a 12 V fridge, Starlink Mini or fan.

Clamps around one cable to read DC amps without breaking the circuit — checks what an inverter or fridge actually draws from the battery. Make sure it says DC; many cheap clamps read AC only.

Reads battery voltage, panel open-circuit voltage and continuity. The first tool to reach for when a solar system is not charging.

Counts amp-hours in and out, so you see true state of charge instead of guessing from voltage — which barely moves on a LiFePO4 battery until it is nearly empty.

Measures electrolyte specific gravity in flooded lead-acid cells — the most accurate state-of-charge check for that battery type.

About 1.28 kWh rated in a box roughly the size of a group 24–31 lead-acid battery at around half the weight. Check the BMS discharge limit and whether it can charge below freezing.

Sealed lead-acid with no watering. Cheaper up front than lithium, but plan to use only about half its rating and expect it to weigh roughly twice as much.

A mains or generator-powered charger with a LiFePO4 profile tops up a bank when the sun doesn’t. Match its charge voltage to the battery data sheet.

Covers the terminals so a dropped tool can’t short them and keeps a lead-acid battery’s spills contained. Flooded batteries need the vent.

The building block of most van, boat and RV systems. Check the data-sheet Voc and Isc before you decide how to wire several of them.

Fewer, larger panels for a cabin, shed or ground mount. Their higher voltage usually means an MPPT controller.

Converts a higher panel voltage into charging current, so you can wire panels in series and lose less in the cables. Size it on output amps and maximum PV voltage.

Simple and cheap for one or two 12 V panels on a 12 V battery. It ties the panel to battery voltage, so it harvests less than MPPT in cool weather.

Joins panels in parallel without a combiner box for small arrays. Check the connector’s current rating against your total.

Lets you change a ground- or roof-mounted panel’s angle with the seasons instead of leaving it flat.

Sits on the panel frame and reads its tilt to a tenth of a degree, so a seasonal adjustment actually lands on the angle you worked out.

Enough for a CPAP, laptop, TV and small appliances. Pure sine is the safe choice for anything with a motor or sensitive electronics.

For microwaves, coffee makers and power tools. At 12 V these draw hundreds of amps, so the battery and cabling matter as much as the inverter.

Battery, inverter and charger in one box. Check both the watt-hour capacity and the inverter’s continuous and surge watts against what you plan to run.

A compressor fridge runs straight off the battery with no inverter loss — usually the single biggest load in a van or boat system.

Quieter and more fuel-thrifty at light loads than an open-frame generator, with clean power for electronics. Many have a 30 A RV outlet.

Runs on gasoline or propane. Propane stores for years without going stale; expect somewhat fewer watts on propane.

CPSC advises battery or battery-backup CO alarms whenever a generator is in use. Look for UL 2034 certification and test monthly.

Lets the generator sit well away from the house. CPSC says to use outdoor-rated cords whose rating exceeds the total load, with all three prongs.

A canopy-style cover keeps rain off a running generator outdoors — CPSC’s advice for wet weather — without enclosing it.

Shows roughly how much is left so you are not guessing halfway through a cold night or a long outage.

Plugs in between the pedestal or generator and your RV cord to catch wiring faults and voltage spikes before they reach the rig.

The 50 A version for rigs with two 120 V legs. Some models also flag low voltage from a struggling generator.