I've started to evaluate an off-grid power system in the event we end up purchasing a property in Portugal. I may end up getting a permanent installation but initially, I am thinking of a portable power station big enough to let me keep a small portable fridge running and powering 12V lights, cell phones, and laptop, as well as powering the tools I will be needing while working there. My idea is to bring the unit completely charged from home when I travel by car to the property and find a way to recharge it while there.
There are different brands in the market with several models and you need to find the balance between price, power, and battery size. Most of the products let you charge with solar panels, the problem is the capacity of the ones they offer you is quite low compared to the price as they are also portable. Jackery, for instance, offers you the above power unit for around €900 and asks around 600 for their 200Watt portable solar panel to charge it. Just too much for such a small power solar panel.
I've been looking for alternatives and found another brand offering portable compatible 200W panels for half the price, plus the panels incorporate a way to directly charge your devices. It seems a nice better option but you still get only 200W power which may take several hours of sun exposure to charge your unit.
Another option I am considering is a more powerful 500W regular solar panel with a microinverter which will offer my direct AC current and should charge my power unit much faster, on top of giving an additional source of power. I've found a local company selling this kit with a 500W panel and microinverter for €370, which is a reasonable price. It is intended to directly dump the electricity to your house network so It will charge the power bank much faster and will still be useful to directly charge any of my AC working tools when the power bank if fully charged.
Here's a small Spanish tutorial from the vendor selling the kit which shows how to set it up and configure it, it even comes with a wifi controller to set it up and monitor it with the cellphone. You can set up youtube auto-translated subtitles if needed.
