EF ECOFLOW Solar Generator DELTA 3 Plus with 400W Solar Panel (2024 New), 1000W Solar Input, LFP(LiFePO4) Battery, Portable Power Station for Home Backup Power, Camping & RVs

The ecoflow Delta 3 plus is a game changer for me; it is much more than just a stand alone battery backup. A few years back I got into the battery backup game by purchasing some Jackery power stations and also several Vtoman that first got me into the LiFeP04 batteries. These typically sit around doing nothing except waiting for a power outage which is typically no more than 10 hours a year from La DWP but with CA politics I'm anticipating more outages.I have since moved to ecoflow products with their intelligent software which allows me both the backup capability but also just as importantly they can be used as a buffer for solar power to save money by harvesting solar energy.So far I'm just experimenting but I am quite pleased with the results. I've had several UPS battery backups from cyberpower but they use lead acid batteries which after a few years begin to die and never give me more than 5 or 10 minutes of backup anyway but now with the ecoflow I get hours of backup and a UPS as well.I have four areas of concern: my computer equipment and routers as area 1, my refrigerators area 2, my home theater area 3, and my security cameras in area 4. Each is now protected by battery backup. the Jackery and Vtoman use manual switch over for the 2 refrigerators and my home theater while Ecoflow now protects all my computer equipment and internet along with my security cameras system.For the security cameras I have an ecoflow River 3 plus because it switches over automatically and the computers and routers are on the Delta 3 plus also switching over automatically to battery when necessary.But here's the difference the Delta 3 plus also serves as an automatic savings mode and there's where it shines above all my other power stations and possibly all others in its price range by other manufacturers.One can partition the battery capacity into two uses the standard battery backup but also a solar power battery buffer.The partitioning can be set using the app and I've currently set it to 50% for battery backup and 50% for buffering and here's how it works:In the morning before the sun comes up the battery will be at 50% with the AC power from the grid being used to power my computer equipment and the routers in UPS mode. I have four 100 watt solar panels wired in 2p2s configuration so the that the two pairs in series produce 40 volts and these 2 pairs are wired in parallel so that under best conditions produce about 400 watts. The 60 volt input on the solar is perfect for this. My other power-stations can only accept 12-30 and so will not work with this setup.The computer equipment (desktop, switches, routers, wifi, fiber ONT, 3 monitors, lamp etc.) typically use between 130 and 250 Watts. My solar panels are ground-based and are in the shade until about 8:00 a.m. and then they begin to produce power until sometime after 2:00 p.m. when again in the shade but that's because this is December and I expect much better results in the the other seasons.But they quickly begin to generate more power than I'm using and so the second 50% of the delta 3 plus capacity is used to store up the excess solar coming in. As soon as I've used about 5% of this capacity to store solar power the Delta 3 plus shuts off the grid power and starts powering from its battery on output with solar coming in on input.This continues throughout the day until my panels are once again in the shade but by then the battery will be nearly at 100% full (which is why I set it to 50% for buffering) and it will then continue to power my computers from battery until the capacity is back down to 50% at which time it will turn the grid power back on. So, the computers remain off-grid for an extra 2 hours after solar production is done.It does this all automatically and ends up typically saving me 1-2 kwh of power each day. I'm on a fixed rate plan with two tiers and the second tier is about 28 cents a kilowatt hour so during a month I can expect perhaps $12 to $15 in savings on my electric bill and these are using December numbers. This means that in one year the Ecoflow plus solar panels will have paid for the 4 solar panels which cost me $200. BTW, if you're on a plan that charges more at peak, they have a separate mode that works with that plan.Of course I can install a second set of panels and a third set if I have room in my backyard but then I would need extra battery buffering for the Delta 3 plus which could be done by using the expansion port and an expansion battery.Since the plus comes with two independent 500 watt solar inputs I currently am using the second one along with a $163 12-volt Li-time 100 amp hour battery with a 12 to 24v DC to DC converter for an extra 1.25kwh backup battery although I can't have it switched in and charged automatically. This was just an experiment based on a YouTube video describing the technique - by up-loader "the old jarhead".So the bottom line is I am very pleased with the results and one other thing: I have never yet heard the fan although I know it's on so I think Eco flow has definitely hit this one out of the park. It really is a wonderfully engineered product and well worth the $650 price range I paid for it.

When Ecoflow announced that this would be the new delta filling in the range of the 1kw solar generators on their lineup. I was skeptical that it would be able to provide much worth for upgrading over my trusty Delta 2. But those feelings were quickly dispelled after I decided to give it a try.I will start with the abundance of good things I have to say about it first.*****GOOD THINGS*****The software and hardware leaped forward dramatically. Not only did the output become more stable and increase, but they finally added the true battery isolated UPS functionality that I have been looking for. WITH hid for connecting your computer so it can shut down automatically. I am really impressed at how well they listened to their current consumers and improved so well.The screen is also way better and has been redesigned it looks like. Less fragile than the Delta 2 and it appears to be much brighter. It got the same treatment as the Delta Pro with the auto brightness for the display and there are way more active elements on the screen that let you know what’s going on.My biggest gripe about the Delta 2 was that the fans sounded like a swarm of angry bees even with less than half load applied to the output or when charging at anything above like 500 watts. They totally addressed the hell out of that. Not only is the D3+ much quieter, it’s actually like almost completely silent. Most of the time I wouldn’t even know there was air flowing through the unit unless I put my hand on the back vent or looked at the screen for the trusty fan symbol. Speaking of which, moving the inlet and outlet to the front and back of the unit (respectively) was a genius move. Now you can have units side by side and take up way less space and it is harder to block the vents by accident because the carry handles act as a natural buffer between the vents and anything that could cover them directly.The port placement on the front is very welcome for all of the output ports. And for input ports you have 2 MPPT solar Xt60i inputs now both able to take in 500 watts which is like unprecedented at this size of solar generator. Plus you have an additional battery port that works with a lot of things like Ecoflow’s Wave portable air con, and you can even be ridiculous and plug in the large delta pro 3 or delta pro spare batteries into it if you are really hankering for extra capacity.They still nailed it on the DC ports on the front again which is no surprise. The fact that all 6 usb ports on the front have their own independent limits instead of sharing the DC capacity is amazing and truly one of the best perks for using while camping or just being practical overall. (For example, a lot of power banks or other usb chargers will for example have an output rating of 100 watts, but that is shared amongst all ports. And if you have something like a laptop that is drawing a lot on one port or needs a lot, it will get dropped pretty low once you plug something else in, but on the Delta’s, this doesn’t happen because both type c ports support 100 watts independently of each other, and the 4 type a ports have their own output as well).*****BAD THINGS*****I’ll start with my least favorite thing, although a lot of other people probably will disagree with me. It’s the finish on the outside of the unit. I know sounds like a nit picky thing. But hear me out. One of the main reasons I love my Delta 2 so much is that it looks and feels rugged and has stood up to the test of time. The Delta 3 plus internally feels solid (no loose or creaking parts, very dense, rigid and the ports are all solid) but the finish on the outside is painted it seems and is a good looking silver color. The Delta 2 is a matte black unpainted plastic and a matte grey unpainted top plastic. On the delta 2 I was never afraid to take it out camping with me, because even scratches and scuffs don’t show much on that plastic. But seeing as the new one has more of a delicate finish, It feels less rugged and more prone to scratching or external damage.I also don’t like that they still won’t give more setting control without having to use the app. Yes you can use the app offline with a bluetooth direct connection, but this kind of device is for people that want to camp away from their stuff sometimes or need something to depend on in an emergency. Even if they added some kind of button combo list in the physical manual to change things like charging speed and screen brightness without having to use the app, that would be much better than having the app as a sole way of controlling that stuff.I would also like the ability to have some kind of control over the fan cooling logic in the sense of making it louder and more effective in situations where I don’t care about noise and would prefer keeping the inverter and pack as cool as possible for longevity.They did finally add battery health to the app so you can see SOC health of the battery pack but the information is still lacking more information about cycles, actual SOC, inverter temps etc. I really wish they would give you more information about the product you own and want to take care of.They still have the API locked down and don’t allow any meaningful integration into any other smart home data trackers or web based api’s. So it is difficult to monitor the battery without having a cell phone or ARM based tablet with the app. Better support for a web interface that doesn’t rely on their servers would give me much more peace of mind in an emergency that I don’t have to depend solely on their server status.***Overall***If you don’t have a power station in this size range yet or are looking for a good addition/upgrade for your Delta 2. This is it, the whole enchilada, beans and all. This is the gap fill for a lot of things when it comes to camping or emergency prepping for keeping food good in the fridge and lights on.

I currently have an APC UPS w/ Surge Suppression which has an approx. runtime of maybe 10~15min after a power outage for my home office. I have connected to this my (2) workstations, monitor, and misc. plug loads.With the current situation in California- unpredictable weather-related outages, rolling outages due to the wildfires and such...I was looking for a way to increase the uptime in case I was in a situation where I need to work despite the outage.The last time we had an outage, I basically lost a day where I could not work and that was not really acceptable.Enter EcoFlow 3 series Delta Plus which provides significantly more uptime and similar UPS performance when power goes out.The weight seems lighter than the previous delta 2 and even seems to be slightly smaller in size.Also, the fact that you can recharge the battery with solar was a nice selling point.I haven't purchased solar panels yet, but I may consider that as there is A LOT of sun at my place that I could take advantage of.As I don't believe the EcoFlow product has surge protection like a true UPS, I have opted to install this downstream of the APC for now. This is a hopefully temporary solution until I install a whole home surge suppressor which will then allow me to e-waste my aging APC unit.The App which is for both Apple and Android.This is what you use to adjust various parameters for your battery unit.I like that the Delta 3 Plus has a lot more customization than the Delta 2 does.Lastly, the app will allow you to do firmware updates so that is a nice way to gain better performance or perhaps new features.Go EcoFlow!