Kodiak Solar Generator Review: Our Honest Opinion (2020) (2024)

I recently had a power cut for 8 hours in the middle of the night.

I anxiously paced around my house, trying to contact the electricity provider and find out what was going on. During that time, my freezer was defrosting, my fridge food was warming up, and I was relying on my 30% smartphone battery for light.

Clearly, I needed a solution for when this happens again.

With this in mind, I decided to turn to the world of solar generators, namely the Inergy Kodiak Solar Generator.

Here’s what I discovered.

Maybe 2 or 3?

The outputs on the Inergy Flex 1500 include:

This gives you plenty of options for charging those devices when the lights go out.

Other key features of the Flex 1500 include:

Running at somewhere around 1,100 watt-hours with a continuous 3,000-watt pure sine surge, you’ll find that this thing is capable of powering most devices and household items, including your fridge.

However, the Flex 1500 seems to have lifted many of its ideas from the Point Zero Titan… it seems like everything apart from the pure sine wave inverter and charge controller.

For shame!

From the Jackery to the Titan and the Goal Zero Yeti, you’ll see many similar design features in the Kodiak Solar Generator, Inergy Apex and now the Inergy Flex 1500 as the company seems to look for its own USP.

Inergy is an Indiegogo-funded company creating generator products and specialized lithium batteries for consumers who live an outdoor lifestyle or who want to be prepared for power cuts.

They were famous for the Kodiak Solar Generator and Inergy Apex power station, though their latest product is the Inergy Flex 1500 power station. There are many links and similarities between the Apex, Kodiak, and Flex 1500.

Like many power station products in this price range, the Inergy Flex 1500 can be charged via solar panels.

This solar charging and the 600W solar charging speed allow the battery to charge quite quickly with solar panels, in 6 hours or less.

Still, the Point Zero Titan has a solar charging speed of 1,000W in comparison, so it’s not the best.

Nonetheless, you can use this power station without relying on fossil fuel power, so that’s nice.

Unlike some power generator products, the Flex 1500 solar system is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, assuming you don’t leave it in a monsoon.

Don’t try that.

This is convenient for many different types of customers — you can use this thing for camping, RV trips, tiny houses, or just regular backup power.

Lots of other products in this price range have watt-hours in the 1,500 to 3,000 watt-hours range, yet the Flex 1500 has just 1,100 watt-hours, which is rather disappointing.

1,100 watt-hours will still be plenty for many users, but I just expected more.

The portable solar power station can charge via solar panels and up to 600W.

However, products like the Point Zero Titan can solar charge at 1000W, nearly twice as fast as the Flex 1500.

For some bizarre reason, Inergy decided to get rid of the RV connector on the Flex 1500 despite including one on the Inergy Apex and Kodiak.

While there are still ways to use this product if you’re an RV user, it’s definitely nowhere near as convenient anymore, so you might be tempted to try a different product.

Inergy is not known for its amazing customer service record, with many customers reporting problems with orders, shipping, and pre-sales orders.

I personally know a guy who spent 90 minutes on the phone talking to Inergy due to a question about his shipping. He got nowhere closer to solving his shipping problem and just wasted a good chunk of his day.

I don’t want that to be me.

From the Kodiak to the Apex and now the Flex 1500, I would like to question Inergy’s morals when it comes to certain activities.

If you compare photos and videos of the Flex 1500 and the Titan, for example, you see lots of design similarities and details, including the stackable battery design.

I’m not saying that they’ve copied all their products, but some royalty fees might be in order.

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Now, since this is a VERY new product there aren’t too many reviews to draw on from other people yet.

I guess people aren’t spending money or going outside too much.

However, here are some quotes from a couple of reviews out there:

If you live in a region that’s very cloudy and overcast then you’re going to have a hard time getting any decent juice out of your solar panels.

For those who don’t live in sunny areas, you might want to look at alternative power sources.

If you’re buying a portable solar generator for camping or outdoor pursuits, then you want to get a product that is weatherproof, waterproof, and able to withstand damage from being thrown around haphazardly.

You will also want to make sure it has additional features like an LED torch and carry handle too, helping you out when you’re battling the forces of nature and whatnot.

On the other hand, if you’re using it indoors as backup power, you don’t need to worry too much about how much it weighs or whether it can get rained on.

A lot of people get excited when they read about the latest charge controller or pure sine wave inverter updates, but you need to consider what you actually need.

If you’re just expecting to charge a laptop and a couple of phones throughout a power cut, you don’t need a huge battery with a fancy inverter and all the inputs and outputs in the world — a small product like the Jackery Explorer 500 would be fine.

Some power stations, like the Titan and Flex 1500, have the option for you to “stack” batteries, making it easy to expand your power capacity should your needs change in the future.

Most products do not have this option.

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