When you are one of the environmentally and financially responsible individuals who has solar panels powering their house, you might think that you are exempt from the extremely annoying effects of a blackout. However you would actually be wrong, as the majority of people with solar panels do not have a way to use the energy that their panels have gathered once the power grid goes offline.

This is due to the fact that unless you have some additional equipment, which will be covered in the rest of this article, then all of the power that your panels gather is being transferred onto the grid and then delivered back to you once it has passed through the electric company. So if the electric grid is offline then this power is not able to even be transferred to the electric company let alone back to you for your use.

Get a Battery

One of the most common ways for solar users to maintain the use of their power during power outages is to buy and install a solar battery. These can come in the form of either a lead acid battery or a lithium based battery. Lead acid batteries are definitely the cheaper option, but they are also much larger, heavier, and usually need to be replaced every couple of years. If you decide to go with a lithium battery they are often smaller, lighter, and last much longer, but they also cost a bit more money. Whichever one you choose it will be able to store your solar energy and make it available for use later on, even during a blackout.

Special Inverters

If you would rather remain connected to the grid, but still would like some power during power outages, then your best option might be getting a special type of inverter. There are certain solar inverters that are actually designed to be used in the event of a blackout due to their ability to regulate current strength.

One of the reasons why solar energy is so risky to use during a power outage, and why any solar company in Arvada and the rest of the country makes their systems with an automatic shut off procedure during blackouts, is because the strength of directly using the power gathered from the panels would put all of your electrical equipment at risk.

However with these special inverters they are able to partially monitor the strength of the energy flowing into your home and have a safety mechanism built in where they shut off if levels begin to get too strong. While you will not be able to power all of your home appliances, you should be able to run a few of the essentials until your power comes back on.