LAS VEGAS—Elon Musk once said that if you wake up believing the future will be better, it’s a bright day. Walking into CES in Las Vegas for the first time ever this week, I expected that brightness. What I found instead was uneven lighting, particularly in the area that concerned me the most: consumer-grade energy storage and solar generation.
My interest is personal. More frequent and intense storms in North Carolina, where I live, have been disrupting our power in the summers and winters. I’m also working from the road a lot and need power for my electronics. So I’ve researched ways of generating and storing my own power, all while watching the tech’s acceleration—especially in the East.
It was hard to ignore the pull of what was emerging from Shenzhen.
At CES, the Chinese big-brand booths felt like the kind of morning Musk was talking about: loud, confident, unapologetic. The tech they were showing off was light-years ahead of anything shipping from US borders. I couldn’t find any US companies, such as Goal Zero (recently acquired by BioLite), at CES, an absence that told its own story.
Ever since my days as a young engineer, I’ve been told to root for the US. To buy American. Unfortunately, the industry is floundering or barely there, especially in the consumer market segment for people like me who want portable power options or for those looking to go completely off-grid.
At CES, the confident visions and sense of momentum were all coming from the East. It was hard to ignore the pull of what was emerging from Shenzhen.
While the US Retreats, China Goes All-In
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill dramatically accelerates the elimination of tax credits for renewable energy. The 30% federal solar tax credit for homeowners was terminated on Dec. 31, disincentivizing American production and investment. Trump also signed an executive order to eliminate federal subsidies for “unreliable” green energy sources, including solar.
The Chinese government, on the other hand, has gone all-in on solar, battery, wind, and hydroelectric technologies. Solar panels, both residential and portable, have decreased in price by approximately 90% over the past decade, largely due to China’s large-scale manufacturing capabilities. The conversion efficiency (the percentage of harvested sunlight converted into actual electricity) averages around 25%, up from 19% last decade.
Simultaneously, LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery production has gone from a modest market share in 2010 to around 94% of global capacity. Chinese manufacturers, such as BYD and CATL, have risen to international dominance as a result.
How Portable Power Improves My Life
Two years ago, I sold my home-built battery inverter system, which I carried in my truck to harvest solar power, store it in a 12-volt DC battery bank, and convert it back to usable 120V AC power. I replaced it with a modern, integrated EcoFlow Delta 2 Max, an all-in-one portable power pack that boasts an integrated 2,400-watt AC inverter and a 2,048-watt-hour battery storage capacity. It features multiple charging options, with up to 1,000 watts of DC solar input and up to 1,800 watts of AC charging from a wall socket.
(Credit: Michael Lydick)
I’ve loaded the Delta 2 Max into my Land Cruiser behind the rear fold-down seat. I run a solar power line from a Lesun solar panel custom-cut for the vehicle’s hood. It produces about 65 watts during the day, which keeps the Delta 2 Max charged when I’m not using the truck regularly.
(Credit: Michael Lydick)
I run an AC line from the Land Cruiser’s integrated inverter to charge the battery as I’m driving. It provides juice to my Starlink Mini and my HP Dragonfly laptop. In addition, it powers the 12-volt Dometic 35-liter refrigerator, which my wife uses to transport food when we travel to the Outer Banks, where prices in the local grocery can be nearly double what they are on the mainland.
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The View From the CES Floor: Dazzling Innovations
Given the importance of the Delta 2 Max in my life, my first stop at CES was the booth for EcoFlow, a China-based company. What I found simply amazed me. On display was everything from a 10,000-milliamp-hour magnetic phone charger to a modular, whole-home battery-powered inverter system with AC and solar inputs. The latter is one of the first consumer energy systems that collapses the gap between portable power, home backup, and grid-scale thinking into something a homeowner can actually buy, install, and live with.
(Credit: Michael Lydick)
Next, I met with the team at Jackery—a US firm owned by the Chinese tech company Shenzhen Hello Tech Energy—and found an equally expansive line of lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries and solar-generating options. I was impressed by the company’s pioneering XBC curved shingles, which are virtually indistinguishable from traditional terra cotta roof tiles. Solar tiles like these are the sort of product Musk championed many moons ago, but there has been little to no follow-through in the US.
(Credit: Michael Lydick)
Bluetti, a Shenzen-based company, also impressed me. I was particularly interested in its Pioneer Na Sodium‑Ion Portable Power Station—the first of its kind. The light-blue-colored battery has a 900-watt-hour capacity. Compared with lithium ions, sodium ions are larger and move more gently, causing less structural stress inside the battery’s crystal matrix. Sodium batteries consequently perform well in cold and hot environments and have many more charging cycles than lithium packs. Their only downside is the energy density—in the same-sized container, you get about half the power storage of lithium.
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(Credit: Michael Lydick)
Bluetti representatives confirmed what the other Eastern suppliers were saying: Their fastest-growing market segment was the modular whole-home backup system. Many consumers had started with a 2-kilowatt-hour system (like my EcoFlow Delta 2 Max) and scaled up to 10-, 20-, or 40-kilowatt-hour systems, using modules that can be plugged easily into a home’s existing infrastructure. As climate change worsens weather conditions, consumers want to ensure that if and when the grid goes down, they’ll still have power.
Bluetti, Jackery, and EcoFlow reps also said that customers are using whole-house versions of their systems to harness cheaper electricity during lower-cost rate times of day to help combat the rising price of power in the US.
The ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Mentality
I had one last visit on my list at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Tucked away in the Southern Hall was a newcomer to the scene: Aferiy, also out of Shenzen. The company is a self-described tier 2 manufacturer, with an emphasis on affordability. I appreciate its P280 Portable Power Station’s 2,048-watt-hour capacity and 2,000-watt inverter. It has similar specs to my Delta 2 Max, but was $400 cheaper.
Reps told me the company’s market share is growing in Europe, and it was just now beginning to get a foothold here in the States. I was impressed with their modern minimalist design and clear, easy-to-read LCDs. This was a well-thought-out product that shone bright.
(Credit: Michael Lydick)
I came away from CES with the impression of two countries with very different priorities. On our side, it’s “drill, baby, drill.” China, meanwhile, has nearly 650 gigawatts of installed solar capacity and adds more solar energy each year than the rest of the world combined.
I don’t think China is eating our lunch, per se. I think they made their own lunch. The nation invested in the kitchen, hired better chefs, refined its recipe year after year, and turned its offerings into something people like me genuinely crave. It really pains me to see the US fall so far behind.
About Our Expert
Experience
I’m a mechanical engineer with more than 30 years of experience in industrial automation and design, with projects ranging from individual inventors to international corporations. I hold credit on six patents and have never stopped looking at the world through the glasses of “What if we did this?”
I’ve been 3D printing for more than 15 years, designing in Autodesk Inventor and Fusion 360, and working across both SLA and FDM printers. My fabrication background spans machining, CNC programming, welding, and brazing. I’m also an Amateur Extra Class ham radio operator (AA2QO), with a focus on portable low-power HF communications.
I’m a curious Gen Xer, inspired early on by Jim Henson’s groundbreaking Creature Shop. His work showed me how imagination, engineering, and design could bring new worlds to life—a lesson I’ve carried through my career and personal passions.
I live in the foothills of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains with my wife of 30 years. From home base, I explore in my technology-laden 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, and when I’m not on the road, I develop predictive financial software for retail traders and investors.
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