Powersafe Porta-Solar UPS Review: Backup With No Running Costs

In most parts of India, power cuts are a common occurrence. As technology has spread, the demand for power at all hours has grown. Keeping that in mind, Kunhar Peripherals has designed a UPS that can be charged by the sun. With abundant sunlight but not enough electricity in India, a solar-powered portable UPS seems like a product that many would want. But does the Porta-Solar provide enough power to justify an investment of Rs. 5,000? We used it for a couple of weeks to find out.

Design
At first glance, the Powersafe Porta-Solar might appear a little intimidating. It looks like it belongs in an engineer's workshop rather than a home. It's not the kind of product you should start using without reading the manual. For example, we couldn't figure out at first what the three LEDs on the front of the UPS were supposed to indicate as their icons are not self-explanatory.

The Porta-Solar has a solar charging port on the front along with three USB ports, a button to turn on the UPS, and another which controls the three two-pin plug points on its back. There's also three-pin inlet on the back which lets you charge the UPS via domestic AC power.

The Porta-Solar is quite compact for a UPS, but looks can be deceptive and it weighs a surprising 3kg. Its portability is further diminished by the solar panel, which takes up quite a bit of space. The solar panel isn't included in the package, so you will have to buy it separately.

Performance
Powersafe says the UPS is rated at 70W and recommends that you buy a solar panel of at least 24W to charge it with. We tested it with a 36W solar panel. This product is clearly meant to be used as a secondary power backup solution. You can't expect it to replace an inverter or a generator.

The UPS takes a long time to charge using solar power. Powersafe recommends that you let it charge for at least 8 hours. During our tests, we found that it took more than that to go from zero to full charge on AC power. Charging time increased even further when we tried using the solar panel.

That wouldn't have been much of an issue if the UPS had been able to provide sufficient power backup. We found that it ran out of power after we charged three smartphones (an iPhone 5s, a Nexus 5 and an HTC 8S). If you use a basic feature phone, then you might have enough power to charge it four or five times. The company says that you will get around 6-7 hours of power, but that might only be the case if you use a low-power CFL.

We tested it with a 15W bulb and found that the UPS could power it for 5 hours 40 minutes on a full charge. While this could be very useful in rural areas where load shedding is frequent, we felt that the battery backup time isn't sufficient. If you want to power a bulb and charge a phone at the same time, the backup isn't going to last too long. Note that this UPS wasn't able to power a 60W bulb. It's meant to be used with CFLs, but these cost Rs. 200-300 each, which will add to the up-front cost.

All this doesn't mean the product isn't useful. We found that its backup time was sufficient for short power cuts. During one of our tests, we had an hour-long outage at night. We managed to keep a Wi-Fi router running during this time and also charged a phone. Similarly, this UPS might be useful to take along with you if you are visiting a place with erratic electricity supply.

Verdict
The Powersafe Porta-Solar is targeted at rural consumers, and its ability to be charged using solar power will be useful in those parts. Its main appeal lies in the fact that it can be used at near-zero operating cost. Thanks to solar power, once you buy the UPS and a solar panel, there are no additional running expenses. At Rs. 5,000 though, we expected better performance. The solar panel costs around Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 more, further driving the price up. The long charging time and relatively low power capacity restrict its appeal. However, if you are looking for a backup power source that runs at near-zero cost, the Porta-Solar is a decent product.