BATTERY BACKUP STORAGE
Finally, a solution for that unused solar power.
Protect your home when you combine your solar panel system with a home solar battery so you can use more of your solar energy, even when the lights go out and the rates go up.
How Solar Power Batteries Work
A lot of solar panel batteries have capacities around 10kWh so (depending on your specific configurations) this allows enough stored energy to power up to four circuits in your home, the most common of which are your fridge, kitchen, bathroom, and heater. For larger homes, or if you want to power more than four circuits, it is sometimes possible to upgrade to additional battery storage.
The time it takes the four circuits to consume all the energy in your solar home battery varies based on things like battery type, age, capacity, appliance size, etc. Most solar panel batteries should keep your essentials running for at least a few hours, but it is possible that your battery could maintain enough charge to keep your essentials running for days at a time.
That’s because your panels continue to charge your battery during the day, so it’s possible that they could produce enough energy each new day for your battery to never fully deplete overnight. Then the battery will begin to recharge as soon as sunlight hits panels the next morning.
Self-Generation Incentive Program
The CPUC’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) provides incentives to support existing, new, and emerging distributed energy resources. SGIP provides rebates for qualifying distributed energy systems installed on the customer’s side of the utility meter. Qualifying technologies include wind turbines, waste heat to power technologies, pressure reduction turbines, internal combustion engines, microturbines, gas turbines, fuel cells, and advanced energy storage systems.
If you are a customer interested in participating in SGIP, you can learn more here: www.cpuc.ca.gov/sgipinfo/. For the most up-to-date information on the current status of the SGIP budget and whether or not a particular step is open or closed, please visit the SGIP home page by clicking here. In particular, the SGIP site has information on statewide budget status, as well as the status individually for PG&E, and SMUD.