Powering your home with a solar battery during a power outage

The primary reason that most people install an energy storage system at their home is to access emergency backup power. If you pair your battery with a solar panel system, you can keep critical appliances running in future power outages.

Learn more about the resiliency benefits of solar batteries

Common questions

How do solar batteries work during an outage?

During an outage, energy storage continues to operate by creating a miniature “energy island” for your home or business. So even when the rest of your neighborhood is without power, you can pull from your battery to keep your lights on.

Learn more about islanding

Can I keep my entire home running on a solar battery?

Solar batteries have a limited storage capacity and power, and most are unable to backup your entire home. Instead, when you install an energy storage system, you’ll be asked to choose which circuits (i.e., outlets, appliances and sections of your home) to back up in the event of an outage on a “critical load panel.”

How long will my battery last during a power outage?

There’s no easy answer to this question – it depends on the size and power rating of your battery, whether you pair your battery with a solar panel system, as well as the appliances you use during the outage and how long you use them for. This article dives deeper into how to calculate how much of your home you can run on a solar battery.

Will my solar panel system continue generating electricity during an outage?

Not without a battery! This is mainly for safety reasons – during an outage, utilities send repair crews all throughout their service territory to try to restore electrical service as quickly as possible. If solar were still producing electricity during an outage, those panels could feed electricity to the grid, creating a dangerous situation for transmission workers who expect to be working on de-energized wires.