With Growatt, another electrical giant is entering the market for mobile power boxes. The Infinity 1500 convinces with strong performance data.
Power boxes and no end. Since this month, Growatt has also been on the market in Germany with a box, the Infinity 1500. Growatt has long been active in the energy sector in the field of solar inverters and storage. It is not a small company, 500 engineers work in development. Power boxes and solar bags are a relatively new business field. In the US, the power box was previously launched.
The Infinity 1500 follows the trend of offering more wattage than storage capacity. You can draw 2000 watts from the box, it stores 1512 watt hours. As always, fewer can be used effectively because a box itself consumes electricity during operation. In the short term, the box also digests 4000 watts. 2000 watts and a little more are possible in continuous operation.
Lush amenities
The Infinity 1500 has the usual connections. Four times 230 volt, 12 volt car plug, USB-A and USB-C (twice at 60 watts each). There are twelve pieces in total. When it comes to power consumption, the Infinity is state of the art. It draws 1500 watts from the mains, fills up 80 percent of its capacity in one hour, and the last 20 percent takes longer. Solar can charge the box in 2.5 hours. A full 800 watts of solar capacity can also be connected to the box. An XT60 connector goes into the box. An adapter for the common MC4 standard is included. This makes it easier to connect third-party solar panels. If the box can draw solar or grid power at the same time, green power has priority. Also nice: the box already starts charging at input power below 50 watts. As with all boxes, charging in the car is limited. Only 120 watts can ever flow through the car plug.
Uninterruptible power supply
That’s all good, now comes the special part of the box. The Infinity 1500 enables an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). What do you need that for? This is how you protect devices that always have to run. This can be medical equipment, but also office equipment. A mains cable then goes into the box and the consumer is plugged in on the output side. In normal operation, the box just passes the mains power through, if the mains breaks down, the box switches to its own power in 20 milliseconds.
The Infinity 1500 also offers control via an app. Special feature here, you can not only access the box via Bluetooth, but also via Wifi, so real remote control is possible. This is useful when the box is hidden away. Full remote operation is not possible, once the box is powered off it cannot be brought to life via app.
There is a problem that is also known from other boxes: If the box is connected to a solar panel, it starts up as soon as electricity is available. But then Bluetooth and Wifi are deactivated, in order to control the box, you have to approach it manually. Nice addition: There is an option for wireless charging on the top of the box.
Still handy
At 16.5 kilograms, the box is comparatively light when you look at the storage capacity, which largely determines the weight. In terms of longevity, the box guarantees 800 cycles until the capacity drops to 80 percent. That’s the price for the low weight. With the dimensions of 418.7 x 230 x 287 millimeters, the box is still clearly large. However, it was not trimmed to a minimum volume. The surfaces are made of grey-black plastic. The whole box therefore looks “noble” and can be set up in apartments and offices without any worries. The shape is also unusually chic. The upper part is set off like a “head”, so you can easily grab the 16 kilograms by the horns. The charger is integrated. Practical because you don’t have to plug in another device.
In practice, the box delivers what it promises, as is to be expected from a branded device. With an output of 2000 watts, you can connect almost any device with a cord, only with very strong consumers over 2000 watts is it over after a short time. The time window can be sufficient for tools, a 2500 watt hair dryer should be switched to a lower setting.
Boxes can be clustered
We really liked the look and feel. When it comes to the size of a box, every customer needs to know what fits them. At around 15 kilograms, the Infinity 1500 is still much easier to move than a 25 kilogram box in the 2000 watt hour class. Incidentally, the capacity of a box can be increased. But not with a pure battery without additional connections, but up to three boxes can be wired in a row. At first the daisy chain connection seems strange and a purely “dumb” additional battery makes more sense. But if you compare the prices of boxes and pure batteries from the competition, things look different. The discount for the batteries, which are useless without a master box, is often small, so it may be wiser to pay the premium for a full box.
Charging with solar and grid works very quickly – 80 percent in the lunch break is a good result. The capacity of the box is also noticeable here. It goes without saying that a triple capacity box will take longer to fill up again. The uninterruptible power supply is a feature that not every box offers by far. If you depend on it, the selection shrinks significantly. The range of uses is wide. You can’t do anything with it as an isolated solution to bring electricity into a hut, but it can be a decisive criterion even for the owner of a terrarium.
Noticeable hum
The box isn’t loud when it’s in use, but it’s not quiet either. Even a low solar charging current of 150 watts leads to a buzzing – it’s not loud, but it can be perceived as annoying. Even when little power is being tapped, the box hums noticeably. It is to be hoped that an update will limit fan use. All the boxes hum when there is a high current draw, but in practice the consumers are usually much louder than the electricity dispenser.
They also liked the app. If you like, you can do without them completely. If you just turn the box on and use it, you don’t have to complicate the simple. But if you need them, you can also integrate them into a WiFi network and monitor the box remotely. If you are looking for a comparison, you can take a look at the Ecoflow Delta 2. On the market, it is closest to the Infinity 1500, but its memory is a third smaller at 1024 watt hours. The batteries have a longer service life.
With the Infinity 1500, Growatt hits a strong first serve. You have to follow the development of the fan noise, it’s quite possible that an update can noticeably alleviate the problem. Growatt has installed the lighter Li-ion batteries and accepts 800 charging cycles instead of their own LiFePo4 batteries, which are a bit heavier but manage 3000 cycles. A difficult decision for a device that is not primarily built for camping.
The Growatt Infinity 1500 normally costs 1599 euros. For the market launch, it will be Growatt store sold for 1399 euros.