A home battery does not automatically keep the house powered during a grid outage.
The simple answer
No.
A standard home battery installation is usually designed to reduce electricity bills, not automatically to keep the house powered during a power cut.
Why does the battery stop during a power cut?
When the electricity network fails, most grid-connected solar and battery systems disconnect automatically for safety.
This prevents electricity from being sent back onto power lines while engineers may be working on them.
Without dedicated backup equipment, the house will lose power even if the battery still contains stored energy.
A correctly designed backup system can keep essential loads running during a power cut, while higher-power appliances remain switched off.
Whole-home backup may also be possible, but it requires careful consideration of the battery capacity, inverter output and the maximum electrical demand of the house.
How long will backup power last?
This depends on:
- the battery’s state of charge when the outage begins;
- its usable storage capacity;
- the appliances being powered; and
- the length of the power cut.
The more electricity being used, the sooner the stored energy will run out.
The answer
A battery does not automatically provide whole-home backup.
Backup is an optional feature that must be designed into the installation and clearly included in the quotation. Homeowners who want protection during power cuts should raise this before the system is ordered.
Want battery backup during a power cut? Speak to Stag Solar about a system designed around the circuits and appliances you need to keep running.
See the article ‘Can I Run My House Entirely Off-Grid with Solar Panels and Batteries?’
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