Californians have embraced rooftop solar panels more than anyone in the U.S., but many are learning the hard way the systems won’t keep the lights on during blackouts.
That’s because most panels are designed to supply power to the grid — not directly to houses. During the heat of the day, solar systems can crank out more juice than a home can handle. Conversely, they don’t produce power at all at night. So systems are tied into the grid, and the vast majority aren’t working this week as PG&E Corp. cuts power to much of Northern California to prevent wildfires.
The only way for most solar panels to work during a blackout is pairing them with batteries. That market is just starting to take off. Sunrun Inc., the largest U.S. rooftop solar company, said some of its customers are making it through the blackouts with batteries, but it’s a tiny group — countable in the hundreds.
Personal attacks, Israel, and terrorism define Michigan’s caustic Senate debate
ABC News Targets Trump Family, But Has to Immediately Delete False Story – Was Off by Billions of Dollars
California Medical Breakthroughs Bring In Hundreds of Millions While the Very Same Industry Suffers Substantial Job Loss
Evil Among Us: Watch as Satanic Prayer Opens City Council Meeting, But One Brave Man on Camera Refuses to Go Along
Mike Johnson Snags Record-Breaking Fundraising Haul to Power Republicans Into Midterm Homestretch
Federal grand jury hears evidence in probe of former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s Jan 6 testimony: source
Michigan Senate debate erupts into personal attacks as Rogers, El-Sayed clash over Israel, Iran and more
El Sayed dodges question on whether Israel or Iran poses greater threat to US: ‘Both of them have proven dangerous in their own way’
Letitia James Hit with 52-Count ‘Indictment’ from Her Republican Opponent
Fauci raved about China but fumed at Trump in diary
Arizona man arrested after allegedly emailing White House bomb threat to Tucson news station
Bombshell: New Text from Cornell Rape Accuser Contains 4 Case-Killing Words – ‘Our Body Our Choice’ – Media Omits Them All
Logan Federico’s dad says criminals have become ‘more important’ than victims, pushes repeat offender registry
Pentagon confirms Fort Hood terrorist’s firing squad execution will be livestreamed: ‘Details will follow’
Dem who ripped rival’s donor-fueled ‘good life’ dropped campaign cash on Disney, spouse travel
“It’s the perfect combination for getting through these shutdowns,” Sunrun Chairman Ed Fenster said in an interview. He expects battery sales to boom in the wake of the outages.
And no, trying to run appliances off the power in a Tesla Inc. electric car won’t work, at least without special equipment.
Story cited here.
