It’s Not a “Solar Generator”

You know what really grinds my gears? When people refer to power stations as “solar generators.” This name is completely inaccurate. Let me count the ways…

It’s a Battery, Not a Generator

These power stations are wonderful things. They incorporate a battery, several forms of power output (12-volt DC, 110-volt AC, and USB, among others), as well as inputs enabling multiple ways to charge it (12-volt DC, 110-volt AC, and solar panels, among others). Do you know what it does not incorporate? A generator!

generator (noun)

1: one that generates: such as

a: an apparatus in which vapor or gas is formed

b: a machine by which mechanical energy is changed into electrical energy

Merriam-Webster

There is nothing mechanical about a power station. It has no built-in apparatus for creating electrical power from a mechanical device. I have a multifunction device that incorporates, among other things, a lantern, flashlight, Bluetooth speaker, AM/FM/weather radio, and other features I haven’t even explored yet. It can be recharged in many ways, including a built-in crank on the back that you can turn to recharge. This device meets the definition of a generator better than a so-called “solar generator!”

Power stations require an outside source to recharge. They do not generate their own power. They don’t meet any definition of the word “generator” at all.

It’s Not Solar

Have you ever seen a power station with built-in solar panels? I haven’t. Sometimes, they’re sold in a bundle with one or more portable solar panels, but the power station itself has no solar capabilities. I’ve never gotten a package deal like this because power stations are more than useful enough to be sold separately. It’s the perfect all-in-one solution for someone who doesn’t want to wire up their own components the way I did. But they’re not exclusively solar-powered. They’re powered by whatever you plug into the charging input jack. It can certainly be a solar panel. It can also be your 12-volt outlet while you drive, or a 110-volt charger at home, or the library, or the coffee shop.

That same multifunction device I described also has a tiny solar panel on the top. I haven’t tried it myself, but Matty Van Halen has almost never had to plug his in because he puts it out in the sun to recharge. Once again, this little gadget is more solar than the so-called “solar generator!”

It’s All About Marketing

So how did power stations come to be known as “solar generators” when they are neither solar nor a generator? Marketing. Some marketing team decided they could sell more power stations if they used this inaccurate term. Why carry around a big, loud, heavy, stinky gas or diesel generator when the combination of a power station and solar panels could do the same thing? Even better, they’re completely silent and require no fuel besides the sun, making them environmentally friendly (setting aside the concerns about how harmful to the planet it is to mine the lithium and other materials for the batteries).

While the name is inaccurate, it’s not so inaccurate that it blatantly misrepresents what the device does. It would never fly if they called it a “solar ice cream maker” because it doesn’t make ice cream. But it does provide electricity, which is the same basic purpose as a traditional generator. You can recharge it from solar panels (among other things), so it can be solar-powered. No one is going to win a lawsuit for false advertising because it does serve the advertised purpose.

But the name “solar generator” still grinds my gears. Even though it doesn’t have any gears, unlike a traditional generator.