What Happens To Solar Panels During A Power Outage?

Most of the residential and commercial buildings in the US, especially Texas are going solar. When it comes to going Solar, there are so many things to think about. Do you want batteries for extra backup? Do you want to go completely Solar or still rely on the power grid? Among such other things, the question of whether Solar Panels work when there is no electricity emerges. What do you think happens to Solar Panels during a power outage?

If you had to answer, your answer would be they continue working as they do not require electricity. Owing to the fact that Solar Panels generate electricity using sunlight, your answer would normally be correct. In fact, it is correct as any proper solar panel installation would not be disturbed in case of no electric supply. However, the energy that is being generated is not flowing to your home. We will tell you why!

The inverter that consumes energy and converts it into current shuts down when there is no power. This happens because in most houses in the US, the inverter is connected to the power grid. In any solar system for home, the more power you generate using Solar Panels, the more you save as you take less power from the electric grid. That is how you save money using Solar systems.

When the electricity goes out, what happens to your inverter? During a power outage, all the electric services are interrupted for safety reasons. This is to protect both the electric appliances and the repair personnel who are working on the connections. Anyone working on the connections will be harmed if there is a flow of power. As a result, when the power goes out, the inverter turns down automatically. It will remain turned off until the power is restored. Thus, any standard residential solar system will work during a power outage, but the flow of the current won’t reach your house.

However, if you're one of the small percentages of people who live off the grid, the outage won’t affect you at all. The electricity from your inverter flows directly into your home wiring. This is why the panels will continue to provide power. Thus, you remain unaffected by the outage, after all. It should be noted that the solar panels do not stop working without electricity, it is the inverter that flows the energy to your house that stops working.

If you do not wish the power outage to affect you, there is another way to keep your house running on electricity - Storage Batteries. These batteries will store the energy collected from Sunlight and will keep supplying it to your home when there is no power. Universal Solar System, however, does not recommend Solar Batteries. The solar panel installation cost will increase by $15,000 or more when you add two such batteries which will only be enough to supply electricity to essential appliances in case of a power outage. Solar batteries are still pretty expensive and not worth the expense. If you wish to know more about energy backup using Solar Batteries, click here.

The recommendation of using Storage batteries might change in near future. Technology is making new advances in the field and the price keeps going down. The demand for storage batteries is increasing and thus the prices are decreasing. Increased unreliability, however, can be the reason we do not recommend storage batteries ever. Given what science says about climate change, the unpredictability is only going to get worse as the weather becomes less predictable and more extreme. These are future predictions based on the present scenarios. Any other Solar system company will have the same views.

When all of these factors are considered together, battery storage appears to be more financially viable and sensible than it did even a year or two ago. The cost of battery storage has decreased by 70% since 2010, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA). According to the SEIA, storage will account for a quarter of all new residential solar systems by 2025, up from 7% in 2020. Alternatively, if you're one of the 300,000 Americans who bought an electric vehicle last year, you can use the battery in your car to power your major appliances for at least many hours—assuming you charged it before the outage. That is another way to save yourself from a power outage.

According to Universal Solar System, battery storage is a better and secure option than the alternatives. For example, to power your home for a day, you'll need a lot of fuel stored in your house or a nearby shed. Every hour, a typical 5-kilowatt generator consumes about 0.75 gallons of fuel. The portable generator will use about 18 gallons of gasoline to run for a day. Keeping that much gasoline in or near your home poses a significant risk. It is better to not take this risk. Storage batteries are known to heat up, but that is very unusual and a rare outcome. Storage batteries are also safer for the environment than the alternative. If you have a Solar System for your home and can afford storage batteries, you should consider them if there are frequent power outages in your area.

Whatever you decide, we are here to assist you. But the facts remain the same. You will not be able to use the power generated from your residential solar system during a power outage in present times. With the new advances in technology, this may change in the upcoming years.

Universal Solar System believes in creating a greener Earth by maximizing the use of renewable energy. We guide and assist our clients from consultation to activation of the solar panels. Universal Solar System is a solar panel manufacturer and seller with over a decade of experience. In order to provide you with the highest quality solar equipment, we only employ tier 1 items in all of our designs. If you are considering a Solar Panel installation on your property, you should definitely contact us!