Reality is, that most people who want solar power on their home actually want energy storage as well. We want energy storage because if the grid goes down, we want our house to run smoothly – day or not, sunny or cloudy. Additionally, many of us hold onto the dream of disconnecting from The Man.
At SolarPower International 2017 it was clear that the solar+energy storage hardware market – SolarEdge, Sonnen, BYD, Kehua, Outback, Hauwei, Schneider and others – are almost ready (or in terms of Sonnen/SolarEdge/Schneider – ready today) to serve the home energy demands of the broader population.
First, a small bit of education. The large majority of solar power installations installed today need special wiring/extra hardware in order to keep pumping electricity into the house when the grid goes down – this is due to ‘anti-islanding‘ laws. It’s probable that your solar system will also shut down when the grid goes down. This will change.
Outback and Schneider are the old-time players in the off-grid solar market that I’m most familiar with. The Outback FlexPower is a respected package of hardware (first image on the left below). Personally, my favorite installation was of a Schneider system I developed for a close friend at their off-grid cabin in the western hills of the Rocky Mountains (four images to the right below – including their pool). These systems offer all of the wonders of modern life – including the aforementioned pool.
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