In the run-up to the "Intersolar" trade fair, Ecoflow has unveiled a successor to the combined balcony power plant and AC storage system Stream. The old Streams were intended to exchange energy in different parts of a household; the new ones, like those of the competition, are stackable storage units in the garage or outside the house. Several towers can be coupled into a storage network via software.
The Stream Gateway bundles up to three Stream head units into one system. It thus achieves a maximum capacity of 45 kWh and can deliver up to 9 kW. Up to two such systems can be bundled.
Instead of a rounded plastic casing, the second-generation Stream components are now housed in angular aluminum metal casings. EcoFlow opts for a narrow footprint the size of a vinyl record cover, but the components are around 50 cm high. Three new Stream devices will be available at launch: the Stream 5000 with an integrated inverter, the AC variant without an inverter, and the expansion battery. All three storage units come with a capacity of 5024 watt-hours, following the general trend towards larger sizes – customers currently prefer an extra kWh for battery storage.
The Stream 5000 with inverter is equipped with four MPPT strings, each supporting 1250 watts on the PV side. Up to 12 panels can be operated this way. The grid connection is the same for the variants with and without PV connection: they can be charged and discharged at up to 3000 watts and are equipped with an off-grid connection for emergency power supply, which delivers up to 3600 watts. All components are IP65 certified and suitable for outdoor use. Each head unit can be expanded with up to two expansion batteries to a total capacity of 15 kWh.
