Rich Solar Nova 6500S Off-Grid Inverter Review: Can It Compete with the EG4 6000XP?

Nov 25

When you’re in the market for a new off-grid inverter, simplicity, performance, and reliability are always important. The Rich Solar Nova 6500S Off-Grid Inverter promises a lot of those attributes: it’s a 6,500W inverter with a sleek design, reasonable price point, and compatibility with a variety of off-grid setups.

However, it retails for nearly the exact same price as the well-regarded EG4 6000XP Off-Grid Inverter, which is newer, offers a few extra features, and, as an EG4 product, it is backed by the brand’s solid reputation and outstanding customer service.

So, does the Rich Solar 6500S stand up to this stiff competition? To find out, we’re going to take a deep dive into its specs and features, cover the results of our own performance testing, and provide a breakdown of the pros and cons that we found. Let’s see if the Rich Solar unit stands up to the competition, and whether or not it’s worth your hard-earned money.

Breakdown of the Specs

Before we dive into our hands-on experience with this thing, let’s break down the specifications and features for the Rich Solar Nova 6500S.

Basically, it’s a 48V off-grid inverter that is rated for 6,500 watts of continuous output at 120V. Here’s what else you need to know about it:

Weight: At 44 lbs, it’s light enough to easily pass our Tiny Baby Lift Test. This means it’s also lightweight and compact enough for a solo install, but we’d probably recommend having an extra pair of hands to make things a little bit easier.

Voltage Output: Supports 120V only, with no capability for 240V outputs.
Output Power: 6,500W of continuous power.
Surge Rating: According to Rich Solar, it can handle surges of up to 12,000 watts.
Solar Input: It supports an impressive solar input rating of 8,000W, which is achieved via two 4,000W MPPT inputs.
Efficiency Rating: Rich Solar claims a really competitive 93% efficiency rating.
App Functionality: The inverter is supported by a functional but basic app, which some older users might appreciate for its simplicity, but it does lack some of the features you get with a more modern app

Overall, these are pretty reasonable specs for a standard off-grid inverter, but you need to look at the price point to decide if it’s actually a worthwhile deal.

With Rich Solar pricing this unit at $1,780 on their own website, it definitely seems overpriced for the specs it offers. However, we have found it much cheaper pretty much everywhere else it is sold. For example, ShopSolar.com currently has it listed for $1,299 before discount codes, which is a much more reasonable price point for what you’re getting.

Performance Testing

While the specs look fairly solid on paper, here at The Solar Lab, we always test products out for ourselves to actually make sure they deliver the level of performance that the manufacturer claims. Here’s how the Rich Solar 6500S worked out when we were testing it.

Idle Consumption Testing:

One of the first things we test out whenever we get our hands on a new inverter is a measure of the idle consumption. This is our way of checking to see how much power the inverter uses when it’s on, but not actually running any loads. Basically, how much power is lost to the unit’s standard functions, like running cooling fans, external lights, and anything else going on inside the inverter.

When we tested it out, the 6500S seemed to fluctuate between 1.1 and 1.2 amps in idle mode, which means it consumes about 60 watts per hour. This is actually pretty reasonable for an inverter of its size, so you’re not going to see the battery power drop too quickly when you’re not running a load.

Load Testing and Surge Capabilities:

It’s rated to support a 6,500W continuous output, and when we tested it, it delivered exactly what Rich Solar advertised. We pushed it a little beyond, running roughly a 7,300W load. While it handled it without shutting off right away, it did begin to struggle after 20 seconds. So, if you push it a bit beyond its rating, you have a little bit of time to correct the issue. Some inverters will shut off immediately, so this is a reasonably good feature.

However, Rich Solar claims that this thing supports a 12,000W surge rating, so 7,000W should be a breeze for it. We wanted to really test the surge capacity out, but the 120V limitation made that challenging. Basically, you’re realistically not going to get anywhere near that in real-world situations since you don’t have the option for 240V support.

With that said, one feature that we really liked was the fact that the inverter doesn’t fully shut off when you do manage to overload it. Rather than losing all power, it keeps running the internal fans, which can only help to extend its overall lifespan compared to units that fully switch off. It’s a thoughtful feature that we really liked to see.

Testing Pass-Through Capabilities:

Whenever we test an inverter or even a new power station, we always check to make sure that it has pass-through support. For off-grid setups, it is particularly important, because you’ll want to know that if your battery power runs out, you will want the option to use your solar panels to charge the battery while simultaneously running power to any devices or appliances you have running off your system.

Fortunately, the Nova 6500S supports pass-through power from both AC and solar sources. Whether you’re running a gas generator or a solar array, you’ll be able to continue charging your battery bank while being able to run loads at the same time. If you’re still generating power, you’re not going to lose all power when your batteries are drained.

Assessing the Design, Installation Process, and Usability

Rich Solar has designed the Nova 6500S with some thoughtful touches, but the unit is not without its quirks. Here’s an overview of our experiences.

The Installation Process:

Mounting this inverter is actually really simple, as the unit includes a pre-installed I-shaped bracket on the back that allows it to hang on a wall almost as easily as a picture frame. For added stability, you can secure it with screws using the pre-drilled mounting holes. At 44 pounds, it’s lighter than plenty of other 6500W inverters out there, which also helps making the installation process less of a hassle.

For connectivity, it relies on standard MC4 solar connectors, barrel-style DC outputs, communication ports, and basic AC input and output terminals, so everything seems fairly straightforward after you get it up on the wall, but looks can be deceiving.

Connectivity Challenges:

While all of the hardware is solid and the process of getting it mounted is fairly straightforward, the software setup is a completely different story. We found connecting the unit to the app needlessly complicated, requiring digging deep into the user manual to track down obscure and completely pointless passwords and step-by-step processes. Why do I need to flip to page 75 to find a password that is just “1, 2, 3, 4, 5,”, and is the same for every single unit? It’s a complete waste of time.

On top of that, the app is functional, but really outdated, offering only the most obvious basics and a pretty old-school interface. Again, less tech savvy users might enjoy the simplicity, but we’d really prefer a refresh and more functionality.

The Interface and Display Screen:

The display screen and RGB LED lights that surround it are actually really sharp. They’re pretty intuitive, displaying all the critical information—voltage, wattage, and load—without requiring you to navigate multiple menus.

The ring of RGB lighting surrounding the display might seem a little gimmicky, and like it’s just there for show, but it actually can help with quick diagnostics from a distance once you learn the color coding. For example, with bright blue for normal function and red for errors, you don’t have to get up close to your inverter to know if it’s running properly or not.

The Overall User Experience:

It’s pretty obvious that Rich Solar designed the Nova 6500S to be a convenient and simple inverter. The built-in screen displays essential information like voltage and power usage in a simple, rotating format, with no button-pressing required, while the above-mentioned RGB lighting ring adds a touch of flair while providing users with quick status updates.

With that said, it’s a bit of a pain to get this thing connected to your setup once you have it mounted on the wall. It seems to us like Rich Solar just made some really weird decisions during the design phase when determining how it would connect to other components. While it connects really easily with other Rich Solar products, non-Rich components are a pain to connect. It’s like the 6500S doesn’t recognize them unless you take a needlessly deep dive into the user manual and enter specific codes. For beginners who are just looking for a plug-and-play inverter, this added complication could be a bit of an issue.

However, once you do get the thing up and running, everything seems to work exactly as advertised. Even the little things, like the noise levels when it’s running, are very reasonable for an inverter of this size. If it was just a little bit easier to get started, we probably would be a lot more satisfied with the experience.

The Overall Pros and Cons of the Rich Solar Nova 6500S Off-Grid Inverter

Now that we’ve run you through some of our own experiences, let’s dive into where we think Rich Solar nailed the design, and where we think the unit falls a bit short.

The Pros

Let’s start out with some of the things we liked the most about this inverter.

Ease of Installation:

Thanks to the lightweight design, intuitive mounting brackets, and pre-drilled mounting points, getting this inverter on the wall is really straightforward. Having wrestled with plenty of heavy and awkward wall-mounted inverters in the past, this is a hugely appreciated feature of the 6500S.

High Solar Input:

With an 8,000W solar capacity, this unit allows you to charge your batteries even while running loads at full capacity. That input rating outpaces the 6,500W output, plus it has pass-through charging, so you can keep your battery bank charging even as you’re running a full load.

The Intuitive Display:

Unlike many inverters, the Nova 6500S has a user-friendly screen that presents all critical data clearly. We laughed at the RGB lighting at first, but it’s actually a pretty cool feature if you just want to be able to get some basic information at a glance.

Excellent Customer Support:

Like EG4, Rich Solar provides U.S.-based support with helpful representatives, which, sadly, is a rarity in the solar market right now. If you have any issues, like we did when we were getting everything connected, you can actually talk to someone who will help you through your issues.

The Cons

Now that we’ve discussed what we like about it, let’s take a look at some of the most glaring issues and frustration points that we encountered.

The Complicated Set Up Process:

We mentioned earlier that we encountered some real head-scratching moments when it came to getting the unit up and running. For another example of this, the power button requires you to hold it down for 5 to 6 seconds just to turn the unit on. This might not seem like a big deal, but it doesn’t mention this anywhere in the instructions, so we kept pressing it like any other button, and nothing would happen. We thought they sent us a dud, but when we called, they told us to hold the button down like it was obvious—it wasn’t.

On top of that, even basic stuff like connecting the unit to the app involves digging through the manual for some really obvious Wi-Fi password. Why do they make simple things so much more difficult than they need to be?

Outdated Battery Communication Protocols:

We also mentioned that this unit struggles to connect to non-Rich Solar components, and with newer batteries from other brands, this is really glaring. It seems to be due to the unit’s reliance on older communication protocols, so setting it up requires USB cables and manual configurations. In late 2024, this is just really dated and makes for a much more annoying process than it needs to be.

The 120V Limitation:

This is probably the biggest issue from our perspective. While 120V can be sufficient for some applications, the inability to output 240V makes it less versatile than competitors, like the EG4 6000XP, which offers a split-phase capability.

How Does it Compare to the EG4 6000XP?

Given that they’re available at a similar price point (usually $1,399 for the EG4), it is well-worth seeing how the two units stack up against each other.

In our opinion, the EG4 6000XP edges out the Nova 6500S when it comes to versatility and ease of use. The EG4’s split-phase output capability, meaning it can support both 120V and 240V outputs, and its more modern features, like an improved app, make it a better fit for larger systems or those needing grid input. Plus, in our experience, the 6000XP is way easier to get running.

However, the Nova 6500S still wins out when you’re talking about solar input capacity and its simplicity for smaller, straightforward off-grid setups. Its 6,500W output is also a little higher than the EG4’s 6,000W output.

One interesting note is the fact that Rich Solar are rumored to be releasing an updated version of the 6500S that will support 240V outputs, so most people are probably going to want to wait for that if they’re loyal to the brand, or they already run Rich Solar batteries and other components.

For now, we’d probably recommend the EG4 6000XP for most people. Unless, like mentioned above, you’re a huge Rich Solar fan, or you can score a great deal on the 6500S, you’re probably going to be better off with the 6000XP. That’s not to say the 6500S is a bad inverter, it’s just showing its age a bit, and for just $100 more, we think the 6000XP is the better option for most needs.

Our Final Thoughts

The Rich Solar Nova 6500S is a capable off-grid inverter available at a competitive price (if you avoid buying through Rich Solar directly). With its strong solar input capacity, reliable performance, and lightweight design, it’s a solid purchase. However, its quirks—like a clunky setup process and 120V-only output—may give potential buyers pause.

If you’re looking for an inverter for a simple off-grid system and don’t need 240V capabilities, the Nova 6500S could be worth considering. But for those who want more versatility, we’d say the EG4 6000XP’s plug-and-play simplicity, 120V/240V output, and improved design make it the top choice.

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🛒 Shop the Rich Solar Nova 6500S Off-Grid Inverter

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