California’s wildfire season is expected to arrive earlier than normal this year due to drought conditions and the impacts of global warming, and that means we’re likely in for another round of PG&E’s preventative Public Safety Power Shutoffs.
During last year’s fire season Public Safety Power Shutoffs left as many as a million people in various metro areas in the dark at times — sometimes for several days.
Locals from Santa Cruz to Marin Country swept flashlight batteries from store shelves and hunted for public power outlets to recharge cell phones while their frozen foods melted and their homes grew cold on chilly November nights.
If you swore that you would be better prepared next time, we’re here to say, it’s next time. It’s time to gain energy independence from the conventional utility grid via a solar system with a storage battery.
Benefits of a Home Solar Battery
A solar storage battery allows a homeowner to automatically store their excess solar energy in a Tesla Powerwall battery that can be used on-demand, either to avoid expensive time-of-use energy rates or during an emergency such as a PSPS or a severe storm. (The battery even offers an emergency weather alert notification feature.)
Your solar battery will detect a blackout or mandatory power outage, disconnect from the grid and instantly restore power to your home in a fraction of a second. Most homeowners don’t even notice that an outage took place during this switchover.
You’ll have full control over the energy you use. The Powerwall is charged by your solar panels, so there’s no need to connect to the utility grid or to endure peak charges in the late afternoon or early evening.
The attractive and quiet Powerwall units can be wall-mounted or installed on a floor, usually in a garage, or can be placed in any other inconspicuous spot indoors or outside.
Depending upon the size of your battery (you can purchase more than one if you want greater back-up capabilities) you’ll be able to power critical devices and appliances during an outage or your whole house for longer periods of time.
How to Go Solar
If you go solar now, you’ll soon be fully prepared for what may be in store for our communities this summer and fall.
If it ends up that you don’t have to endure a PSPS, you’ll still be reaping all the benefits of being a solar homeowner: A significantly lower (or zero!) electricity bill, a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle AND (in 2020 only) a potential 26 percent tax credit.
Just enter your address into our solar savings calculator to see how much you can save or fill-out this form to schedule a free virtual home solar consultation with one of our solar advisors. If you have immediate questions, please call us at 1-832-200-8956.