Tesla Motors Club
Normally, power in my area is very stable - only 2 outages over a few minutes in 10 years. However, now that I have my grid-tie system installed, I'm thinking about what I could do if there was ever a big emergency and grid power was unavailable for days or weeks. In this scenario, I'm looking at a few hours of minimal power a day. Run the freezer for a few hours, run chargers, and other minor emergency usage. AC, pool/pond pumps and other heavy equipment would go silent.
Tesla Powerwalls are the easy solution, but to me would be way too costly. With my 12.24kW system, Tesla recommends 3 Powerwalls for $23K (pre-incentive). It doesn't look like Tesla would let me get a singe Powerwall, but even if they did they would still want $11K (pre-incentive).
A small generator seems like a reasonable and probably most realistic option. Home Depot has some for less than $300. I don't like the need for gasoline, mechanical parts, and my expensive solar array would be sitting silent. But it is cheap and easy.
Portable Generators - Generators - The Home Depot
I have 3 strings going to my 10kW SolarEdge Inverter. For $900, I could potentially buy a 3kW Sunny Boy and have a string run to this inverter. This would give me their Secure Power Supply Outlet while the panels are generating electricity. No gas or moving parts. It also gives a bit of redundancy if I lose one of the inverters.
SMA Sunny Boy 3000W Inverter SB3.0-1SP-US-41 | Webo Solar
Are there any Powerwall like alternatives? Something relatively small and inexpensive which would allow my array to run off-grid if needed? Or anything else I might want to consider?
Tesla Powerwalls are the easy solution, but to me would be way too costly. With my 12.24kW system, Tesla recommends 3 Powerwalls for $23K (pre-incentive). It doesn't look like Tesla would let me get a singe Powerwall, but even if they did they would still want $11K (pre-incentive).
A small generator seems like a reasonable and probably most realistic option. Home Depot has some for less than $300. I don't like the need for gasoline, mechanical parts, and my expensive solar array would be sitting silent. But it is cheap and easy.
Portable Generators - Generators - The Home Depot
I have 3 strings going to my 10kW SolarEdge Inverter. For $900, I could potentially buy a 3kW Sunny Boy and have a string run to this inverter. This would give me their Secure Power Supply Outlet while the panels are generating electricity. No gas or moving parts. It also gives a bit of redundancy if I lose one of the inverters.
SMA Sunny Boy 3000W Inverter SB3.0-1SP-US-41 | Webo Solar
Are there any Powerwall like alternatives? Something relatively small and inexpensive which would allow my array to run off-grid if needed? Or anything else I might want to consider?