The designer of the IndoorGenerator power units just dropped by here at Sun a few minutes ago. Their products are really interesting, especially for those of us down here in the Hurricane Belt.
Their product is, in a sense, like a giant UPS. Sealed maintenance-free lead-acid batteries are paired to a power inverter/charger unit in a nice cabinet. It’s also possible to get a unit from them which features a solar charge controller, and an outdoor rack to pair a couple of nice big solar panels to the system for off-grid operation!
Now, you see where I said “nice cabinet”? I mean it. Go look at their page for the PowerCubes – they look like a piece of fine furniture. You could use one as a nice end table or coffee table.
They also make some less aesthetically fancy but very functional UPS systems for commercial and office use. He was talking about using Outback Power inverter/charger units inside some of his systems, and those would be awesome for such use – they produce very clean power and transfer back and forth perfectly.
For those of you urban cliff dwellers, they also have a very nice looking balcony unit that unintrusively sits out there and can be wired to solar panels.
He’s going to bring over one of their standard series units in a couple of weeks for us to play with. I look forward to putting it through its paces and brewing a pot of coffee or two…