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.
Team USA’s Heartbreaking Loss in World Baseball Classic Final Leads to Jesus Being Praised on National TV
Democrats Scrambling as Leftist Icon Is Hit with Bombshell Child Rape Allegations
Gabbard and Patel deny knowledge of Trump emergency election order plans
NYC spends more per homeless person than a typical household earns in a year, data shows
Dem-backed ‘social justice’ law put Virginia’s ODU campus at risk before attack, former AG argues
China hopes Trump’s gamble on Iran and Cuba loses the US more than it gains
Breaking: Trump Suspends 100-Year-Old Law in Bid to Lower Oil Prices
Pure Evil: Trans ‘Youth Advocate’ Arrested Over Rape of Infant He Was Asked to Look After – and It Gets Even Worse
Masked suspect seen at Nancy Guthrie’s home three weeks before her abduction, sources say
Top DOJ officials to brief House Oversight Committee for Jeffrey Epstein probe
Federal judge refuses to recuse himself from Minnesota DHS, ICE case
Watch: Rubio Gives Single Most Brutally Honest Description of Islam by a Secretary of State in Modern US History
Air Force Base Placed Under Lockdown After Deadly Shooting
Kash Patel set to tout crucial FBI reforms that many Americans may not know about: ‘Real security’
Mullin faces Democrat grilling in first hurdle to lead DHS and more top headlines
“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.
