Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
All of these ports are the same as the power outlets in this class, and the same as before – although the 140-W USB port is new and nice to have. Where the new Yeti 1500 shines is the 12-V charging options, which include a 12-V power port that can output 30 amps. It’s compatible with most electric systems and crossovers, meaning you can plug the Yeti 1500 directly into your home’s 12-V power supply. There is also an Anderson recording output and a cigarette lighter connector available.
There are three ways to charge the Yeti 1500. There’s AC wall power, which can charge up to 1,800 watts, taking you from 0 to 100 percent in less than an hour. (There is a switch to reduce this to 1,500 W if you are connected to a camping chair, which cannot handle the full pull.) You can also connect the Yeti to a max of 900 watts of solar panels. There are both 8-mm inputs and HPP inputs Goal Zero solar panels. You don’t need Goal Zero panels, though; you can use anything as long as you get the right adapters and stick to the payment limits (I use adapter like this one to install almost every solar in every station/charger). The back of the charger is where you’ll find the base case for permanent installation in a car or small off-grid home.
Goal Zero’s Yeti app lets you control the machine from your phone, possibly even from the other side of the world if you have a battery connected to your Wi-Fi. I chose to connect directly via Bluetooth, bypassing the network, since I don’t always have my Starlink network with me when running my camper. This allows me to change all types of output and stop, get the battery status like charge, current capacity (by type), change the charge history (there are four), and other charge and discharge history. The result is not fully displayed with a direct connection as it would be with the Internet, and I found that it was often difficult to download, but overall I found that the program did everything I wanted it to do. I really like the ability to turn off the 12-V output in bed at night, shutting off all power to remove any output from the battery.
The Only One
Photo: Scott Gilbertson
I’ve relied on the Yeti 1500 quad as a power source for many years now. I have run away from everything electronic devices to space heaters to large refrigerators, etc backup for my RV when I needed to do something to the built system. All in all it never let me down, and in my experience it strikes a good balance between portability and power. It is heavy, but the two handles make it easy to carry. I’ve also tried the 1000X and 500X models, which although lighter and smaller, lack some features that make the 1500 great.
