1. What is a portable charging station?
Portable charging station is actually a large power bank. What we often use to charge our mobile phones is a small power bank - small and delicate, even smaller than a mobile phone;
The medium-sized power bank used to charge the laptop is larger than the mobile phone power bank, and the battery capacity is also higher.
However, if you go out for camping, barbecues and picnics, the battery capacity of small and medium-sized power banks is not enough. At this time, you need a large-capacity power bank that can charge various devices. At this time, portable charging station is born.
If a precise definition is given, portable charging station is:
A device that allows you to safely use electricity anytime, anywhere outdoors.
A portable power station that can hold enormous amounts of energy.
A device that will keep you away from power shortage panics in areas outside the city, where there are no electrical outlets.
2. Application scenarios of portable charging station
The main application scenarios of portable charging station are: car emergency, long-distance self-driving, home backup power, mobile office, short-distance travel, etc., and even booth lighting, emergency repair and rescue. I guess it's called an "outdoor" power supply because its advantages are more pronounced outdoors.
like:
When the car battery is dead, it can be used to recharge the battery.
When shooting outdoors, it can be used to supply power to drones, cameras, lighting equipment, etc., to ensure the supply of power at any time.
When camping in the wild, when you want to cook delicious dishes with your own ingredients, you can power up the kitchen appliances.
In addition, it is also very practical to put it at home. When the mains is interrupted in an emergency, the portable charging station can fill up the seat in time.
3. What product parameters should be paid attention to before purchasing?
battery capacity
Portable charging station and UPS have a lot in common, mainly focus on two points: one is battery capacity, the other is power.
The battery is the core of these power supply devices, and the capacity of the battery determines how long it can keep outputting power and how long it can provide battery life.
Considering that the portable charging station can be placed in the trunk of the car, and the size does not need to be a priority, then if the size does not matter, try to choose a 500wh or more.
Take a portable charging station with a capacity of 500W to 600W and a portable charging station with a battery capacity of about 500Wh to 600Wh as an example, the power supply time reference:
A 100W device can supply power for about 4-5 hours, a 300W device such as a rice cooker can supply power for about 1.7 hours, and a mobile phone can be charged more than 30 times.
The 100W device can achieve power supply for about 7-8 hours, the 300W device can achieve power supply for about 2-3 hours, and the mobile phone can be charged more than 60 times.
The 100W device can achieve power supply for about 15 hours, the 300W device can achieve power supply for about 5-6 hours, and the mobile phone can be charged more than 100-150 times.
power
The power represents the wattage W, which is different from the watt-hour Wh and the milliamp mAh. The wattage represents the output power of the portable charging station. If you want to drive a lot of electronic devices, it is recommended to choose a portable charging station with 500w or more.
A 500W portable charging station can generally bring a 500W rice cooker and an 800W hair dryer.
Portable charging stations above 1000W can generally bring 1000W electric kettles and induction cookers.
A portable charging station of about 1200W-2000W can generally bring a 1300W microwave oven and a 1600W electric oven.
battery type
Except for a few electronic devices such as UPS, which use lead-acid batteries, most of them use lithium batteries. The same is true for portable charging stations, which are basically lithium batteries.
Most of the batteries used in the current portable charging stations are cylindrical lithium-ion batteries 18650 lithium batteries, also known as ternary lithium batteries; and lithium iron phosphate batteries.
These two kinds of lithium batteries are relatively mainstream lithium batteries.
The ternary lithium battery has many advantages, high battery density and large energy output, but poor high temperature stability, not as safe as lithium iron phosphate battery.
Compared with ternary lithium batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries are safer and have better charge and discharge performance, but the battery density is low.
These two kinds of lithium batteries have their own advantages, but for portable charging stations, you don't need to care which kind of batteries.
shell
This may seem unimportant, but it is actually very important. Portable charging station is different from general electrical appliances. The low-voltage DC 12V needs to be boosted to 220V AC. In this process, about 10% of the heat energy will be wasted. In addition to using the fan to dissipate heat, if the aluminum alloy material is used, more heat can be dissipated to ensure the safety of the lithium battery. (Huawei has done a good job in this regard. It is the only brand among all well-known portable charging station brands that uses an aluminum alloy casing and does not have a built-in fan)
The portable charging station is generally used outdoors or in a car. It is inevitable that it will be bumped, dropped, squeezed, and even bumped and rolled in extreme cases. In order to protect the lithium battery cells inside, there must be a sturdy casing.
Static electricity will inevitably be generated during travel, and static electricity will pose a fatal threat to the circuit in the portable charging station, and the metal casing is naturally anti-static.
To sum up, the combination of aluminum alloy + ABS & fireproof PC plastic becomes the most ideal choice for the heat dissipation, sturdiness, anti-static and lightness of the aluminum alloy shell.
output port
Portable charging station must have more ports, at least five, the more the better. The ideal configuration that best meets the needs should be:
· There are 2 AC sockets.
· There is 1 DC interface.
· There is a 12V car charger.
· There are two or more USB ports.
· 1 Type-C interface, preferably a fast charge of more than 60W.
volume and weight
The volume and weight of the portable charging station increase with the increase of the parameters. For example, the 1000W one is obviously larger than the 500W one.
Considering that there are basically cars in the application scenarios of portable charging stations, this factor is not particularly important, just put it in the trunk.