The grid goes down.Your house doesn't.
Solar by itself shuts off in an outage — that is code, not a defect. A battery is what keeps the lights, the fridge and the internet running, and what lets you use the power you already made at night instead of buying it back at peak rates.
In California the meterstopped being fair.
Under today's rate plans the power you export at two in the afternoon is worth a fraction of the power you buy back at seven in the evening. A battery closes that gap — and it is the only thing that keeps the house running when the grid stops.
Solar on its own
- Afternoon exports are credited at a low rate
- You buy the same power back at peak evening prices
- The system shuts down in an outage — that is code, not a fault
- Every rate change lands on you with no buffer
Solar with storage
- Afternoon production is stored instead of sold cheap
- You run the house on your own power through the peak window
- Outages switch over automatically, in a fraction of a second
- Rate changes matter less because you buy less
Decide what keeps running.Then we size it.
A battery is not one size. Pick how much of the house you want alive during an outage and the hardware follows from there — not the other way around.
The things you actually miss when the power stops.
- Refrigerator and freezer
- Wi-Fi and router
- Lights and standard outlets
- Phone and laptop charging
- Garage door opener
- One television
Normal life, minus the two or three biggest draws.
- Everything in Essentials
- Microwave and small kitchen appliances
- Washer and dishwasher
- Home office and network gear
- One air conditioning zone
- EV charging at reduced speed
Nothing gets switched off and nothing gets rationed.
- Every circuit in the house
- Full air conditioning
- Electric range and dryer
- Pool and spa equipment
- Full-speed EV charging
- Well or booster pump
Runtime assumes an ordinary outage and no sun. With the array recharging each day, most homes ride out a multi-day event on the same hardware.
Battery questions worth asking.
Usually yes, and we do it often — including on systems other companies installed. What it costs depends on your existing inverter. Some older systems need an inverter change to work with storage, which is exactly why we prefer to design both together from the start.
For a normal outage with essential loads, one unit typically carries a house for a day or two. The number that matters more is what happens on day two: with your array recharging the battery each morning, most homes ride out multi-day events without ever running empty.
Both, and under current rate plans the savings side is usually the bigger number. Stored afternoon power gets used during the expensive evening window instead of being exported for a fraction of what you would pay to buy it back.
Most installs go on a garage wall or an exterior wall in shade. Modern lithium iron phosphate units are sealed, thermally managed and listed for residential use. We walk the site with you before anything is ordered so there are no surprises about placement.
The unit manages its own temperature and derates rather than damaging itself. Placement matters more than most people expect, which is why we do not put batteries on west-facing walls in the Inland Empire just because it is convenient.
We do. Same phone number, same family, same crews. That is the whole argument for buying storage from a company that has been here since 1970 rather than one that arrived last year.
Let's size yours.
Tell us what you want to keep running and we will come back with real hardware, a real price and the 25% Discount Program already applied.
Serving San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties · C-10 & C-46 Lic. #985340