How Does the Inergy Flex Solar Generator Stack Up Against the Rest?

Inergy Flex 1500Inergy is a company that has made a lot of waves in the solar industry. When they came out with the Kodiak, it blew the competition out of the water. The only thing close was the Goal Zero Yeti 1250, but it really wasn’t a competition. The Kodiak was powerful and light, being one of the first companies to use lithium-ion batteries. After the Kodiak, Inergy released the Apex. It was completely overhyped and unfortunately it under-delivered. You can read my review about it here.

The newest model is the Flex 1500 Power Station. It has not hit the market yet, so this review will just be looking over the listed specs and features. When it hits the market, I will do a more thorough review and see if it actually performs according to what they say. People have been asking me how it compares to my favorite and most recommended solar generator, the Point Zero Titan. It shares some very similar features, but can it compete with the best?

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Battery Capacity

Battery capacity determines how long your system can run electronics before it needs to be recharged. The bigger capacity, the longer it will last. More battery capacity comes at a cost, both financially and in terms of weight. Batteries are the heaviest component of a solar generator system. When I am looking at purchasing a solar generator, I look at what I need it to do, and then buy the generator that meets my needs.

Inergy Flex SpecsThe Flex 1500 uses a 1069Wh 12V Lithium-ion battery. Most companies use a model number equivalent to the battery capacity, but in this case, it’s called the 1500 because of the inverter size. Like the previous models, they’ve stayed just above that 1000Wh mark. I’m curious why they haven’t made it bigger than that. A lot of new companies are pushing between 1500-3000Wh, and in my opinion that just makes a much more capable system.

I’m curious to see during testing to see how much battery capacity it actually has. When electricity is converted from DC power (solar) to AC power, there is always loss due to inefficiencies. A lot of companies advertise the nominal size of the battery, not the actual. The only generator I know of that I can actually use the full listed amount of the battery is the Titan which has 2000wh of usable battery capacity.

The Flex 1500 battery is detachable from the rest of the system. This is a really nice feature because when the battery wears out, I can just buy a replacement battery and I don’t have to send the whole unit back to the manufacturer for them to put a new battery in. I can also have a backup battery on hand to switch out with the old one when it wears out.

Point Zero was the company that came up with the detachable battery idea. How does their battery compare? The Titan uses a 2000Wh Lithium-ion battery, and you can actually use all 2000Wh. That is because the battery is actually larger than the number advertised, so when they say 2000Wh that is actually what I am going to get. So one Titan battery is equal to two Flex batteries.

 

Expandability

Flex With Expanded BatteriesWhat really makes the detachable battery cool is that I can add multiple batteries to each other to expand my overall battery capacity. Now, I’m not going to sugar coat it here. It appears Inergy has blatantly copied the Point Zero Titan battery stacking design. While it is unfortunate to see another company copy another company’s design, it is a very well thought out system and I love how it works. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.

By expanding my battery capacity, I can lengthen the time I can operate my electrical appliances before I have to recharge. My biggest concern is always looking at if I have enough battery to run my appliances through the night until I have sunlight to recharge those batteries. Having the ability to have more or less batteries for any given application is a nice feature, and one I hope more companies will incorporate in the future.

The Flex 1500 and the Titan are essentially equal in this department. But I have to give the edge to Titan for being the ones who actually came up with the idea.

 

Weight/Portability

The weight and portability of the solar generator is an important consideration depending on application. I’m not that concerned about the portability of an off-grid cabin solar generator setup because once it is setup, it isn’t moving. For my RV, camping, and road trip needs, I want something that I can easily load into my rig and not break my back doing so.

The overall weight of the Flex 1500 is 30 pounds, and if you detach the battery both halves way 14 pounds and 16 pounds. That is very light and makes it very easy to move around. Its footprint is 14”x9”x8” so it doesn’t take up much floor space either.

The Titan is about double this number. 66 pounds for the overall system, 31 pounds and 35 pounds if you split them up. Double the battery size, double the weight. 30 pounds give or take is still easily maneuverable, so they both are great in this area.

That means that the Titan has double the weight, as well as double the inverter capacity and double the battery capacity.

One really nice feature of the Inergy Flex 1500 batteries is that you don’t have to calibrate them to be the same voltage before stacking them together. Or at least that’s what they say. You can stack the batteries together safely even if they’re at different voltages. The Titan batteries need to be within .5v of each other when connecting them. However, I only have to do that once with the Titan since I’m using multiple batteries and those batteries always stay together, they never go out of balance from each other after the initial setup.

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Charge Speed

Flex Charge SpeedCharge speed is important to look at, because if I can’t recharge my battery all the way in one day, then I don’t have a system that can operate day to day. It’s like if I was driving my car daily but I couldn’t afford to fill up the gas tank all the way. Eventually, it will run empty and I’ll be stranded.

I want a solar system that can recharge daily so that I go into the evening with a full battery, meaning I don’t have to worry about my appliances turning off leaving me in the dark. A day in solar terms is the window of optimal sunlight, typically 5-6 hours.

The Flex 1500 can handle 600W of solar input, meaning that it could recharge a battery in a little less than two hours, well under the 5-6 hour window. If I added a second battery, I could still charge up to 2000Wh+ in around 4 hours. I like to leave a little cushion room because conditions will not always be perfect. Clouds, shade, smoke, and other factors can make for imperfect conditions and it might take longer.

I take the “600w charge speed” with a grain of salt because they had said that about the Kodiak as well as the Apex and it wasn’t actually 600w of solar input that it could handle. In fact, many customers fried their Kodiaks trying to connect 600w of solar panels because the charge port could really only handle 30 amps max. And when 6 panels are connected in parallel together the amperage can reach around 36 amps. That caused many people dangerous situations with their Kodiaks melting wires and components.

I can also charge the Flex 1500 by way of AC wall outlet or with a car charger. Using the wall charger, it can charge in about 11 hours. Not the fastest, but not the slowest either. The car charger can charge in about the same time. Car charging is very nice when road-tripping and RVing to be able to charge between destinations.

The Titan has a max solar input of 1000W, almost twice as much as the Flex 1500. And if I add a battery, I can increase my solar input by another 1000W. To be fair, the Flex 1500 has a MPPT Supercharger that allows me to charge up to 1200 watts, but it’s an extra add on that costs $500. No add on needed for the Titan. The Titan is really just double that of the Flex 1500. Battery is twice as big, and the solar input is twice as much.

The nice feature of the Flex 1500 is that you can add as many MPPT Superchargers as you’d like. Essentially, for every battery you can add another MPPT Supercharger if you’d like. It does get very pricey at that point but then the charge times from solar stay very low.

The Titan has a max solar input of 2000w but I have found that to be plenty even for my off-grid cabin that runs 100% year-round with the Titan.

 

Life Cycle

Solar generators have made huge improvements in capability since going to Lithium-ion batteries over lead acid batteries. Lithium-ion offers many benefits, one of which is the increased lifespan of the battery. This is referred to as life cycles, and it’s the number of times a battery can go from 100% to 0% and then back to 100%. After a certain number of life cycles, the battery will start to lose its overall capacity, usually down to about 80%. I want to buy something that has a high number of life cycles so that I know I can rely on my system for years to come.

Inergy Flex CookingIt was tricky to find the life cycles of the Flex 1500. It isn’t listed in the specs or features of the main listing. Under the FAQs they say, “The cycle life of your battery is totally dependent on how you use it. Your Flex Battery could last anywhere from 400 cycles up to 2,000 cycles or 10 years if you use it to run moderate loads and take good care of it.” I’m not sure what that means. Everybody else posts an actual number of life cycles I can expect from their system.

The Titan actually is listed as having 2000 Life Cycles. The way they get this high number is by oversizing the battery, but then limiting how much of it I can actually use. This means I never actually drain the battery to 0% which means the battery lasts longer. Very smart move by Point Zero.

Number of plugin ports

The Flex 1500 has a good amount of ports and outlets. 6 110/120V wall outlet plugs, 2 DC ports, 2 USB A, and 2 USB C ports. My only complaint would be that it seems like the wall outlet plugs are too close together. If I was using a power cord with the box on the end, it would most likely make the outlets on either side unusable.

The Titan also has 6 110/120V wall outlet plugs, and it has 4 DC ports which gives me the option of either DC power or I can use converters for USB type plugs. The spacing on the wall outlet plugs is much better in my opinion and there is no overlap with a box style power cord.

I should also add here that the Titan has a switch to run either AC power or DC power only. If I only needed DC power, I can run it more efficiently by flipping the DC power only switch. The Flex 1500 has a whole different power station dedicated to DC power only. I much prefer the simpleness of a switch versus a whole new system.

Inverter Size

The inverter determines how much power I can draw from the battery, which determines what kind of equipment I can use. The bigger the inverter, the bigger the equipment. The Flex 1500 has a 1500W continuous Pure Sine Wave inverter with a 3000W surge capacity.

The previous model, the Apex, also had a 1500W inverter but the battery could only output around 850Wh. This made it rather pointless to have an inverter that big if it is limited by the battery. Inergy claims the Flex 1500 doesn’t have this issue as it can run 1500W continuously from 100% of the battery down to 20%.

The Titan on the other hand, just like the battery and solar input, is twice as big. 3000W continuous Pure Sine Wave inverter with a 6000W surge capacity. This allows me to run power equipment like chop saws, welders, etc. Just like in my vehicles, I prefer the power of a V8. The Titan has been tested and can actually draw 3000W continuously until the battery is at 0%. That is amazing.

RV Connectivity

A dedicated RV 30-amp style plug allows me to plug the solar generator in to the RV and power everything, without having to run power cords everywhere. It is a really nice feature that I like to have. The Flex 1500 does not have this feature. Their previous models, the Kodiak and the Apex, did have one. It wasn’t great, because even though it was a 30-amp style plug it could only pull 12.5 amps.

The Titan does have a dedicated RV 30-amp style plug that can pull 25 amps. Plenty of power to run my RV, and because of the size of the inverter could even run an AC unit.

Customer Support and Warranty

I want to know that I’ll be taken care of when I buy an expensive piece of equipment. I want to be able to call a company if I have issues or questions and talk to an actual person instead of hearing a long list of menu options and getting the runaround.

Inergy Flex UnitInergy doesn’t have a great track record of customer service. A quick look at Amazon reviews and you can see the issues people have had. That makes me really nervous about spending my hard-earned money. But they do offer a two-year warranty on the Flex 1500. They are offering a 10-year warranty on their batteries if you buy their system at a Pre-sale price.

It could’ve been an anomaly but when I called Inergy to ask more questions about the Flex 1500 I was on hold for 37mins. Then I got hung up on. I called again because I thought there’s no way they’d just hang up on me. I waited 42mins and then got hung up on. Needless to say, I was not happy at all.

For the Titan it is very easy to get answers. Calling 800-489-0552 gets me directly to a customer service agent. Sometimes waiting in the queue happens because the phone number gets busy at times, but they always call back.

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Pricing and Final Thoughts

The Titan without panels is $2,995. I’ve already shown how it doubles the specs of the Flex 1500. If I add another battery and the MPPT Supercharger to the Flex to match the battery size and solar input specs of the Titan, it would cost $2,950 for standard pricing and $2,650 presale pricing. A difference of $45 and I get an inverter that is twice as powerful and a battery with 4x the life cycle.

Taking it a step further, let’s say I add another battery to the Titan. I would have 4000Wh battery capacity for $4,390. To get that kind of capacity with the Flex 1500 I’d be looking at 3 additional batteries and 3 additional MPPT Superchargers, which would equal $5,800. $1400 more than the Titan, and the Titan still outperforms and has more features.

That is why I highly recommend the Point Zero Titan over the Inergy Flex 1500. It beats it in every category and at a better price point. Buy with confidence!

Continue ReadingHow Does the Inergy Flex Solar Generator Stack Up Against the Rest?

Inergy Apex vs Inergy Kodiak

Apex vs Kodiak

You’re probably asking, “why would you compare the older Kodiak to the new Apex?” That is a very fair question. The reason is that the Apex was designed to be a far better system than the Kodiak and that’s why the Kodiak was done away with. But is it better?

When the Kodiak came out it literally revolutionized the portable solar generator industry. There was nothing like it at all on the market. It was super lightweight, very powerful for its size and charged very quickly just a couple of hours. It was by far the #1 solar generator of its day.  There was nothing that rivaled it, in my opinion, when it was first released. Not even the Goal Zero Yeti 1250 got close to the Kodiak which was the most powerful solar generator until the Kodiak.

For the Best Price on Inergy Apex Click Here

 

A Little History

When the Kodiak was released there were supposed to be other items that released soon after to upgrade the Kodiak. The biggest one was an external lithium-ion battery pack to expand the battery capacity of the Kodiak. It used a 1,100wh battery pack that is a fairly decent size for outdoor activities, RVing, emergencies or just using around the property.

Kodiak Generator with External Lithium Pack

Sadly, the lithium-ion battery pack never came out. I was lucky enough to work with Inergy on that project in testing out the unit. The biggest issue was that for some reason when an external lithium-ion battery was connected the screen on the Kodiak would not read out properly. For example, the external battery pack would be connected to the Kodiak, and the screen would say it was drawing 500 watts of power when in reality it wasn’t drawing any power. This made it really hard to see power usage on items and get a real idea of how well everything was working.

This is something that was fixed in the Apex, supposedly. Now they say that it is possible to add an external lithium-ion or lithium-iron (LiFePo4) battery and that it will work just fine. They have also said that they will be releasing an external battery pack that can be added to the Apex. They say the Apex is designed to work with Inergy external batteries yet they still have not released any at this time. I also haven’t seen anyone else attach their own lithium batteries externally.

That is why in my video I do testing with the same battery pack that was used with Kodiak made by Inergy. Sadly, a similar result happens in that the screen does not read out properly when the external lithium-ion battery is connected.

Hopefully, they will release the external lithium battery pack for the Apex in the near future that can work properly with it. For over three years they said there would be one for the Kodiak and it never came out. Hopefully, it doesn’t take that long.

The Differences

#1: Battery Output Capacity

Apex Draw Times

The biggest difference is what the Kodiak and Apex both say they can do on paper. The Kodiak, on paper, was able to do 1,500w continuous draw from the battery since it had a 1,500w inverter. In reality, it was capable of running about 900 watts continuously until the battery reached zero percent.

Inergy has said that the Apex is capable of pushing out 550 watts continuously to save the battery lifecycles. By not using all 1,500 watts it is supposed to conserve the battery lifecycles so that it can truly get 2,000 cycles out of it. In the video above the Apex was thoroughly tested on how long it could run non-stop at different loads. 850 watts was where it was able to run until zero percent. Anything higher than that it would cut off before reaching zero percent, leaving the battery with some charge.

In the video above they recommend getting a gas generator for items that use more power which to me defeats the whole purpose of getting a solar generator at all. This is why I prefer stronger solar generators such as the Titan. I’ll talk a bit more on those below.

#2: Charge Controller

The Kodiak used PWM charge controllers and the Apex uses MPPT. MPPT charge controllers are far better than PWM but cost more and are heavier. An MPPT charge controller will get better power production out of the panels than a PWM charge controller.

An MPPT charge controller is truly designed around making more power in non-ideal conditions which is great. A PWM charge controller which get much less power from the panels on cloudy days than an MPPT.

#3: Weight

The third main difference is weight. The Kodiak was 20lbs and the Apex is 25lbs. The biggest reason for the bump in weight is the MPPT charge controller. This is a fair exchange. 5lbs more for better charging is no sacrifice at all.

#4: Connector Type

The next difference is the charging port. Both the Kodiak and Apex use proprietary charging connections so that consumers will be more likely to use Inergy branded panels and equipment. The Kodiak used the Neutrik connector which is a very large barrel connector. It had a twist-lock set up where cable adapter could be plugged in and power would not go into the Kodiak until locked into place. This was nice because it would not unplug easy. There was comfort in knowing it would be charging and not come unlocked. This was fairly easy to use and there was a Neutrik to PV Connector adapter readily available even though it went through many versions and generations. The Neutrik adapter was rated to 30 amps which was the max solar input for the Kodiak. It would get very warm at 30 amps.EC8 Plugs for Apex

The Apex uses an EC8 connector which is not used in any other system I’ve seen. It is rated to 50 amps so it doesn’t have the heating issues as the Neutrik cable did. Up until very recently, there was no EC8 to PV Connector adapter available. There was an eBay seller who was making them and selling them but now Inergy also makes them. I think they finally got enough feedback from people saying that they didn’t like being forced to use Inergy panels and wanted to use their own panels and so Inergy changed that.

PV Connector to EC8 Solar AdapterThe reason Inergy wasn’t selling EC8 to PV Connector adapters, even though PV Connector is the most common solar connection world-wide, was they wanted to make sure no one started a fire or hurt the Apex.

The reason this happened is that when the Kodiak came out it was rated to 600 watts of input power from solar. The only issue is that it was actually truly rated to 30amps because of the Neutrik adapter being limited to 30amps. People would connect six 100 watt panels to the Kodiak since it was rated for 600 watts and then their adapters would burn out. This happened because 100-watt solar panels are generally rated to 5 or 6 amps each. On really clear sunny days the panels can make up to 6 amps. So when you take 6 panels, each making 6 amps, in a parallel panel connection, you get 36 amps. That is more than the max 30 amps it could handle therefore it would cause too much heat and would ruin the adapter.

Inergy wanted to fix this so they used the EC8 connector which is higher rated and then told people you can only go up to 500 watts in panels. Originally they specified that if solar panels were used that were not the Inergy brand that it would void the warranty on the Apex. I don’t know if that’s now the case since they are now making their own EC8 to PV Connector adapter. I would imagine they lifted that ban since they are now supplying the means by which people can use their own panels.

When they released the Apex there was a choice between either the Storm (rigid) or Linx (flexible) panels. The Inergy panels would use the EC8 connector which presented its own problems because it was not UV proof or waterproof. That is a big issue when it rains, and connectors are not rated for that. It can short out a system very quickly. It also meant that if you needed to leave the panels out for an extended period of time, eventually the connectors would break and fall apart, rendering the panels and system useless.

I’m glad to see Inergy trying to fix that by allowing people to use their own panels. But I can’t confirm that it won’t void the warranty. The way Inergy said to make the EC8 connectors waterproof and UV proof was to purchase a third party extension cord plug cover.

#5: USB Ports

Another difference is that on the Kodiak they had 4 USB-A slots whereas on the Apex they now have two USB-A and two USB-C ports. This is nice to see an upgrade in tech since USB-C provides much more power.

#6: Display & Switch

The display on the Apex was upgraded from the Kodiak so it reads out more accurately and looks a little nicer. The power switch on the Apex is now a twist switch. This makes it very easy to choose between running AC/DC power or just DC power. Running on just DC power saves a little bit of energy since the inverter isn’t required to be turned on. DC power is more efficient so running DC items while camping and during emergencies will make the battery last a tiny bit longer.

There have been people having issues with the power switch falling off like seen in the video below but I don’t know if that’s a common issue or not and if it has been fixed or not.

Will Prowse has a video with his review of the Apex. See it here:

 

People’s Point of View

It doesn’t take very long looking around online to see that the Apex was highly anticipated and greatly under-delivered in most people’s opinions. In my opinion, the Apex can still serve a purpose. Most people don’t need to run 1,500 watts continuously for 45 minutes. During power outages, most people will run fridges, freezers, fans, lights, CPAP machines, TVs, chargers, and laptops. All of those things can easily run on the Apex.

It does have its drawbacks of not running 1,500 watts, not having UV and waterproof connectors and not having an expandable lithium battery option yet. For those reasons, it’s not a fit for me.

The Apex has six 110/120v outlets just like the Kodiak which is wonderful. It makes it easy to connect a lot of items at once and run them without having to use power strips. This is a feature that is highly sought after and in my opinion a big win. It’s just important to remember not to go over the 850-watt draw mark for very long if you need continuous power. It is limited to 550 watts if you want to conserve the battery lifecycles.

I wish the inverter was matched to the battery capacity. It’s great to have a 1,500-watt Bluetti and Alpha Generatorsinverter but if I can’t truly use it does that mean I’m just paying for something I can’t use? I like the fact that MAXOAK Bluetti uses an inverter that is matched to their battery. The MAXOAK Bluetti only has a 1,000-watt pure sine wave inverter but the battery can put out 1,000 watts nonstop until the battery is depleted. The MAXOAK Bluetti uses a 1,500wh battery so it’s 400wh larger than the Apex. The ExpertPower Alpha is identical to the Bluetti and it too can push out 1,000 watts non-stop.

When I use my Bluetti or Alpha I wish it had a larger inverter like the Apex but seeing as how I can use twice the amount of power from the Bluetti and Alpha as the Apex I don’t feel so bad anymore. It would be perfect if those two units could push out 1,500 watts though.

Goal Zero Lithium 1000 Load TestAnother option is the Goal Zero Lithium 1400. This seems to be the blend between the Bluetti/Alpha and the Apex. The reason is that the GZ Lithium 1400 has a 1,500w inverter and a 1,425wh battery. Basically it has the same inverter size as the Apex and almost the same battery size as the Bluetti/Alpha. This is definitely a top choice when it comes to solar generators on the market. The reason is that the GZ Lithium 1400 will continuously output 1,500 watts until the battery is low and can’t make 1,500w, generally about 15% battery level. The only downside is it tends to be a bit more pricey than the Apex and Bluetti/Alpha generators.

The Goal Zero Lithium 1400 uses a battery and inverter that are sized to each other which is great. It’s just like the Bluetti/Alpha generators but has a larger capacity and draw ability. The second downside to the GZ 1400 is that it only has a max solar input of 360 watts. It’s like where one generator is good in one thing, it can’t be good in another thing. The way to get around this is to upgrade the Goal Zero 1400 Lithium with a Goal Zero MPPT charge controller. It’s very easy to add and doesn’t cost much.

Hopefully, Inergy keeps listening to their customers and realizes that going the route of proprietary connectors and limited batteries doesn’t make us as happy as we’d like to be.

I personally still have two of my Kodiaks and find uses for them all the time. The Kodiak is sadly no longer available as it was discontinued with the launch of the Apex.

My main solar generator is the Titan solar generator which has a 3,000-watt pure sine wave inverter and a 2,000wh battery. Essentially, it’s two Apex generators put together. However, even with one battery on the Titan, I can pull all 3,000 watts until the battery is empty. It is a little rough to draw that much power off the battery though so it’s recommended for the Titan to have two batteries to draw 3,000 watts continuously, so it doesn’t damage the lifecycles of the battery.

The Titan is wonderful in the sense that it has expandable lithium-ion batteries that are more affordable than buying other lithium-ion or lithium iron batteries. It seems like the Titan did what people wanted and has expandability easily built into it.

Click Here Titan Kits and Pricing Options

The Titan uses a stacking battery method so it’s easy to add batteries. Each battery is 2,000wh which is near twice the size of the Apex battery. Plus it also has expandable solar input. With one battery the Titan will input up to 1,000 watts of solar power, twice that of the Apex. But then when a second battery is added the solar input goes up to 2,000 watts!

If the Apex has a max battery draw capacity of 850 watts and the Titan has a max battery draw capacity of 3,000 watts is it really 4x better? That’s for each person to decide for themselves.

I love my Kodiaks and will definitely keep one on hand forever, I may eventually get rid of my second one. My Titan though is what helps me sleep easy at night knowing I can power anything I need to and for a very long time.

If an Apex sounds like it would work for you then click the link to get the best pricing available.

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Continue ReadingInergy Apex vs Inergy Kodiak