Honest Review: Lion Energy Summit Portable Power Station
We review the Lion Summit portable solar generator
Today’s RV gadget review is the Lion Energy Summit portable power station or solar generator. This is a smaller portable power station that is capable of running devices that run on household 120vac power as well as recharging devices like laptops, tablets and phones.
What is the Lion Energy Summit portable power station
The Lion Energy Summit is a portable power station which basically means it’s a battery and a way to utilize that battery’s power. On the front of this device are two 120 volt household power outlets, two USB A outlets and two USB C outlets. There is also a power port or cigarette lighter plug.
The power provided by this is referred to as pure sine wave which means it’s safe for even sensitive electronic devices.
The device itself is relatively compact, which is why I bought it, at just 18 pounds. It measures 13.25” x 7.25” x 8.5” which means it fits neatly into the back seat of our truck and we use to power a portable cooler on things like Costco runs. It’s also portable enough that I can sit outside and keep my laptop powered for longer than I like being out there.
How much power is in the Lion Energy Summit
The Lion Energy Summit features 665 watt hours of power stored in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. What does that mean?
My MacBook Pro uses has a 65 watt power brick which means that I can run the computer at full crank for about ten hours. However that would be heavy processing and maybe powering an external monitor - typically the computer uses about 35 watts so I could power it for 20 hours.
My iPad Pro 12.9” consumes around 20 watts at maximum so that’s about 33 hours. But the iPad, like the computer, power consumption goes up and down depending on what it’s doing.
For many people they would use this to power a CPAP machine (we have an article about using a CPAP while boondocking). Of course CPAP machines vary widely in how much power they use but you could typically get at least 8-10 hours of use in most cases even if your CPAP is one with a humidifier. Of course if you rely on a CPAP it’s good to understand the power consumption of that device.
You can figure any device’s power consumption with this equation: Watts × Hours Used = Watt-hours (Wh). So if your device uses 60 watts and you operate it for 8 hours that’s 480 watt hours of consumption - the Summit has 665 watt hours of reserve power so you should be good. There’s a portable power station runtime calculator here.
Charging the Lion Energy Summit solar generator
The Lion Energy Summit can be charged by solar panels, household power or via a power port in your vehicle. One of the things I like about this device is that it uses standard connectors rather than proprietary ones so you can use with with other components that also use standard connectors.
For example, I was able to charge this device using the GoPower Duralight 100 solar panels that we have. Using one panel I was able to recharge the Summit completely over a long day of beautiful sunshine. You can get up to 140 watts into the Summit so one panel only, please.
Lion Energy also has their own solar panels if you don’t already have a bunch in your garage because you’re a super nerd. Not that I know anybody like that 🤓
Of course you can also charge it with the included power port adapter, which I like to refer to as a cigarette lighter adapter but then I’m old and refer to things by names from my past. Ahem.
Another way to charge this is with the included household power cable but that just seems like cheating. The Summit will recharge from zero to full in about 4-5 hours on household power.
Other features of the Lion Energy Summit
I like that there’s an app to monitor the Lion Energy Summit which works really seamlessly with the device using Bluetooth connectivity. However this app is really for just monitoring the device over Bluetooth - there aren’t a lot of functions you can change with it.
Uses
For when the power goes out
For a pet monitor if you’re boondocking
To power your picnic
Powering your connectivity if you’re out on the road
Operate a 12 volt cooler such as the Bodega MCD25D portable 12 volt cooler we have
What is a solar generator or portable power station?
The term solar generator typically refers to the combination of portable solar panels, battery, battery charger, and inverter into a single device that allows you to capture, store, and distribute power from the sun. Solar generators are popular for camping trips, boating, RV trips, and as emergency backup power.
Essentially it’s nothing more than a battery and a way to utilize the battery’s power to operate devices including those powered by 120vac household power and things like phones, tablets, computers, and more.
My thoughts on the Lion Energy Summit portable power station
I bought this device in Quartzsite for a variety of reasons, one of those was that it’s relatively compact and easy to carry yet offers a decent amount of power. It was also really affordable there.
In terms of functionality my favorite of all the portable power stations that we own is the UGreen Power Roam GS1200 for a variety of reasons including the number of features available through their app. One of those is that that device can be essentially an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and that’s why I wanted another portable power station - the UGreen has found a home at our home as a UPS now.
Most portable power stations will shut off their power if they sense that there’s nothing requesting power which is fine for a lot of uses but not all. For example, if the device shuts off when a cooler stops working then that means the cooler won’t come back on because there’s no power available. That shut-off can be disabled in the UGreen but not in our Jackery 1500 nor in this Lion Summit.
While at Quartzsite I also bought Lion Energy’s 25’ solar extension cable but I found that the connectors were oriented differently than on my GoPower Duralight 100 solar panels. I wrote to Lion Energy and they were very quick about responding that I could simply pull back the sheath on the cable and re-orient the connectors. So their customer service was quick and provided a very useful answer and that made me very happy.
Which portable power station is right for you?
To really make the best choice of one of these portable power stations you should know what you want to power and how much power that device takes. We have a podcast episode about choosing a portable power station which you can get here. We also have reviews of other portable power stations from tiny to tremendous linked at the podcast about choosing a portable power station.
These newer portable power stations, or solar generators, are really efficient, safe and useful for a lot of reasons. As more of us experience challenges with local power they’re a great tool for RVing and boondocking but also as a back-up for items at home should the power go out.
