Living in a hurricane-prone region, none of us are strangers to the effects of inclement weather. At one point or another, we've all experienced power outages ranging from a couple of hours to days at a time.
At a minimum, these outages are an inconvenience; however, as they stretch on, the consequences can quickly escalate to loss of food, mold growth from the high humidity, and even medical emergencies for those who rely on medical equipment or refrigerated medicines.
Until a few years ago, generators were the only option for those who wanted to maintain power during an outage. But, technology has now advanced to where a single residential battery can backup an entire home. And when paired with solar panels, homeowners can expect to not only achieve energy security, but also additional monthly savings.
When your solar panels produce power, your home's immediate energy needs are supplied first and the excess production either gets sent back to grid for a utility credit (a process known as 'net metering') or stored in a connected battery. Credits gained from net metering can be exchanged for grid consumption during periods of no solar production (ie: nighttime) or low solar production (ie: cloudy days). At the end of each month, leftover credits are applied to your electric bill, though typically at the wholesale rate.
With a battery, homeowners can program their system to automate when to send/pull power from the grid/their battery, depending on:
The time of day
Their battery reserve percentage
When inclement weather is forecasted
A variety of other factors
Regardless of how often or when homeowners discharge their batteries, they'll start recharging when the sun is out, creating a self-sustaining energy production/consumption loop.
When the grid goes down and you don't have a battery, your inverter/microinverters deploy something called anti-islanding. This isolates your system from the grid, so your overproduction doesn't get sent back on the very same transmission equipment linemen are attempting to repair.
Without somewhere to send the electricity, your system ceases solar production and you're left in the dark until the grid come back up (or until your generator kicks in).
With the addition of a battery, your panels' overproduction always has somewhere to go to. When your system no longer senses power coming in from the grid, it self-isolates and switches to pulling battery-only power within milliseconds. This is far faster than a generator's typical response, which ranges between 2-10 seconds to avoid unnecessary startups.
Energy storage capacities are typically sized according to what you plan to backup during an outage, ranging from the basics (ie: lights, freezer, fans) to HVAC and whole-home backup. The goal is to have enough reserves to last until the sun comes out the next day and your panels can recharge your system. And for those who have more critical needs for 24/7 power, most batteries have a generator integration, allowing you to charge your batteries with your generator if you have extended periods of minimal solar production.
The customizability of scheduling how and when you use your battery is also giving homeowners much more control over their electric bills.
Since Fall 2025, most utilities are switching over to a Time-of-Use (TOU) rate schedule, where the price of your electricity varies depending on the time of day. Periods that have the highest demand on the power grid have the highest cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh), such as:
Summer months: when everyone is getting home from work (~6-9pm, depending on the utility)
Winter months: when everyone is getting ready for work (~6-9am, depending on the utility)
Granted, having solar panels greatly reduces (or even eliminates) your overall monthly electric bill, but you're probably still using power during those peak windows--they're 'peak' for a reason.
With a battery, you can program your home to only consume battery power during those peak periods and avoid paying the premium prices, increasing your monthly savings. This is known as 'peak shaving.'
If saving money is your Number 1 priority, adding a battery to your system has the potential to offset even more of your monthly utility bill, rather just from solar production alone.
As the strain on the grid grows across the country, more and more utilities are starting to adopt demand response programs. These programs allow the utility to tap into the batteries of enrolled customers and use homeowners' private stores of energy to help offset extreme grid demand, preventing rolling brown-outs or even total outages.
Duke Energy, for example, rolled out their Energywise® Battery Control option at the same time as their limited-capacity PowerPair program.
PowerPair gave homeowners the opportunity to earn up to $9,000 when installing solar and a battery, regardless if they enrolled in EnergyWise. Energywise Battery Control allows Duke to discharge a homeowner's battery 30-36 times per year, with 4 opportunities to opt-out, if they'd rather save their energy reserves at that time. In exchange, Duke will credit homeowners up to about $92 each month, regardless if their battery was discharged that month or not.
While PowerPair may have reached its capacity, Energywise is still available for both existing and new solar customers.
Regardless of whether you're interested in energy storage for the backup capabilities, peak shaving, or additional utility incentives each month, a home battery could be the perfect solution to meet your goals.
Cape Fear Energy Systems is a certified installer of Tesla, FranklinWH, Generac, and Enphase storage solutions. Give us a call at (910) 409-5533 or email us at GetStarted@CapeFearEnergy.com to see which product is the best fit for your energy needs.