Battery Backup Systems for Homes and Businesses
A battery backup can provide continuous power during blackouts, and reduce energy costs in some places.
A home battery backup system can provide peace of mind by supplying ready backup power during outages, and lasts for decades. In places where utilities use time-of-use metering, battery backups can even lower your electric bill by letting you draw power when rates are lowest for use later. Similarly, battery backup systems for farms and other commercial buildings allow for uninterrupted power even when conditions are challenging, preventing interruptions and spoilage.
While at Cromwell we definitely still install stand-alone, off-grid solar panel and battery systems, we have seen a huge upswing in customers staying connected to a utility (on the grid) and using their battery systems to lower electric bills and provide reliable power during outages.
Cromwell Solar has been installing battery backup systems on homes, farms, and commercial and industrial sites for most of our 40+ years. In the last decade, both the advancements in functionality and the lowering of costs for battery backup systems have been quite dramatic. Much of this massive surge in battery technology has been driven by the demand for better batteries for electric cars (EV). The batteries in EVs are often the exact same as those used for home or business battery backup systems and are normally lithium-ion.
Cromwell Solar: Backed Up By Battery Systems
Due to aging infrastructure coupled with the strains of more extreme weather conditions, power outages are occurring more than twice as often as they used to. A great example of using a battery system for continuous power can be found at our own Cromwell Solar headquarters in Lawrence, Kansas. Our office and warehouse use three Tesla Powerwalls to provide a steady backup in case of outages. When our power goes out, the lights barely flicker and our computers stay on — saving what we’re working on — while the bank next door has to shut down until the power is restored.
Three Tesla Powerwalls back up the Cromwell Solar office and warehouse in Lawrence, Kansas.
The installation of Tesla Powerwalls in 2019 at the Cromwell Solar headquarters was one of the first commercial Powerwall installations in the world. Long known for innovation, Cromwell Solar also had the distinction of installing the very first Tesla Powerwall residential system outside of California in 2018.
Battery Backup Advantages
The advantages of a battery backup system over a backup generator (which we also install) include the fact that a generator is loud, needs regular oil changes, and has limited functionality. By contrast, a battery backup system operates silently, requires no regular maintenance, and can be controlled from an app on your phone. Additionally, a home or commercial battery system is eligible for a 30% tax credit while a generator is not.
Cromwell Solar can install a battery backup system with or without solar. When combined with solar, a backup battery system at a home or business can store clean solar energy produced during the day for use onsite later without depending on the utility company for net-metering. Without a battery system, a solar-powered building will still lose power whenever the utility grid is down.
Large commercial battery backup system installed by Cromwell Solar along with rooftop solar.
Most battery systems can power a home for at least a full day, though that varies depending on energy usage. And most can be fully charged within just a few hours. When paired with solar panels on your home or business, a battery backup system may provide days of power even if the grid goes down for longer periods.
Your Solar and Battery Backup Power Specialists
Installing a battery system increases the functionality of your solar energy installation, but the combination of solar and batteries (or solar and generators) is something that is beyond the technical scope of most solar installers.
To maximize the functionality of your solar power or battery system, utilize an experienced energy professional like Cromwell Solar. A battery system can be added to any solar installation either at the time of initial installation or down the road if you want to add functionality to your existing solar project. Cromwell Solar is happy to add battery backup functionality to any existing solar project (sometimes requiring some modifications), whether we initially installed it or not. Additionally, batteries can be added to any solar panel installation, no matter whether we installed it or not.
Today’s battery systems can back up the entire home or business and can even be controlled and monitored with an app that can integrate with solar panels and car chargers, showing you exactly what’s going on with your power use and storage. App control can give you (or Cromwell Solar) the ability to program a battery system to charge itself from the grid at night when power is often less expensive, a practice called net metering, and discharge it during the day.
The Tesla Powerwall App showing battery backup charge level and usage.
While many people looking for battery systems are familiar with the Tesla Powerwall products that we install (such as the Powerwall, Powerwall +, Powerwall 2, and soon Powerwall 3), Cromwell Solar is also certified in and installs battery systems from many manufacturers including Generac PWRcell, Enphase IQ, Sol-ark, and Panasonic EverVolt. Panasonic EverVolt batteries are going to be made right in our area when a new Panasonic Battery plant (EV and home battery backups) currently under construction outside Kansas City opens in 2025.
Today, with greater functionality and lower cost (plus a new 30% tax credit!) a battery backup system is now highly encouraged for all our home, farm, and business customers.