The Top Five Budget Solar Power Generators For Car Camping Under $500

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Whether you're embarking on the ultimate thrilling road trip and car camping along the way, going on a wild camping excursion, or living van life long term, you'll need to recharge your electronic devices. While it's awesome to unplug briefly on a camping trip, there are moments when you'll need power. A solar power station is the perfect way to make sure you can plug back in when you're ready.

Perhaps you want to power string lights to hang around your campsite, or keep food frozen until you're ready to use it. If you're camping with kids or first timers, it can be fun to set up a projector screen and watch a movie at your campsite to help ward off nighttime jitters. Unless you're camping somewhere with an electrical hookup, you'll need to plan for these situations. A solar power station is a great tool for camping, and an excellent piece of equipment to have on hand in the event of an emergency.

Solar panels are a fantastic way to harness electricity from the sun and have a more eco-friendly vacation, but to store their power for use once the sun sets, you'll need a power station. Portable power stations can be extremely expensive, but there are a few excellent budget-friendly options on the market for under $500. We researched multiple models and read dozens of customer reviews to bring you the top five best options for your camping adventures.

Having reliable solar power is a game-changer for car camping excursions, and the Jackery Explorer is a great choice, according to customer reviews. The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station is $499 on Amazon and has a rating of 4.8 stars based on 34 reviews. However, the manufacturer's site shows a similar rating garnered from over 200 customer reviews. The output is 1500W, and the battery holds up for more than 4,000 charge cycles. It should last for around 10 years, and comes with a decent warranty just in case something goes wrong.

"This worked well on a recent camping outing where power was required to run a small refrigerator and miscellaneous lights. The unit is light enough to be easily mobile in and out of the vehicle and the different offerings of rechargeable ports built into the device makes for a great experience," wrote a customer on Jackery's website. Another customer called it awesome on Amazon: "Powered my little 2.5.cuft fridge for near 27 hours. Can't wait to take it camping ..." You can also purchase a Jackery package at Costco for a portable power upgrade for car camping.

The Bluetti AC180 Solar Portable Power Station comes highly recommended by customers. It has a rating of 4.8 stars and about 460 reviews on the manufacturer's website. At just 35 pounds, it may be a bit heavy for some campers. However, if you're setting up close to your car or traveling in an RV, then you should be fine. The power station has 11 output ports for charging multiple devices simultaneously. It can power a car fridge for 17 hours, and you can use it to recharge your cell phone around 100 times. The AC180 has been discounted to $499 on Bluetti at the time of publishing.

A customer wrote on the site that it's a "solid solar charger" and that it charged up quickly on a sunny day with a 200W solar panel. You can purchase the power station with a 200W, 350W, 400W, or 1000W solar panel for an additional fee on the Bluetti website. In another review on the site, a buyer notes that it worked well in their camper vans and for camping. "We just returned from a week long camping trip and the Bluetti AC180 performed well. We used the Bluetti to power a JOYTUTUS Cooler, 41 Quart (39L). The outside temperatures were around 80F and night temperatures 65-70F so the compressor on the cooler ran frequently. We used both the refrigerator and ice compartments in the cooler. The Bluetti AC180 powered the cooler for about 15 hours before requiring a recharge."

The Goal Zero Yeti 500 is designed with outdoor enthusiasts in mind. It's heavy-duty and made with materials that can withstand the elements. You can use it in freezing temperatures as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit. As the manufacturer's website notes, "It passes testing for particulates and UL2743 requirements." 

At just under 12 inches long, the Goal Zero Yeti 500 is small enough to stuff in the trunk for a car camping adventure, and it weighs just over 16 pounds, so you won't have any trouble carrying it to the beach or campsite. Despite its small size, it provides immense power and is water-resistant. You can charge a laptop 8 times or a cell phone 35 times. It can power a 60-inch flat screen television for over five hours. A small fridge can run on the power station for about two days. Recharging the power station takes under three hours with a 200W solar panel.

On the Goal Zero website, the Yeti 500 has a 4.2-star rating based on about 150 reviews. "I have just spent the last 3 days in City of Rocks National Reserve with my Yeti 500, Alta 50 and Nomad 100 solar panel. The experience was an absolute pleasure," wrote a customer on the website. "The entire time we were camping the Nomad 100 panel was more than enough to keep the Alta 50 at 35 degrees. What a treat it was to have cold water all the time and not worry about any of the foods," they added. The Yeti 500 costs just under $500 on the Goal Zero website.

The Anker Portable Power Station Solix C300 is one of the most affordable options on our list. It costs about $250 on Amazon. There's an option that comes with 60W solar panels for $330. This is one of the few options available that offers the complete system for under $400. The product has a 4.6-star rating on Amazon based on 1,300 customer reviews. The 60-watt solar panels can charge the power station to 80% in 50 minutes. An electric cooler can be plugged in for around 5.6 hours. Although this battery doesn't have quite as much power as some others on our list, it's excellent for a camping trip.

According to one review on Amazon, "We used this to blow up a queen sized air mattress. We mostly tent camp in primitive locations with no electric hook up ... It ran the AC motor on the pump for about 10 to 12 mins to blow up the mattress and it went down to about 95% battery left. And after charging all our devices that first night it had gotten down to 78% battery. I tried using the solar panel the next day and in less than an hour and a half it was recharged fully."

The Oupes Mega 1 Home Backup & Portable Power Station comes highly recommended. It has a rating of 5 stars, with about 550 reviews on the Oupes website. The regular price of the 2000W is $699, but at the time of publishing, it is on sale for $417. The website claims that the battery's lifecycle is 3,500 or more uses, so it will get you through quite a few camping trips. A customer called it a "camping coffee lover's dream" because it was able to power his espresso machine. Others used it to blow up air mattresses, charge electronics, and power various appliances while camping.

Van lifers love the Oupes Mega 1, as seen in this review by a buyer: "Charges our campervan's fridge, lights, and portable oven for weeks. Expandable design future-proofs our trips." Another customer appreciated that the Oupes power station didn't cause any noise pollution at their campsite and was able to power their portable AC unit quietly.

With the Oupes Mega 1, you could fully charge your cell phone 54 times or your laptop around 11 times. You could even run a 60W mini-fridge for about 13 hours. It will fully charge up with an 800W solar panel in under an hour and a half.

A solar-powered generator is one of those camping and road-tripping essentials you didn't know you needed. To formulate our list of the five best budget-friendly choices, we started by researching different products on the market. We reviewed several best-of articles and then did a deep dive into customer reviews. We limited our search to options that cost under $500 and only chose models that were small and portable enough to take camping.