Imagine this, yet another big hurricane sweeps along the Florida coast, a Category 4. It tumbles through your city, causing damage to hundreds of homes and leaving thousands in a power outage. Your utility company is too swamped to come to your neighborhood, so you’re left in a nightmare.

“Do I leave town?”
“Do I hunker down and live without power for an unpredictable amount of time?”

Are you feeling the anxiety already?
You should be, this is a real possibility and could be you next year.

Is there a way to prevent it from happening?
You’d be surprised to know that the answer is yes… there is.

Your solution is solar energy. But you already know that so here’s the nitty-gritty of how your home can stay powered on even during blackouts and mass power outages.

When looking at solar energy systems, there is one device that keeps your home powered on even when the sun isn’t shining. Of course, the panel systems produce electricity from the sun’s rays by converting the energy of the rays into usable electricity through photovoltaic panels. But where does that energy go once it’s converted into electricity?

Your home will automatically be able to use the power so you can turn on the lights and power up your TV. But there is a way to store the electricity from the panels, through home batteries.

Now, these aren’t any ordinary AA batteries. These are big wall-mounted batteries that fit on the wall of your garage, utility room, or closet.

Here is an important note to remember:
Your home will not produce power during a blackout if you only have solar panels on your roof. The reason is that you are still tied to the grid regardless of whether you’re producing clean energy via your solar installation. This is where incentives like net metering come into play. When your system overproduces electricity, it gets sent back to your grid via power lines.

During blackouts and storms, it can be very dangerous if utility workers are working on presumed “dead” lines and your solar system decides that this is a good time to send power back to the grid… you can only imagine the result. For this reason, your solar panels have a safety feature where if the grid is turned off, so are your solar panels.

If you want to be completely off the grid, you’ll have to invest in home batteries as mentioned above. However, there are pros and cons to going completely off the grid…

The pros:

• You’ll be completely off the electrical grid, so there will be no worries about utility payments to your electric company.

• You completely own the electricity that you produce.

• The home is completely reliant on your solar panel system. So, in the case of a power outage, your home will be powered on.

The cons:

• You will be disconnected from the power grid; you won’t be able to utilize the net metering incentive available in most states and areas.

• You will also need to buy a lot of those pricey home battery systems to power your entire home.

• And of course, the biggest con is you will not have the ability to use electricity from the grid at all.

We advise the best of both worlds, access to the grid, and the ability to use your home’s electricity during power outages and blackouts. By having enough home battery systems to keep major appliances running like refrigerators, freezers, ovens, stoves, or anything else you’d need! These work essentially as a backup generator but don’t have the massive price tag of a full-scale system.

In short, to use electricity during power outages and utilize the net metering incentive, get just enough home batteries to power your home but still stay connected to your local grid.

So now that we’ve gone extensively through how your solar power installation operates during a blackout, we can switch to how much it would cost for you to make the switch to solar.

Cost of Solar Panel System

The cost of solar varies depending on your home, your roof, and your energy needs. For most, the cost of solar panel installation averages between 20-30k. However, several factors soften the cost of solar, reducing it by thousands of dollars.

A few incentives are available for homeowners to make the switch to solar. These incentives range from federal to local, assisting homeowners with switching to solar. The main incentive available is the Federal Tax Credit for Solar. This tax credit allows homeowners to claim their solar system on their taxes and receive 30% of their total system cost back as a tax credit. This amount is usually between 5-10k and significantly lowers the cost of switching to solar power installation.

Another big incentive to look out for has already been mentioned above, Net Metering. Net Metering is a federal incentive program that most states are participating in. (One of which is Florida, so be on the lookout for this as you’re getting your system powered on!) Net Metering occurs when your system has overproduced power for your home. Instead of the power going to your home batteries, it is directed to your closest electrical grid. Your local power company records how much electricity you have sent to their grid and at the end of the year sends you money for the electricity that you have produced. For some, this is a side hustle or just an advantage of having a self-sufficient system. Either way, it’s certainly helpful when deciding if the cost is worth the reward!

Now that we’ve taken a look at the cost of a solar energy system, let’s look at it compared to how much you would spend continuing to pay for your electric bill. After a quick Google search, the average cost of an electric bill in Tampa, FL is $246, with the cost per kilowatt-hour being 14c and the average Tampa resident using 1,762 kWh per month! That leaves you with a $2,930 bill every year. (Assuming you’re not spending more than this on your electric bill!)

Now, let’s ignore the insane rate increases every quarter and imagine that number remains static. If you take the massive $2,930 and say you pay it over the next ten years, the massive number is multiplied to a staggering $29,400.

That is of course ignoring the rate increases and the fact that most Florida residents pay more than $246 every month for their electricity due to heat waves, larger homes, pools, and everything else that is an energy sucker within the household! So starting at a modest number, over the next ten years, you will throw more money down the drain renting your electricity than simply investing in a solar panel installation for your home.

Now that I’ve scared you into reading this with all the lights off in hopes that your energy bill will magically be reduced, there is another option for you. Which is more than likely why you’re still reading.

Making the switch to solar isn’t as terrifying as it seems compared to paying nearly thirty thousand only over the next ten years for electricity you’ll never own. Keep in mind, that’s not a lifetime amount of money, that’s only ten years. If you’re interested in learning more about solar companies and battery systems, head to the “Contact Us” page. We’ll give you more information and walk with you on your journey to making your switch to solar.

Not only will your energy bills be lower, but you’ll reap the benefits when the power goes out in the next big hurricane and you’re the only home with the lights still on, and reality TV still playing while you’re eating your frozen ice cream.

Head to the Contact Us page and the best solar installers will take care of the rest!