Goal Zero
Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC
The Sherpa 100AC is built to a rule, not a job: 94.7 watt-hours, under the airline limit, a real socket, two pounds. It finishes no scene, an afternoon asks a quarter more than it holds, and lost all seven head-to-heads. Few owners; one’s dumped its charge twice in a cold snap, swapped by Goal Zero inside a week.
95 Wh · 100 W · 2.1 lb · 500 cycles · 9 head-to-heads
682
Power Score · Device Hub
- 95 Wh
- capacity
- 100 W
- output
- 2.1 lb
- weight
- 500
- rated cycles
Should you buy it right now?
Fair price today: $250 is what it normally sells for. It clears 0 of 7 real-world jobs and wins 0 of 9 matchups.
Real-world jobs
0 of 7
Falls short on Weekend Camping, 8-Hour Blackout, CPAP Overnight, Remote Workday, Tailgate Party, Van Life Daily and Afternoon Off-Grid
Head-to-head record
0–9
9 adjudicated matchups
Verdicts by Wenny Zheng and the Test Desk·Figures computed 2026-10-04
01 · Six real-world jobs
What the Sherpa 100AC actually runs
The load profiles every comparison on the site is scored on, computed for this unit alone: energy needed against the usable tank after inverter losses, and whether the inverter holds and starts the biggest single load.
Weekend Camping
Falls short2 nights · Two nights off-grid with essential comfort
2,100Wh needed · 2609% of the tank · 2,020Wh short
Peak 75W: starts and holds
8-Hour Blackout
Falls short8 hours · Keep the essentials running through a night without power
1,645Wh needed · 2044% of the tank · 1,565Wh short
Peak 150W: starts and holds
CPAP Overnight
Falls short8 hours · Sleep therapy without interruption — the #1 medical use case
320Wh needed · 398% of the tank · 240Wh short
Peak 40W: starts and holds
Remote Workday
Falls short8 hours · Full work day off-grid without power anxiety
910Wh needed · 1131% of the tank · 830Wh short
Peak 60W: starts and holds
Tailgate Party
Falls short4 hours · Game day power for the crew
670Wh needed · 832% of the tank · 590Wh short
Peak 400W: cannot start
Van Life Daily
Falls short24 hours · A full day of mobile living — the ultimate endurance test
4,685Wh needed · 5820% of the tank · 4,605Wh short
Peak 150W: starts and holds
Afternoon Off-Grid
Falls shortan afternoon · Phones and a speaker at the park, beach, or campsite — the small-unit job description
100Wh needed · 124% of the tank · 20Wh short
Peak 30W: starts and holds
02 · Head-to-head record
0 wins in 9 written matchups
Every matchup is a full verdict scored on the six jobs above plus price, longevity and portability. This is the set shoppers search for, not a random sample.
Win share
0–9
- vs Goal Zero0–3
- vs BLUETTI0–2
- vs Jackery0–2
- vs Anker0–1
- vs EcoFlow0–1
losesSherpa 100AC vs Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD
197 searches reached this matchup
losesSherpa 100AC vs Goal Zero Yeti 300
33 searches reached this matchup
losesSherpa 100AC vs Goal Zero Yeti 200X
29 searches reached this matchup
losesSherpa 100AC vs Anker 535 PowerHouse
26 searches reached this matchup
losesSherpa 100AC vs EcoFlow DELTA Pro
23 searches reached this matchup
losesSherpa 100AC vs BLUETTI Apex 300
22 searches reached this matchup
03 · From the verdicts
Who it is for, and when a rival won instead
Each line is lifted from a written matchup where it decided the verdict, and links to the page it came from. Repeated across many matchups means it is the unit’s signature, not one author’s opinion.
Buy the Sherpa 100AC if…
You fly with your power. 94.7Wh clears the carry-on limit and 187Wh doesn't [A1], and that one line outranks every other number here.
Decided 4 matchups · read one →
You want one charger for the whole bag. It fills over the same 100W USB-C brick that charges the laptop, so there's no second wall wart to pack [A3].
Decided 3 matchups · read one →
You want the thing you carry to be forgettable. 2.1 lbs in a laptop sleeve is forgettable. 5 lbs on a shoulder is not.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
The flyer who needs a carry-on-legal battery: at 94.7Wh the Sherpa clears the 100Wh airline limit [B1] and the 535 doesn't, full stop.
A rival won when…
The buyer who intends to still own this in a decade. 3,500 rated cycles is 9.6 years of cycling it every single day, and it takes expansion batteries if the need grows.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
You want the most watt-hours per dollar available at this size and you aren't flying anywhere. That's this one, and it's also the cheaper one.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
The weekend camper or blackout-prepper running lights, a fan, a router, or a CPAP: the 535's 512Wh and 500W cover the low-draw nights, and its 3,000-cycle pack will still be doing it a decade in.
Anyone charging a laptop, phone, and a small AC device at a campsite who'd rather carry one 16.7-lb unit than ration a pocket battery.
04 · Price history
What the Sherpa 100AC actually sells for
The number on the buy button, read twice a day, one point per day. Never the sticker, never a “was” price.
Read from goalzero.com twice a day since July 17 · 80 days
Carried on 100% of days tracked · dips reach $250
Built from the Oct 4, 7 PM UTC read.
$250
Usual price
100% of days tracked
$250
Best we've seen
October 4
$250
Today
at usual
$250
Highest seen
0 days above usual
How to read this
- Usual is the price the unit carried most of the time, tested for how long it held rather than how often we looked. A weekend promotion cannot move it.
- Best is the lowest price we have read on the store itself. Typed coupon codes, member-only prices and marketplace listings are not counted; anything applied automatically at checkout is.
- A gap in the line is a day we could not read a price. We never draw across one, and we never show the store’s own “was” price.
Method on the methodology page.
Share the numbers
Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC: usually $250, best $250 (Oct 4), today $250 on goalzero.com. Tracked twice a day since Jul 17. https://stationarena.com/products/goal-zero-sherpa-100ac#price-history
Alerts for the Sherpa 100AC
One email when it drops below $250, comes back in stock, or a newer model in this line appears. Nothing else.
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Black Friday · 38 days out
Will the Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC go on sale for Black Friday?
Price to beat $250Nobody knows until Goal Zero moves, but in 80 days we have tracked it, it has never been discounted, so any real cut would be a first. We read the store twice a day, and the moment it drops it shows on our Black Friday deals page.
05 · Voices
What 3 owner reports say about the Sherpa 100AC
Owner reports are paraphrased from public YouTube comments and each links to its source; reviewer consensus is counted from cited excerpts, never quoted; our own verdicts are quoted. Specs on this page never come from any of them.
- 67%
- positive
- 2
- self-declared owners
- 0
- measured reports
- 2
- videos
- 42%
- Goal Zero norm
- 2019–2020
- reporting period
2 for, 1 against
tenure rarely stated
numbers, not impressions
2 channels
across 448 reports
2019-01-13 to 2020-06-13
Weighted read
56% positive weighted · corpus 51% · about typical
Raw counts reward whoever writes most, and people write when something breaks. Here each report is weighted by what the complaint costs a buyer (a failure outranks an app gripe) and by its evidence (a measured owner report outranks a shopper’s opinion), then compared with every report in the corpus.
- Failures, returns, support1 against · 1 for
- How it performs0 against · 0 for
- How it feels to use0 against · 1 for
The complaints that matter
- Dumped its power twice during a cold snap even though temps never fell below 50F. source ↗
By topic, against the Goal Zero norm
Bars count this unit’s reports; the tick is the share of positive reports for the same topic across every Goal Zero unit in the corpus.
- Weight & portability100% positive · brand 31%1
- Durability & failures0% positive · brand 37%1
- Support & warranty100% positive · brand 54%1
left: negative · right: positive
When the reports were made
What owners praise
What owners complain about
Durability & failuresowner
Dumped its power twice during a cold snap even though temps never fell below 50F.
DIY Solar Power with Will Prowsesource
Reviewer consensus
4/4 positive excerpts, 6 sources
Airline-legal 94.7Wh, a real 100W AC port, wireless charging, and 2-lb travel portability are the standout points.
campingsolar.us · matadornetwork.com · gearjunkie.com · shotkit.com · packandtrail.com · the-gadgeteer.com · researched 2026-07-10
Goal Zero, brand-wide
42% positive across 448 reports. The brand-wide complaint is price & value (77% negative); the brand-wide praise is build quality (69% positive).
From the test desk
“Buy the Sherpa 100PD unless you specifically need to plug something into a wall outlet.”
“Take the Yeti 300 unless the unit has to fly.”
“The Yeti 200X is $220 (last listed price) against the Sherpa 100AC's $250, and it holds 187Wh against 94.7Wh.”
06 · Where each number comes from
Spec sheet, in four cards
Every field carries its source: green is the manufacturer’s own document, blue was adjudicated after sources disagreed, grey is the catalogue as imported. Then compare it line by line with the units people actually weigh it against.
Battery
94.7
Capacity (Wh)
- ChemistryNMC
- Charging Cycles500
- Battery Expansion FeasibilityNo
Power out
100
Output (W)
- Surge Peak150W
- AC Outlets1
- 240V Outlets0
- 30A RV Outlets0
- 12V Car Outlets0
- USB-C Ports2
- USB-A Ports2
- USB-C Charging Outputs100W
Charging
60
Solar Input (W)
- Solar Input TypeStandard (8mm)
Living with it
2.1
Weight (lbs)
- UPSNo
- App ControlNo
- Warranty (Years)2
Compare it with
Sherpa 100AC vs
leads on 3 · trails on 2
| Spec | Sherpa 100AC | Sherpa 100PD | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual price | $250 | $200 ● | +$50 |
| Capacity (Wh) | 94.7 | 94.7 | 0 |
| Output (W) | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| Surge (W) | 150W | N/A | |
| Rated cycles | 500 | 500 | 0 |
| Solar input (W) | 60 ● | 20 | +40 |
| Weight (lb) | 2.1 | 1.5 ● | +0.6 |
| Noise (dB) | N/A | N/A | |
| AC outlets | 1 ● | 0 | +1 |
| USB-C ports | 2 ● | 1 | +1 |
| Warranty (yr) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Chemistry | NMC | NMC | |
| UPS | No | No |
● marks the better figure where direction is clear. Price is each unit’s usual price.
Read the full verdict →08 · At its usual price
Cost of ownership
Cycle life is the manufacturer’s rating to 80% capacity; the lifetime figure is that rating times the nameplate capacity.
$2.64
per Wh
at $250
$5.28
per lifetime kWh
47 kWh over 500 cycles
1.4 yr
if cycled daily
5 yr at weekends only
2 yr
warranty
$125 per covered year
09 · From the matchups
Questions people ask
What's the real difference between the Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC and 100PD?
The 100AC has a 100W AC inverter with a 150W surge rating, so it can power anything with a standard wall plug; the 100PD drops that inverter entirely and charges only through USB-C and USB-A. Everything else — the 94.7Wh capacity, the 500-cycle life, the 2-year warranty — is identical. The 100AC also accepts up to 60W of solar versus the 100PD's 20W.
Can I take the Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC or the Yeti 300 on a plane?
The Sherpa 100AC, yes. At 94.7Wh it sits under the FAA's 100Wh ceiling for batteries carried in the cabin, which is precisely why Goal Zero built it to that number [A1]. The Yeti 300's 297Wh is nearly three times the limit, so it isn't going in a carry-on. Confirm with your carrier before you travel, since airlines layer their own rules on top of the federal one.
Is the Yeti 300 worth $100 more than the Sherpa 100AC?
If it isn't flying, yes, and not mainly because it's bigger. You're buying 4,000 rated cycles against 500 and five years of warranty against two, which is why it works out far cheaper per unit of energy delivered across its life. If it is flying, that extra $100 buys you a battery you aren't allowed to bring.
Can you take the Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC on a plane?
Yes, and that's most of why it exists. At 94.7Wh it sits under the 100Wh limit for lithium packs in a carry-on [A1]. The Yeti 200X's 187Wh is nearly double that, which makes it a ground-only unit no matter how much more battery it has.
Isn't the Sherpa 100AC the cheaper option?
Only at the register, $250 against $300. Over its life it's far pricier: the Sherpa works out to about $5.28 per kilowatt-hour of energy delivered versus the 535's $0.20, because it's rated for 500 charge cycles to the 535's 3,000. You'd replace it several times before the 535 slows down.
Some links are affiliate links; they never change the price you pay or which price we show. Owner reports are paraphrased from public comments and link to their source.