Backup Power for Medical Devices in Bermuda | Solar Lion
The scenarios below are illustrative worked examples, not specific customers. The wattages and runtimes are real — drawn from manufacturer data and typical device specifications — so you can substitute your own equipment’s numbers. This page is about power planning. It is not medical advice, and nothing here replaces guidance from your clinician or your equipment supplier.
If someone in your home depends on powered medical equipment, an outage isn’t an inconvenience. It’s the one scenario you actually plan for.
But “medical equipment” covers devices with wildly different power appetites, and the difference matters more than almost anything else on this page. A CPAP machine and a home oxygen concentrator are not the same problem. Sizing for one and assuming you’ve covered the other is the most expensive mistake in this category.
The thing nobody tells you first: the switchover gap
Start here, because it changes what you buy and how you set it up.
A solar generator is not an uninterruptible power supply. If the power cuts and your device is plugged into the wall, it stops. You have to be awake, notice, and move the plug.
At 2pm that’s trivial. At 3am, with a CPAP, it means you wake up. For most CPAP users that’s an annoyance and nothing more. For someone on continuous oxygen it is not an annoyance, and it’s the reason this page recommends what it does further down.
There is a straightforward fix: run the device on the generator continuously, with the generator plugged into the wall. Both the Lion Safari and the Lion Summit support pass-through power, meaning they charge and supply at the same time. Your device draws from the battery, the battery draws from the grid, and when the grid disappears nothing changes at the device end. No gap, no waking up, nothing to unplug.
That single setup decision matters more than which model you buy.
What your equipment actually draws
Runtime comparison
How long each unit runs your medical equipment
Calculated against usable capacity after inverter losses. Find your device's wattage on the label on its back or underside — draw varies more between models than most people expect.
| Device | Draw | Lion Summit 665Wh | Most chosen Lion Safari 1,612Wh | Safari + XP 4,300Wh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPAP, humidifier off | 30W | 19 hrs | 46 hrs | 124 hrs |
| CPAP, standard | 50W | 12 hrs | 28 hrs | 75 hrs |
| CPAP, heated humidifier + tube | 90W | 6 hrs | 15 hrs | 41 hrs |
| Portable oxygen concentrator, pulse dose | 60W | 9 hrs | 23 hrs | 62 hrs |
| Home oxygen concentrator, 5L continuous | 350W | !1.5 hrs | !4 hrs | !10 hrs |
| Home oxygen concentrator, high output | 600W | Will not run | !2 hrs | !6 hrs |
| Nebuliser, 15-minute treatments | 150W | 15 treatments | 37 treatments | 99 treatments |
| Medication fridge, small | ~30W avg | 19 hrs | 46 hrs | 124 hrs |
| Feeding pump | 10W | 58 hrs | 140 hrs | 374 hrs |
- ✓ Comfortable runtime
- ! Short runtime — pair with cylinder backup
- ✗ Not suitable for this device
If you use a home oxygen concentrator, read this. Continuous-flow concentrators are a far heavier load than any other device on this list. Even a Safari with the XP gives you around ten hours — enough for most Bermuda outages, not for the long ones. Treat a battery as one layer of a plan alongside backup cylinders from your supplier and an agreed arrangement for a long outage. The Summit's 550W inverter cannot run higher-output units at all, and concentrator compressors surge on startup.
Usable capacity after inverter losses: Summit ~580Wh, Safari ~1,400Wh, Safari + XP ~3,740Wh. Figures are for the listed device running alone. This is power planning, not medical advice — confirm any backup arrangement with your clinician and equipment supplier.
Usable capacity after inverter losses: Summit ~580Wh, Safari ~1,400Wh, Safari + XP ~3,740Wh.
Read that table once more and the shape of the problem is obvious.
CPAP: comfortably solved
A CPAP is a light load, and this is where a solar generator is an unambiguously good answer.
A Lion Safari runs a standard CPAP for about 28 hours — three full nights without recharging. Add the Safari-XP and you’re at roughly 75 hours. A Lion Summit covers a single night with margin and weighs 18 pounds, which makes it the one that travels.
Two practical notes that will double your runtime:
Turn off the heated humidifier during an outage. It’s often the majority of the machine’s draw. A CPAP pulling 90W with heated humidification and heated tubing drops to around 30W without them. Same therapy, three times the runtime, one slightly less comfortable night.
Check whether your machine has a DC input. Many CPAPs do. Running it from the Safari’s 12V outlet rather than an AC outlet skips the inverter entirely and saves you another 10–15%.
Both units output pure sine wave power, which is what sensitive electronics require. That isn’t a premium feature here — it’s a prerequisite, and it’s worth confirming on any brand you compare.
Oxygen concentrators: read this carefully
This is where honest numbers matter more than a sales pitch.
A portable concentrator running pulse dose draws around 60W. That’s a manageable load — a Safari carries it about 23 hours.
A home concentrator delivering 5L/min continuous flow is a different machine entirely. It draws somewhere between 350W and 600W depending on model and flow rate, and it runs constantly. A Lion Safari gives you roughly four hours. A Safari with the XP gives you around ten.
Two things follow from that.
The Lion Summit is not suitable for a home concentrator. Its 550W inverter can’t handle higher-output units at all, and even where the running draw fits, concentrator compressors surge on startup and will likely trip it. The Safari’s 3,000W continuous and 6,000W surge is the minimum sensible specification here.
Even a Safari + XP is not a full-outage solution for continuous oxygen. Ten hours covers most Bermuda outages. It does not cover the long ones. If you or someone in your home is oxygen-dependent, a battery is one layer of a plan — alongside backup cylinders from your supplier, a charged portable concentrator, and an agreed arrangement for where to go if an outage runs long. Anyone who tells you a portable power station replaces that plan is selling you something.
We’d rather you buy the right size and know its limits than buy on a promise that fails at hour eleven.
Medication that needs refrigeration
Often overlooked, and easy. Insulin, certain biologics and some antibiotics need to stay cold.
A small medication fridge averaging 30W runs about 46 hours on a Safari. Your kitchen fridge averages closer to 50W once compressor cycling is accounted for, giving roughly 32 hours — worth knowing, because during an outage a full-size fridge with the door kept shut is often the safer place for medication than a small unit you keep opening.
Setting it up properly
- Find the actual wattage. It’s on the label on the back or underside of the device, or in the manual. Don’t guess and don’t rely on a figure for a similar model — draw varies more between models than people expect.
- Run it pass-through. Device into the generator, generator into the wall. No switchover gap, nothing to do at 3am.
- Test it before you need it. Run the device off the battery for an evening while the power is on. Confirm it starts, confirm it runs, and see the actual drain on the display rather than trusting a table.
- Recharge every six months if it’s sitting unused. A Safari holds its charge over a year, but the habit matters more than the battery does.
- Ask BELCO whether they keep a register of customers with medical equipment. Many utilities do. It’s a free phone call and worth making.
- Confirm with your supplier and your clinician. Some equipment has manufacturer guidance about backup power, and some has none. Ask before you rely on anything.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run a CPAP on a solar generator all night? Yes. A Lion Safari runs a standard CPAP for about 28 hours — roughly three nights. A Lion Summit covers a single night with margin. Switching off the heated humidifier will extend either figure substantially.
Will it run my oxygen concentrator? A portable pulse-dose concentrator, yes — around 23 hours on a Safari. A home continuous-flow concentrator is a much heavier load and gets roughly four hours on a Safari, ten with the Safari-XP added. Treat that as one layer of a plan, not the whole plan.
Does the power cut out when the outage starts? Only if the device is plugged into the wall. Run it through the generator continuously with the generator plugged in, and the changeover is seamless — the device never notices.
Is the power output safe for medical electronics? Both units produce pure sine wave output, which is what sensitive electronics need. Confirm your specific device’s requirements with its manufacturer.
Can I use it indoors, in a bedroom? Yes. These are batteries, not engines — no petrol, no exhaust, no carbon monoxide, and quiet enough to sit beside a bed.
What if it needs warranty service? You call us. The Safari and Safari-XP carry five years, the Summit one year, and claims are handled here on the island. Nothing gets shipped overseas at your expense — which matters more when the device is one you can’t do without for three weeks.
Work out your own numbers
Take the wattage off your equipment’s label and run it through WattWise. It’ll show you the hours you’d get from each unit with your actual load, not a generic one.
If you’d rather talk it through, get in touch — we’d sooner spend twenty minutes sizing this correctly than sell you a unit that comes up short.
