i wouldnt throw the baby out with the bath water...the idea of the jackery is really good and there are quite a few other brands like it that are cheaper, but still around $1000-1200. a lithium battery of that size alone will be around $600-700 and a decent inverter might be another $100, so it's already getting up there in price. i have a small jackery that i really like and it did come in very handy when hurricane Ida hit us and we were without power for 3 weeks. the small jackery was easily charged with my 200w panels i have permanently mounted to the camp trailer.
gas generators are great, and the only option i had for running an a/c at night was a gas generator. however, for rest of my electrical needs, a large jackery like the one the OP reviewed would be very handy. when the storm hit, it wiped out power all over the area, so gas stations were closed and fuel was impossible to get without driving a couple hours and waiting in line for even longer. new orleans is an hour away and some of the stations were open and the fools were shooting each other for line cutting. i'd pay extra just to not have to deal with that kind of mess. we needed power to charge phones, batteries for flashlights, radio, etc and its not practical to run a generator for such a small load, anyway, so solar was a great option to have.
i paid $1200 for a 9kw genny and $500 for a 2kw inverter generator, so i'm already spending money and have to buy gas and oil and then store the huge things in my shop and then hope they work when an emergency happens. with the jackery type setup, it is lighter and smaller to store and nothing else to buy for it to work....just sun and we have plenty of that here.
although we were still at home, we were esentially "off grid" after the storm hit and its amazing just how much stuff we rely on that is reliant on electrical power. based on what i paid for generators and fuel and the hassle of getting fuel and storing it, etc....this jackery set up is pretty good. i think the $1500 is a bit much and $1000 is closer to home. there are several brands on amazon that are around the $1000 mark and if i had to get all the components and assemble them myself and then make a wooden box for a case, i would be around the $1000 mark and it wouldnt look as nice, so personally, i would buy a like item for a $1000.
i have solar panels permanently mounted to my camp trailer and on top of my tundra's camper shell, so for travel and camping, i can plug in during the day while driving and be fully charged at night when i need power. i made my own set up using an AGM battery and it works great is a lot cheaper, but i definitely want to upgrade to a lithium battery and that is where the bulk of the cost lies. for off grid camping....i would definitely go with a set up like the OP reviewed. the price of the jackery is high, but if i was given one or even got one at half price, i would definitely use the hell out of it
