Protecting your home from outages with a solar battery
Solar alone won't keep your lights on in a blackout — but solar paired with a battery will. Here's how it works and how to plan it.
Why solar alone shuts off
For safety, a standard grid-tied system disconnects during an outage so it can't send power onto lines crews are working on. A battery with the right setup creates a safe “island,” letting your home keep running on stored and freshly-produced solar power.
Whole-home vs. essential backup
- Essential backup — a few critical circuits (fridge, internet, medical devices, some lights). Smaller, cheaper, and enough for most outages.
- Whole-home backup — everything, including big loads like AC. Requires more battery capacity and power output, so it costs more.
How long will it last?
That depends on battery capacity (kWh) and how much you're running. During the day, solar can recharge the battery, extending backup significantly — a real advantage over a generator that needs fuel.
Plan around your loads: list what you truly need during an outage, size the battery to that, and you'll get resilience without overpaying for whole-home backup you rarely use.