Best Solar Generators for Home Backup

A "solar generator" is a big battery with a built-in inverter and a solar charge controller. You plug your fridge, router or a transfer switch into it, and you recharge it from solar panels, the wall or a gas generator. There's no engine, so it's quiet and you can run it indoors.

The best one for home backup comes down to three questions: what you need to keep running, for how long, and whether you need 240 volts for things like a well pump or central air. This guide answers those, then compares six units using each maker's own spec sheet. Prices were checked on each maker's US store on November 3, 2026.

Step 1: Pick your loads, not your whole house

The average US home bought 863 kWh a month of electricity in 2024, according to the EIA. That's about 28 kWh a day. Even the biggest single units below store 5 to 6 kWh, so a solar generator covers a whole house only for part of a day unless you add batteries.

The practical plan is to back up essentials: the fridge and freezer, lights, internet, phone charging, a few outlets, medical devices, and maybe the well pump or furnace blower. Write each one down with two numbers:

• Running watts. Check the nameplate or the manual. For fridges, the yellow EnergyGuide label gives yearly kWh, which is more useful than the nameplate.
• Hours a day it runs. Virginia Cooperative Extension's appliance energy guide gives the formula: watts × hours used per day ÷ 1,000 = kWh per day. It also notes a fridge's compressor cycles on and off, so it isn't drawing full power all day.

Add up the kWh per day. That's the battery size you need for one day without sun. Our off-grid solar calculator does this math for you and adds the panels you'd need to refill it in your state.

Step 2: Check output watts and voltage

Capacity (watt-hours) is how long it lasts. Output (watts) is how much it can run at once. Add the running watts of everything that might be on together, and leave headroom for motors, which pull extra for a moment when they start.

Then check voltage. Most outlets in a US home are 120 V. A deep well pump, central air, an electric dryer or a range often needs 240 V. Every unit below except the DELTA 3 Plus can put out 240 V, but they differ on how. Some switch between 120 V and 240 V, and some do both at once.

Step 3: Decide how it connects to the house

You have two choices:

1. Extension cords. Plug a few appliances straight into the unit. Cheap and simple, fine for a fridge and a router.
2. Transfer switch or home panel. An electrician connects selected circuits to the unit, so the well pump, furnace and hardwired lights work too. Each maker sells its own panel (EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 2, Anker SOLIX Home Power Panel, BLUETTI AT1) and some offer installation bundles. Never back-feed a house through an outlet; that's what the transfer switch is for.

Six solar generators compared

Price per Wh is the listed price divided by the base capacity, our math. All six use LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries and come with a 5-year warranty. Stock moves fast in outage season, so check the page before you plan around a ship date.

The picks, one by one

Best whole-home system: EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra

The DELTA Pro Ultra splits into an inverter and a stackable 6,144 Wh battery. One inverter puts out 7,200 W at 120/240 V, and EcoFlow says it runs a 3-ton central air conditioner. You can stack up to 5 batteries per inverter (30 kWh), or pair 3 inverters with the Smart Home Panel 2 for 21.6 kW and up to 90 kWh. Solar input is 5,600 W on two ports, and EcoFlow lists a 0 ms online UPS, so computers don't even blink when the grid drops.

EcoFlow lists it as certified to both UL 1973 and UL 9540. It's the one to buy if you want something close to a permanent home battery that you can still unplug and move. The inverter plus one battery is $4,199, two batteries are $6,199, and the bundle with the Smart Home Panel 2 is $5,599 before installation.

Best all-rounder: EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3

The DELTA Pro 3 puts 4,096 Wh and a 120/240 V inverter in one wheeled box. It's rated 4,000 W continuous, 6,000 W with EcoFlow's X-Boost mode for resistive loads, and 8,000 W surge. It has four 20 A outlets, a TT-30 RV outlet, a 240 V 6-20 outlet and an L14-30 outlet for a transfer switch or inlet box.

A few details matter for home backup:

• Solar input is 2,600 W across two ports: a high-voltage port (30 to 150 V, 1,600 W max) and a low-voltage port (11 to 60 V, 1,000 W max).
• It switches between 120 V and 240 V output rather than doing both at once. Pressing the 240 V button turns off the 120 V outlets.
• It expands to 12 kWh with two extra batteries. EcoFlow rates the cells at 4,000 cycles to 80% capacity.
• UPS switchover is 10 ms.

At $2,799 it costs about the same per watt-hour as the Ultra, without the stacking ceiling. It's the right size for a fridge, freezer, lights, internet and a well pump for a day or more.

Best value at 6,000 W: Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus

The F3800 Plus stores 3,840 Wh and puts out 6,000 W at 120/240 V, with an L14-30 outlet and a TT-30 RV outlet built in. Solar input is 3,200 W through two 11 to 165 V MPPT ports, and Anker lists a full solar recharge in about 1.5 hours at that input. It expands with up to six 3,840 Wh batteries for 53.8 kWh, and two units can be linked for 12,000 W.

Know the limits before you buy. Anker notes that 240 V output can't be used while it's charging from a 120 V wall outlet, and its bypass on wall power is 1,440 W. Generator charging and bypass at 6,000 W needs a 240 V pure sine generator and Anker's generator adapter. The cells are rated for 3,000+ cycles, the lowest of the big units here. At $2,499 it has the lowest price per watt-hour of the 6 kW class, but it was sold out on the SOLIX store when we checked.

Most output in one box: Jackery Explorer 5000 Plus

The Explorer 5000 Plus packs 5,040 Wh and 7,200 W into a single 134.5 lb unit with both L14-30 and 14-50 outlets. Its high-voltage solar port takes 135 to 450 V at up to 4,000 W, which suits long series strings of rooftop-size panels, and Jackery lists a 1.7-hour full charge at that input. Jackery's spec sheet lists 0 ms switchover in Online UPS mode and under 20 ms in Backup UPS mode.

Two caveats. Jackery rates the battery at 4,000 cycles to 70% capacity, where most makers here quote 80%. And at $5,899 it's the most expensive per watt-hour on this list. It was on pre-order with a November 23 ship date when we checked.

Best budget whole-circuit pick: BLUETTI Apex 300

The Apex 300 is the cheapest way here into 240 V home backup. One unit stores 2,764.8 Wh and puts out 3,840 W, and BLUETTI says it runs 120 V and 240 V loads at the same time, even while charging. Outlets include four 20 A, a TT-30 and a NEMA 14-50. BLUETTI rates the cells at 6,000 cycles to 80%, the highest on this list, and lists a 0 ms UPS mode.

Solar input is two 1,200 W ports at 12 to 60 V, so you'll wire panels in parallel rather than long series strings. BLUETTI sells a SolarX 4K add-on for more solar. Each unit takes up to six expansion batteries, and up to three units link for 11.52 kW. It was $1,499 on BLUETTI's store with shipping from November 20.

Best for essentials only: EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus

If you only need the fridge, internet, lights and phones through a short outage, a 1 kWh unit may be all you need. The DELTA 3 Plus stores 1,024 Wh, puts out 1,800 W on six 120 V outlets, and weighs 27.6 lb. EcoFlow lists a full wall charge in 56 minutes at 1,500 W and up to 1,000 W of solar input. It has a sub-10 ms UPS and expands to 5 kWh with EcoFlow's extra batteries.

It has no 240 V output, so it won't run a deep well pump or central air. It was on pre-order at $719 when we checked.

Which one fits your home

• Fridge, router, lights and phones for a day: EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus, plus one or two portable panels.
• Essentials plus a 240 V well pump, on a budget: BLUETTI Apex 300, connected through a transfer switch.
• Most of the house for a day, growing later: EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 or Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus.
• Central air and long outages, or rooftop-size solar: EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra or Jackery Explorer 5000 Plus, with extra batteries.

For our own rough sizing we leave about a 20% margin below the label capacity, because the inverter loses some energy and most units hold a small reserve. A 4,096 Wh unit is closer to 3.3 kWh of real backup by that rule.

Solar generator or gas generator?

A gas generator runs as long as you have fuel, which is a real advantage in a week-long outage. But it has to stay outside. The CPSC says an average of about 100 people a year in the US die from carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators, and it tells owners to run them at least 20 feet from the house, never in a garage, porch or carport (CPSC).

A solar generator is silent and safe indoors, but it's only as long-lasting as its battery and your sun. Many people combine the two. Most of these makers list generator charging, and EcoFlow sells its own dual-fuel Smart Generator that starts automatically when the battery runs low. If you run any fuel-burning generator, put battery CO alarms on every level of the house.

Before you buy

• List your loads and their kWh per day, and check which need 240 V.
• Match the solar input voltage to the panels you plan to use. A 12 to 60 V port and a 135 to 450 V port need very different panel wiring.
• Price the transfer switch or home panel and an electrician, not just the unit.
• Check the weight and where it will live. Most of the big units weigh well over 100 lb.
• Confirm the ship date. Several of these were on pre-order when we checked.

If you're powering a cabin or homestead full time rather than backing up a grid home, start with our off-grid solar calculator and our solar well pump guide.

Sources

• U.S. Energy Information Administration: 2024 Average Monthly Bill, Residential (Table 5A)
• Virginia Cooperative Extension: Estimating Appliance and Home Electronic Energy Use (BSE-301)
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Winter storm CO and generator safety tips (Feb 10, 2025)
• EcoFlow US product pages: DELTA Pro Ultra, DELTA Pro 3, DELTA 3 Plus (checked November 3, 2026)
• Anker SOLIX: F3800 Plus product page and Anker US store listing (checked November 3, 2026)
• Jackery: Explorer 5000 Plus product page and Explorer 5000 Plus basic information (checked November 3, 2026)
• BLUETTI: Apex 300 product page and power stations collection (checked November 3, 2026); weight and dimensions from the Grid Getaway Apex 300 listing