I set up a balcony power plant: Jackery HomePower 2000 Ultra

I am setting up my own balcony power plant: the Jackery HomePower 2000 Ultra. It is supposed to be really simple, and I’m checking whether that’s true. Jackery provided me with the device for this video. In about a month, a second part follows with my experiences: what it brings and whether you can really save as much money as the manufacturers claim.

What’s in the box

You don’t need an electrician, and I’m actually not one, I have no clue about the topic. For me everything came in three packages:

1. the HomePower 2000 Ultra generator,
2. four solar panels, which I found surprisingly thin and light, with all the necessary cables,
3. an additional battery pack with 2 kWh.

The HomePower 2000 Ultra has a base storage capacity of 2 kWh and can be expanded with up to three battery packs to a total of 8 kWh.

Setup in three steps

1. Set up the generator: I plugged the HomePower 2000 Ultra together with the battery pack, and that was it. Because my balcony has no roof, it stands against the wall. It is IP65 certified, so protected against dust and splashing water.
2. Attach the solar panels to the railing: Everything you need is included. The panels actually belong on the outside of the railing. For the video I mounted them on the inside so you can better see how they are wired. That isn’t pretty on a small balcony, but from the outside you can put flower boxes in front of them.
3. Wire and plug in: The instructions describe exactly how panels and generator are connected. Then you plug the generator into the normal socket, and you are already producing your own power.

Registration and output

In Germany, 800 watts of feed-in power are now permitted. There is a simplified registration procedure: a simple registration in the Marktstammdatenregister of the Bundesnetzagentur is enough. The link is in the video description.

The HomePower 2000 Ultra supports up to 2,000 watts via the PV input and an additional 800 watts via an external micro inverter, that is, for existing PV systems. That basically gives 2,800 watts of total output.

App control and dynamic electricity tariffs

In the app you set how much is fed into the household, 800 watts at most. I find the dynamic electricity tariffs feature a smart touch: at times when power is cheap, mostly during the day, the balcony power plant charges via the solar panels, supported by the grid as well. When power is expensive, especially in the evening when everyone is at home, the power comes from the storage, and you save money at exactly that moment.

Safety

This topic really bothered me. The HomePower 2000 Ultra has a three-level safety concept:

• Early hazard detection: Sensors monitor the battery and electronics around the clock. They detect open flames, abnormal currents in the grid and overheating, and react to weather warnings from the German Weather Service. If there is a risk, you are warned immediately via the app.
• Automatic fire suppression: If necessary, the system releases an aerosol-based extinguishing agent within one second, which stays active even when switched off. That way no source of fire can develop, neither in the main unit nor in the additional battery storage units.
• Backup power: In a power outage, the device switches to off-grid mode within 20 milliseconds and keeps important devices such as the fridge, router and lighting running for up to 1.2 days. That reassures me, I had already thought about equipping myself for an emergency but felt overwhelmed.

What the manufacturer promises

According to Jackery, a balcony power plant like the HomePower 2000 Ultra saves up to 450 g of CO2 per kilowatt hour per year and up to €1,304 in electricity costs per year. The device is supposed to pay for itself within 2 years. Whether that’s true, I’ll test over the coming weeks: how much power and money I actually save and whether operating the app works without problems.