How much energy would we actually use? What would drain the batteries the fastest? Could solar keep us going during the day?⚡We disconnected from the grid for two full days and put the new Anker SOLIX E10 to a real-world blackout test.
No simulated loads. We actually lived on backup power—running our refrigerator, lights, appliances, HVAC, computers, and everything else our family needed. The challenge was simple: survive 48 hours without using the electrical grid.
🔋 ANKER SOLIX E10
The Anker SOLIX E10 is a whole-home backup system that combines battery, solar, and a tri-fuel smart DC generator — expandable to 90kWh, 10kW Turbo output with 155 LRA surge capacity, up to 9kW solar input, and UL 9540 + 9540A certified for outdoor NEMA 4 installation.
👉 Learn more about the Anker SOLIX E10:
💰 Save $100 with code **TBDV100OFF**
Valid on orders of $3,500+. Limited to one use per customer.
🤔 WHAT KIND OF PREPPER ARE YOU?
Take Anker’s Backup Personality Quiz:
Chapters
0:00 48 Hour Challenge
1:00 System Upgrade
2:37 Emergency Backup
4:00 Car Charging
5:30 Challenge Start
6:40 Hour 15 Update
7:50 Rainy Day Solar
9:30 Grid Outage History
10:30 Hour 18 Nervous
12:00 24 Hour Check
13:30 Generator Backup
15:00 Final Numbers
17:00 System Efficiency
18:00 Remote Control
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If only Americans could CUT CONSUMPTION… DUH!
Was dealing with the same heat wave, hot and muggy and clouds disrupting the solar. I've been using a lot of grid power even though I have 43 panels and four powerwalls. Hopefully the rest of the year will have enough credits to offset the bill.
Adam needs a Solar Panel cleaning for sure!!
Not impressed, your just playing at it. Also, subjective. Latitude? Time of year? And 48 hours, that’s a joke
I need this system for my Barndominium I’m building in Gaylord, mi
I would not want my power station outside it could easily be stolen
What is crazy, you can leave it outside unprotected.
this is california…. in the summer 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I’m also in SoCal. The importance of keeping your solar clean is often overlooked. I did an experiment and found an instant 17% increase in output with clean panels. Adam’s panels look pretty dirty. He’d likely benefit from a good cleaning.
I'd like to know the total cost of this setup. It still seems cost-prohibitive for many people. But what a great concept!
Try for a month
LOOK AT THE VOLUME OF POLLUTANTS AT THE END OF THE DAY. IMAGINE HOW TO DISPOSE ALL THE BROKEN BATTERIES, PANELS, INVERTERS ETC AFTER 20-30 YEARS FROM NOW IF AT LEAST 50% OF HOUSEHOLDS ARE USING SOLAR ENERGY.
Here in NY, we could never mount all of that outside. Cold and salt air corrosion would kill it. Curious what an interior install would be like and what safety precautions have to be taken with that much lithium in the house.
I have:
200 – 325kw panels,
12 – 16kwh batteries,
6 – gridtied inverters totalling 49.4kw,
3 – charger/inverters totalling 20.8kw,
2 houses,
3 EVs
2 offices
1 heavy welding/fab shop.
I live in the mountains and my panels face east/west. I average about 68mwh/year and I have net metering with a 25kw limit. I built my own PLC control to arbitrage my export, usage, and EV charging. I heat with heatpumps, drive about 40k miles/year in my EVs and I have about 4-5mwh/year surplus. My system transfers in about 200ms on and off grid. I only know its happened when my system sends me a text from my PLC. I started building it in 2018 and completed it in 2025. It was about a 5 year payback.
I hate to say it but if I put that Anchor system out on the side of my house, it would be gone the first night while I slept. I would have to put a steel cage around it at minimum and likely upgrade that with cameras and alarms.
net zero using 27kwh/day. Thats good. I take it he has a gas water heater and gas stove?
did you charge your car using public charging during the simulated power outage?
Ricki – When you turned the grid power off why did you leave lights on outdoors in the daylight? Even staying on the gris it is less expensive to turn off appliances and loads you don't need all the time.
Thanks! Longer experiment please!
wonderful challenge. Did you ever consider EnPhase system ?
We have gone off grid for days at our NorCal home. We have 2 Tesla powerwalls and a solarroof. It is use electricity as usual. This longest outage we have had was caused by a vehicle taking out the poles and lines that lead to 300 or so homes. This took power for nearly 3 days.but for those with solar and batteries it was life as usual.
"No i can't, we are sweating like pigs right now" SO WHAT? DRINK WATER! Uhmericans are CRAZY!
lol I can run a week on my 4kWh powerbank without running out… someone uses a LOT of power… I do have a 400W solar panel not enough to keep up indefinetly but that's what I ran before having the power connected to the house, lived here, cooked etc. and watched movies on my computer when not working… with those 6 batteries and enough solar sells I could easilly run year round with that…
I can go off grid indefinitely. I just choose not to because it's there.
Hey Ricky!👋
I sure hope you didn't do this during the Ridiculous Heat wave we've been having here in San Diego!
I'm in Chula Vista and it has been Brutal!🫠😁
Mike in San Diego.🌞🎸🚀🖖
I want to take your challenge up to 84 hours with 3EV. I am in Los Angeles.
What is your opinion of the Anker E10 after this test?
So its not really about the solar system and batteries, its more about what we do with the power…all the in-efficient devices of which we just designed to go without any or low consideration about doing it efficiently….we can do better…maybe we are just a bit lazy…..humans are the Achilles heal….we can do it better….we can do it differently.
"as of right now we're over 90 93% completely 100% off-grid" bro what? That's when you know someone is bullshitting.
Those batteries are so expensive. If people will risk a home invasion to steal a cheap TV, just imagine what lengths they would go to when it comes to stealing multi-thousand dollar batteries that are easy to unplug, easy to pull from the house, and certainly are in demand. Maybe Anker can brick them like Musk's batteries?
I have 100kwh. So the only times I get low is when I and others charge our EVs too much for my 25kw of solar to keep up, but I am about to install another 10kw
Do this test in January, or in another state like Washington, Michigan, or New York. I think the results will be much different. Maybe do a Collab with Undecided's Matt Farrell.
What’s the app being used on your tablet?
What is the cost of that system. I realize you are sponsored by anchor so what would the retail be? You also have solar to recharge. What is the total cost of that system.? What does the system repay you when it makes more than you need( on a rainy day that doesn't provide solar does your ac/ heat pump run?
god this was dumb.
I remember when I did testing off the grid little over ten years ago. Twenty six thousand watts of panels , seventy six kilowatt hours , batteries , twenty six thousand watts of inverting power. 10 years ago, there wasn't much out there for plugging play batteries converted to forty eight volt segments.
All your episodes are so interesting to watch as I am from electrical background. Keep building such stuff. My request is – can you make a similar setup by combining two clean/renewable sources like BESS with solar and wind (or) SMRs. Correct me if I am wrong.
I was truly off-grid for eleven days when Katrina's remnants passed through town. Couldn't even shower, as I had an electric cistern pump.
It was like camping. In fact, I had to use my camp stove, as gas was never run to the house.
I actually enjoyed not having stuff, the sky was dark, and I read by candle light.
Is this a competition between your DPUX and the Anker E10?