Solar and portable energy storage experts Growatt impress again with the release of the new and updated INFINITY 1300. This versatile and powerful energy storage system can provide uninterrupted power for 14 outlets, completely recharge in less than 2 hours, and accept a variety of solar input. Electrek gets hands on with this efficient portable power station. Check out the INFINITY 1300 Presale here, which lasts from April 17 to 30.
Growatt hasn’t been a stranger to Electrek, or the industry at large. After 11 years in the industry, Growatt touts recognition by authoritative organizations in Europe and America. With a fairly focused product lineup, Growatt claims millions of customers and counting. We’ve been able to test some of their products, including the new INFINITY 1300, and they perform at outstanding levels to back up the product hype.
AC Outlet 4 x 120V~, 50/60Hz, Pure Sine Wave Max 1800W, Surge Peak 3600W
Car Outlet 1 x 13.2V/10A, 132W Max
DC5521 Output 2 x 13.2V/3A, 36W Max
USB-A 2 x 5V/2.4A, 12W Max
USB-A Fast Charge 2 X 18W Max
USB-C 2 x 5V/9V/12V/20V, 5A, 100W Max
Wireless Charging 1 x 15W
Fun Story
The INFINITY 1300 is much more than a big battery with a handle on it. Believe me, I’ve tried to make one. When I worked at a bike shop we attended trade shows where we had to pay for electricity to our booth. Trying to save some money, I instead mickey-moused an eBike battery to power our music, TV, and lights for the booth. While it addressed our humble purposes, the DIY power supply was victim to overheating, inefficient drain, and a birds nest of crimped wires. We used it, once, after realizing that a barley operable system didn’t instill confidence in our shop.
Fast forward about 7 years, and testing the INFINITY 1300 I look back at those trade shows with a touch of lament. Whether on the job, or enjoying comfortable time in the great outdoors, having expertly crafted power supply makes a world of difference.
Super Easy Output
The INFINITY 1300 has 4 separate 120v home outlets on the side that can power a wealth of items all at once. The standout feature is the bidirectional inverter, built into the unit. Not only does this speed up charge time, but with no adapters needed the unit can switch from AC to DC power automatically. With the INFINITY 1300, it works how I would expect: I plugged in a heater and ran it for hours one crisp spring morning, and charged up my gamut of camera equipment at the same time. The cooling fans underneath the carry platform turned on automatically, and were quiet enough to let me continue with work indoors.
Having this ease of use and flexibility makes power a non-issue when preparing for a busy day out filming. Since I use a variety of small devices, the wireless phone charger, USB-C, USBC-A, and 110v outlets are a dream come true for me. Just this one device carries everything necessary to provide plug-and-play power and focus on the job. Having the power to bring extra light, cameras, and the computer with me brought my work to a whole new productivity level.
Input and App
One of the first thing I was impressed by was the fast recharge time. The INFINITY 1300 can recharge in 1.8 hours, from 0-100%. This is incredibly fast, as I’ve used many electric bike batteries with half the capacity that still take double or triple the charge time. Although we didn’t get a chance to test it, Growatt says the recharge time from solar is about 2.5 hours using high conversion 99% MPPT efficiency and a wide solar input range. The solar input can utilize a wide range of voltages, offiering compatibility with more panels. With this kind of flexibility, fast charging capacity, this makes the 1300 an incredible flexible unit for longer trips and multiple recharge uses over the course of a single day.
App Control remained one of the standout features for the brand itself. You wouldn’t think that a battery would need additional remote control through wifi connections, but the additional control can be quite compelling. Using the app I was able to check on the current and recent status of both input, output, as well as change settings such as sound, display and more.
INFINITY 1300 Home Backup
Unlike the Growatt Vita550 covered here, the INFINITY 1300 is capable of being a home backup for a handful of devices or even a workstation. With 1382wh worth of energy, important devices like a computer station, connectivity devices such as a modem and router could be set for days during an outage. Featuring an uninterruptible power supply, it can also support sensitive devices such as security and home medical care equipment. Switchover time is less than 20 milliseconds.
Industry Powerhouse
Growatt has built the INFINITY 1300 to last over 3000 cycles for 10 years. If I could get that kind of life out of my phone, I would be ecstatic. Growatt has a slogan of “Time Saved, but Life Extended, and with over 10 years in the business of energy storage, EV chargers, solar arrays, and energy management systems.
During the limited pre-sale promotion from April 17th to 30th, you can buy the INFINITY 1300 Power supply for $300 off, before it jumps to the regular retail of $1,299.