Outage Backup
When the grid drops, the system disconnects and continues supplying your nominated critical circuits without interruption.
Battery storage and backup power
Solar generation you can use after dark, and critical systems that keep running through a BPL outage. Sized around the loads you cannot afford to lose.
Why Storage
Panels lower your bill. Batteries keep you running.
This is the single most misunderstood part of solar. A grid tied system without storage shuts down during an outage. It has to, for the safety of the line workers repairing the fault. So if the reason you are looking at solar is the outages, panels alone will not solve it.
Storage is what turns a solar array into a system that keeps your building alive when the grid does not.
What Storage Does
Three jobs a battery bank performs
Time Shifting
Store what the array generates in the middle of the day and use it in the evening, instead of exporting it or losing it.
Peak Shaving
Discharge stored energy during your most expensive demand periods to reduce what you draw from the grid at the worst moment.
Nominate Critical Loads
Refrigeration, servers, security, medical equipment, and lighting are the usual list. Air conditioning is where budgets get decided.
Decide the Duration
Four hours of backup and twenty four hours of backup are very different systems at very different prices.
Match to Generation
Storage sized against what your array can realistically refill each day, so the batteries actually recharge.
Plan for Maintenance
Battery systems need monitoring and servicing. That is included under the Sonowatt subscription plan.
Sizing It Properly
Backing up everything is expensive. Backing up the right things is not.
The cost of storage scales with how much you want to keep running and for how long. Most clients do not need whole building backup. They need specific loads protected for a specific number of hours.
During design we ask you to nominate what genuinely has to stay on. That single conversation is usually the difference between an affordable system and one that never gets built.
Storage FAQs
What people ask about batteries
Panels alone lower your bill during daylight hours. They do not keep your lights on when the grid goes down, because a grid tied system without storage shuts off during an outage for the safety of line workers.
If your priority is bill reduction, panels may be enough. If you need your building to keep running through an outage, you need storage. We will tell you which one your situation actually calls for.
Only if it includes battery storage and is configured for backup. A properly designed solar plus storage system detects the outage, disconnects from the grid, and continues running the loads you nominated as critical.
During design we ask you to decide what has to stay powered. Refrigeration, servers, medical equipment, and security systems are common priorities. Sizing storage around those specific loads keeps the cost sensible.
On our subscription plan, equipment and workmanship carry a 25 year warranty, roof penetrations carry a 10 year warranty, and the system is monitored 24/7. Sonowatt replaces equipment for the life of the contract.
On a purchased system, workmanship and production carry a 10 year guarantee, roof penetrations carry a 10 year warranty, monitoring is included, and the equipment itself is covered under the manufacturers' warranties.
On the subscription plan, Sonowatt does. Maintenance, repairs, monitoring, and equipment replacement are our responsibility for the term of the contract.
On a purchased system, the system is yours and so is the upkeep. Many owners choose to keep us on for scheduled maintenance and performance monitoring, which we offer as a separate service.
Work out what you actually need backed up
Book a consultation and we will help you separate the loads that matter from the ones that just make the quote bigger.