Ecoflow Delta Pro ULTRA 7200w 120v | 240v Home Backup Battery Solar Power Generator

The Professor reviews the Delta Pro Ultra 7200w Solar Generator Home Backup Battery UPS Power Station by Ecoflow with 240v split phase, 5600w solar panel input, and modular battery support up to 90kWh. [watch the video here]

Intro

• The masses have been literally waited years for a major brand to come out with an all in one power station that supports both 120v and 240v split phase power in a single product for a TRUE home backup solution. After all, you can’t run most large electric appliances at home without 240v split phase service. There have been solutions for years that require multiple units connected together through fancy boxes, but there has never been a single all in one portable unit (meaning it rolls on its own wheels) with a built in split phase outlet until now.

• Meet the Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra, the industries largest 7200w all in one solar generator, debuting today from CES in Las Vegas. And as much as I despise the phrase used for everything from bubble gum to bicycles, it actually appears to be a true game changer in the industry. But, is it any good? Let’s find out!

Features

• The Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra (or what I’ll call the DPU for the rest of this video) comprises of two separate units. You have the main 7200w inverter head unit that does all the work, and the modular heated 6144wh LiFePO4 battery units, that store all the power. You can chain up to 5 of these batteries for a total of 30kwh of power through each DPU inverter. Then with the right hardware, you can chain 3 of those together to power your entire house with 21600w of inverter power and up to 90kwh of battery power. If you’re thinking this thing is no lightweight … you’re correct no matter what angle you look at it. This is by far the biggest thing to ever to come out of Ecoflow’s factory – or any of the competitors factories for that matter.

• That brings us to physical size. The inverter section weighs in at around 72 lbs which in of itself isn’t bad for a 7200w split phase inverter sporting dual MPPT controllers. The 6.1kwh battery units, however, are a bulbous 116 lbs each. So what you see here on the table comes in at a hefty 188 lbs, or well above the capacity of this motorized table (shake table). Dimensions are 27 x 19 x 8 inches for the inverter and 26 x 18 x 8 for the batteries.

• Design/Display: Like all Ecoflow products the screen is an industry leading color LCD. This one is a huge widescreen that’s 9 inches diagonal. Here’s a clip from the manual that shows the insane amount of information it displays. Of course you have the basic input/output watts, time to charge discharge, battery icon with % display, then I counted another 24 informational icons on the same screen. I’m not sure but I think this is a record for any power station.

• Inverter Size/Type (constant/peak) and #outlets: As previously mentioned the DPU packs a 7200w pure sine inverter but here is where it gets complicated. See, there are 4 standard 20A outlets hidden behind these removable panels. The left two use pass through UPS power like most power stations do and switch loads under 20ms when main power is disconnected. The right two, however, use battery inverter power at all times. This is called an “online UPS” and offers a 0ms switch time – because there’s no actual switching involved. Next to this is a 30A RV hookup (otherwise known as a TT-30R), this is also 0ms online UPS. Next to that is the coveted 4 prong twist lock outlet (otherwise known as a L14-30R) that provides 240v split phase service using the standard 20ms switching UPS relay.

  • For those of you that don’t know how split phase 240v works. You have one ground, one neutral, and two hot leads. Each hot provides 120v at 60hz that’s out of phase with each other. So when you pair up the two hots you get 240v. This means that with a simple dog bone adapter you can in fact get an additional pair of UPS switching 120v circuits if you don’t need 240v. This also means that if you have a 50A RV or a welder that needs split phase 240v, you can buy adapters online that will convert from the 4 prong twist lock to whatever you need, for example a 4 prong 50A RV hookup. Now the outlet and the DPU are only rated for 30A at 240v so you can’t pull more than that but almost no RVs or other appliances actually do. If you try the DPU will simply shut down.

• Ways To Charge: Now on to charging, which again isn’t as simple as other power stations. Of course you have the basic wall charging cable that will let you charge at 1800w 15A and will top up a single battery in about 4 hours. It can also charge from split phase 240v service either from a household outlet, fuel generator with adapter (show), or level 2 EV charger with adapter (show) at 3000w 12.5A. This cuts the time in half to about 2 hours.

  • Now on to solar. The DPU sports a pair of MPPT solar controllers but what is unique is that you have both a high voltage and low voltage option. So if you are series-parallel connecting a lot of large residential panels together you use the high voltage input that accepts from 80-450v up to 15A with a maximum of 4000w. If you are using smaller panels you use the low voltage input that accepts from 30-150v up to 15A with a maximum of 1600w. Yes, you can use both at the same time for 5600w of total charging. Note, and I’m going to say this twice because its important. Because the DPU’s low voltage controller only starts working at 30v, you will need a minimum of two solar panels in series to charge with solar – unless you are using a single 24v residential panel. Say again, if you want to charge the DPU with solar you need a minimum of two 12v-18v solar panels in series or one large 24v panel. This is a big deal because a competitor many years ago had a 32v minimum on their solar controller and the world stopped rotating when folks were trying to charge it with a single solar panel. They blamed the company instead of themselves and it was such a big deal that it’s rare to find a solar generator today that can’t charge with a single panel… until now.

• 12v Output Types: As for 12v outputs … there are NO, I repeat NO cigarette lighter sockets on the DPU. Instead, they offer a single 12.6v regulated 30A output through an Anderson power pole good for 376w. I guess they assume anyone using this product won’t be plugging 12v refrigerators into it. Although you could get an adapter that would convert the Anderson into a lighter socket if needed. This 30A output is designed to power an external fuse box or can be wired into your RV or van to supply power to all your DC loads.

• USB Output Types: Even though this is a monster product and they skipped the 12v socket, they didn’t skip on the USB outputs. You get a pair of 100w USB-C PD ports and a pair of basic fixed voltage USB-A ports good for charging up your dinosaurs.

• Other Features:

  • The DPU of course supports remote access via the Ecoflow app through both Wi-Fi and BT which can be turned off if desired.

  • Now my DPU here on the desk does have optional wheels that I installed in order to make it easy to move around. You can also purchase an optional trolley that has a luggage style handle that allows you to tilt this entire monstrosity like a dolly and move it around. Seeing this duo weighs more than the average adult human it’s not that easy to move around, but it can be done … making this the largest still technically portable solar generator money can buy today.

  • I did briefly mention the DPU batteries are in fact heated. They will preheat themselves for charging when the cell temperature is below freezing (32F) and when the battery is attempting to charge at at least 250 watts. The heaters allow the batteries to charge down to -4F ambient temperature or -20C.

  • In order to connect several DPU’s together and power your home you need what’s called the Smart Home Panel 2. This is the brains of the operation and allows you to decide which loads are critical and must be powered at all times and which ones can be cut when the batteries are under a certain percentage to save power. You can even program it to store power automatically 12 hours in advance of a big storm. The Home Panel 2 does require a permit and a licensed electrician to install at most residences. It really deserves its own video so it’s not something I’m going to cover today but will later in a separate review. Here is what it looks like. (show)

• Warranty: Ecoflow provides a 5 year warranty on both the inverter unit and batteries and a 10 year warranty on the smart home panel 2

Testing

• DC Battery Capacity Test (time lapse): 5000wh/6144 for 81%

• AC Battery Capacity Test (time lapse): 5390wh/6144 for an improved 88%. These numbers are about industry average and on par with the recent ecoflow products. Note that the DC test literally took 24 hours to run and because it took so long is why the numbers are lower. While the DC output does support 360w of output, I could only pull about 225w constant out of the 12 volt port over long periods of time without melting the wiring.

• Phantom load / Parasitic drain test

  • DC consumption: used 232wh (%) over 12 hours or about 464wh over 24 hours

  • AC consumption: used 634wh (%) over 12 hours or about 1268wh over 24 hours. If you left the inverter on it would totally kill the battery in about 4.5 days

• I’m always asked how long stuff will run. Compensating for usable capacity, you can pause this chart to see approximately how long common appliances will run on this unit. Entries that say “n/a” means that appliance won’t run at all:

  • 13500 btu RV a/c (1200w @50% cyc): 9 hrs

  • 6000 btu window a/c (400w @50% cyc): ~1 day

  • 20cuft modern fridge (1.2kwh/day): ~3 days

  • 1500w heater: 3.5 hrs

  • 1200w microwave (1800w): 3 hrs

  • Keurig coffee maker (1200w 60wh/c): 90 cups

  • Instant Pot (1000w @50% cyc): 10 hrs

  • Hot plate (500w): 10 hrs

  • 55” LED TV (80w): ~3 days

  • Macbook (60w): ~3.5 days

  • Box Fan (50w): ~4 days

  • CPAP (30w): ~2-3 weeks

  • Chromebook (15w): ~4 days

  • Tablet (5w): ~4 days

• Sine wave check under load: 120v 60hz

• Inverter capacity test (max): 7900w <5s

• Cooling ability test (rated @ 5mins): 6400w (fails >6400w)

• Inverter fan noise db: 42

• Max Charge Rate AC @ watts/volts: fast 1800w ; quiet 500w (120v)

• Max Charge Rate DC @ watts/volts: low voltage 30v min 450w; max 150v 1600w : high voltage 450v 4000w supported; 220v max equipment limit ~3000w

• Charging fan noise db: AC max (unreadable due to noise of loads) db ; AC min 0db ; Solar 0db

• Simultaneous charging ability: 4600w+ (equipment limited)

• Pass thru / UPS: online ups 0ms pass; backup ups 20ms pass

• DC Output(s) Max Rate: 30A 12v 360w pass

• 12v output(s) regulated: 12.7v

• USB output rate check: PD 2x 100w pass

• Wireless/other output: na

• Amp interference test: pass

  • AM radio test: low/moderate noise

  • EMF test: medium EMF low EF

My Opinion

• Ecoflow has a real winner on its hands. The DPU is finally the solution that most folks with big power needs have been looking for. The fact they still made this thing still kinda portable with the add on dolly is icing on the cake. This is something not even the competition can do with their largest sogens. Sure you can push them on a cart, but they don’t offer a custom snap on dolly system.

• 240v split phase operation is a snap and works seamlessly with standard 120v service. The only catch is that you lose output to all the AC outlets when charging from 240v. This is a non issue if you charge from solar or 120v.

• Massive power output like this simply hasn’t been seen before on the market from an all in one unit. Ecoflow claims it will start up and run literally any electric home appliance including a 3 ton central air unit. I obviously don’t have the means to test this claim but it certainly could handle anything I could throw at it. When I do my follow up video this spring with the Smart Home Panel 2 I’ll show it powering my entire lab including 1 ton mini split.

• Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until after I received the DPU that it was a “YAP” … meaning “Yet Another Prototype”. I been trying pretty hard to avoid prototype products because they always end up failing somehow and then I end up having to do follow up videos later with the retail product and it ends up gobbling up a valuable spot that could have been used for a different product. However, this is Ecoflow and I’m going to cover all of their new products this year. At least it wasn’t another Kickstarter. I think everyone is sick of those.

• That being said, not to toot my own horn, but I was right again about prototypes. I’m not sure what is wrong with mine but not being able to sustain over 6400w for more than a few minutes is a problem. Is it a “prototype thing”? Most likely. Will it be fixed? That’s pretty much guaranteed. In fact, the app I had to use to access the DPU is a beta app and I can tell a lot of things are still missing which is why I didn’t bother covering the app in this review. We also might see some better numbers from the AC inverter when it is updated to retail. I’ll bet you credits to navy beans that Ecoflow will be sending me an updated unit sometime after release which means, yep. Another video.

• As it sits today on my bench it’s an excellent product and I’d have no problems spending my own money on one if I was in the market for it. 

Pricing and Competition

• Product Price with current discount:

  • This is obviously not a cheap product and it has pricing to match. Unfortunately, as of the time of recording, they are keeping the retail price under wraps. However, they did offer viewers of HOBOTECH (that’s you) a $1000 off discount code that starts working as soon as you see this video air. I believe this is on top of any coupons you order. The fact they are offering $1000 off and Ecoflow is known for selling around 80 cents per watt means we can expect pricing probably in the $5000 range give or take. Of course, I’m just talking out my backside. I have no inside information to offer. Note that my discount code is only good until Feb 9^th so you’ll want to act fast if you’re interested.

  • They are also offering a free gift worth 400 bucks if you buy the DPU along with the Smart Home Panel 2. Along with that they are also offering interest free financing, and free installation consulting for customers in TX and CA. Not sure why you only get consulting in those states but you’ll have to ask them.

• Who’s It Aimed At?:

  • This is obviously aimed at the huge untapped home backup market. There’s a lot of folks that can’t afford the big stuff like Tesla power walls or 40 grand for a local contractor build. Instead, this is a simple plug and play entry that can get anyone started with a home backup solution that they can expand on over the next several years. Ecoflow is well known for selling their old products well past obsolescence so I expect the DPU batteries to be available for many years allowing folks to upgrade over time. The fact they offer 5 year financing and you can score up to 30% off from the federal tax rebate makes it a lot more affordable to the masses.

  • I could see a select few getting the base DPU to power their RV’s or vans as this thing packs the power of nearly 500ah of lithium batteries and can easily run any size RV roof air conditioner and the microwave at the same time. Basically, the use cases are endless with it being so expandable and future proof.

  • If you have a shop or work a job site that requires split phase 240v to run welders, compressors, and other large power tools with big startup loads, the DPU can run right from the back of your truck and get the job done. You can’t say that about any other power station sold today. If it’s being used for your business or to power essential medical devices it could be a big tax deduction for you too.

• Recommended Solar Panel Type/Size:

  • I recommend whatever solar you can afford because this will take anything you can throw at it up to 5600w. Of course I recommend the panels I have on my site hobotech.tv if you’re so inclined to check them out. Here’s the link.

• CHECK OUT THE ECOFLOW DPU: https://gohobo.io/dpu use code EFDPUHOBO for $1000 off! [does not stack with other codes]