Installing solar isn’t the only big financial decision to make about controlling home power
A customer inspects a Tesla Motors Inc. Powerwall unit inside a home.
Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist | Bloomberg | Getty Images
After a summer of extreme weather and wildfires and now during the peak of hurricane season, the power going out again is becoming familiar to more Americans. That means it may be a good time to consider a home backup power storage system.
The pervasiveness of extreme weather and climate change, local utility reliability and cost may all factor into this financial decision.
“Backup power may be warranted depending on regional factors and geography as well as the state of the infrastructure there,” said Benjamin R. Dierker, executive director of the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure, a research and educational organization, in an email.
In coastal areas, for instance, considerations include the resilience of storm or sea walls, the quality and capacity of drainage infrastructure and the electrical grid’s hardiness, he said. In other areas, extreme weather conditions like high winds, tornados and ice may cause falling trees or downed lines — a risk that’s significantly mitigated if there are buried utility lines rather than overhead lines, Dierker said. Pre-emptive shutdowns, due to extreme weather or other factors, can also be a consideration.
As of Sept. 11, there have been 23 confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect United States, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, which has a graphic that shows the locations of these disasters. These events included two flooding events, 18 severe storm events, one tropical cyclone event, one wildfire event, and one winter storm event.
Here’s what consumers need to consider about home back-up power options:
Appliance needs during power outages
A good first step is to think about the most important appliances you are running on electricity and how long you might realistically need them to run in the event of an outage, said Vikram Aggarwal, chief executive and founder of EnergySage, which helps consumers compare clean home energy solutions.
If you have minimal backup needs, a small portable fossil-fuel generator or battery could suffice, which can cost a few hundred dollars. But if you want your home to operate as normal, you’ll want to consider whole home options.
Location can be a factor since in some areas, the power goes out infrequently or for only short periods of time. In some states like California, Texas and Louisiana, however, it can be a whole different ball game. California consumers, for example, can get an up-to-date sense of outages in their area to get a sense of what their risk may be.
Fossil fuel vs. battery power
If you’re not opposed to fossil fuel-powered options, there are several categories to consider based on your power needs. For lower power needs, a portable generator, which often runs on gasoline or diesel can cost a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. There are also higher-priced portable versions that are usually quieter and more fuel-efficient and may be able to power multiple large appliances—and for longer. How long depends in part on the appliances you’re powering.
A whole home standby generator, meanwhile, is permanently installed and automatically kicks on when the power goes out. This generator type is often fueled by propane or natural gas and costs vary based on size, brand and fuel type. There are options in the $3,000 to $5,000 range, but with installation the total can be considerably higher. This could be a good option if you’re expecting outages for multiple days; theoretically, the generator can run for as long as fuel is supplied, but it can be advisable to shut it down for engine-cooling purposes.
For the environmentally-inclined, battery-powered backups can be a good option for their more environmentally friendly and quieter nature. For a few hundred dollars, give or take, there are lower-priced smaller to mid-size battery options that people can purchase and that will last for several hours.
There are also battery-powered options to back up the whole home that offer many of the same functions as conventional generators, but without the need for refueling, according to EnergySage. Consumers might expect to pay $10,000 to $20,000 to install a home battery backup system, EnergySage said. This can often last for eight to 12 hours, or even longer if you aren’t using it to power items such as air conditioning or electric heat.
Incentives that lower the cost of purchase and installation
When thinking about what type of backup to choose, incentives can factor into the equation. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, households can receive a 30% tax credit for a battery storage installation, even if it’s not paired with a solar system, Aggarwal said.
Other state and local incentives may also be available. For instance, in some markets like California, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York, utilities pay consumers to tap into their batteries during peak periods like the summer, Aggarwal said. Consumers with larger batteries—10kWh or more—may be able to earn hundreds of dollars a year, he said.
EVs as a backup power option for the home
Some electrical vehicles can be used to back up essential items, or, in some cases, a whole home.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning, for example, can power a home for three days, or up to 10 days under certain circumstances, according to the company. With the required system installed, and the truck plugged in, stored power is transferred seamlessly to the home in the case of a power outage. For its part, GM recently said it would expand its vehicle-to-home bidirectional charging technology to its entire lineup of Ultium-based electric vehicles by model year 2026.
In the past, Jim Farley, Ford CEO has spoken about how the F-150 Lightning’s abilities as a source of backup power for homes and job sites have been a real “eye-opener” for the automaker.
“If you’re contemplating spending $10,000 on a whole home gas generator system, why not think about an EV with this capability instead?” said Stephen Pantano, head of market transformation at Rewiring America, a nonprofit focused on electrifying homes, businesses and communities.
Consumers in the market for a new stove might also consider an induction model with an integrated battery to power it or other items such a fridge on an as-needed basis, Pantano said. “This opens up new possibilities for power backups that weren’t there before.”
Solar-plus-storage can lead to long-term savings
Home solar panels are becoming more popular, but most are connected to the grid, and you need some kind of battery storage in order to have backup power, said Sarah Delisle, vice president of government affairs and communications for Swell Energy, a home energy solutions provider.
That’s where a solar-plus-storage system can come in handy. It allows people to use electricity generated from their solar panels during the day at a later point, which can be particularly useful for people who live in areas where there are frequent power outages, said Ted Tiffany, senior technical lead at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, a group that promotes moving buildings off fossil fuels.
A solar-plus-storage system costs about $25,000 to $35,000, depending on the size of the battery and other factors, according to the U.S. Dept of Energy. It’s easier and more cost-effective to install panels and the battery at the same time, but it’s not required. Homeowners who have already installed solar panels and want to add storage, might expect to pay between $12,000 to $22,000 for a battery, according to the Energy Department. Consumers who purchase a battery on its own or with backup are eligible for federal tax credits. Some states provide additional solar battery incentives.
Also consider the long-term savings potential, Tiffany said. He has a family member who, with electrical upgrades, spent around $8,000 on a fossil fuel-powered whole home generator. Putting that money into solar instead might have been more economical because of the energy savings over time and tax incentives, he said.
Consumers can visit EnergySage to find contractors and get information about solar and incentives. They can also visit, Switch is On, which helps consumers find information on electrification and efficiency measures for home appliances that supports the renewable energy integration.
Velocity truck rental is doing its part to help commercial fleets electrify by energizing 47 high-powered charging stations at four strategic dealer locations across Southern California. And they’re doing it now.
The new Velocity Truck Rental & Leasing (VTRL) charging network isn’t some far-off goal being announced for PR purposes. The company says its new chargers are already in the ground, and set to be fully online and energized by the end of this month at at VTRL facilities in Rancho Dominguez (17), Fontana (14), the City of Industry (14), and San Diego (2).
45 120 kW Detroit e-Fill chargers make up the bulk of VTRL’s infrastructure project, while two DCFC stations from ChargePoint get them to 47. All of the chargers, however, where chosen specifically to cater to the needs of medium and heavy-duty battery electric work trucks.
The company says it chose the Detroit e-Fill commercial-grade chargers because they’ve already proven themselves in Daimler-heavy fleets with their ability to bring Class 8 Freightliner eCascadias, Class 6 and 7 Freightliner eM2 box trucks, and RIZON Class 4 and 5 cabover trucks, “to 80% state of charge in just 90 minutes or less.”
At Velocity, we are not just reacting to the shift towards electric mobility; we are at the forefront with our customers and actively shaping it. By integrating high-powered, commercial-grade charging solutions along key transit corridors, we are ensuring that our customers have the support they need today. This charging infrastructure investment is a testament to our commitment to helping our customers transition smoothly to electromobility solutions and to prepare for compliance with the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulations.
David Deon, velocity president
Velocity plans to offer flexible charging options to accommodate the needs of different fleets, including both managed, “charging as a service” subscription plans and self-managed/opportunity charging during daily routes. While trucks are charging, drivers and operators will be able to relax in comfortable break rooms equipped with WIFI, television, snacks, water, and restrooms.
Electrek’s Take
While it feels a bit underwhelming to write about trucking companies simply following the letter of the law in California, the rollout of an all-electric, zero-emission commercial trucking fleet remains something that, I think, should be celebrated.
As such, I’m celebrating it. I hope you are, too.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Global Newswire; Daimler Trucks.
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As I peruse Alibaba for all sorts of fun and interesting electric vehicles, I often stumble across seemingly outlandish products that often have a real use case behind them. The best of those make it into the recurring Awesome Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column, and that’s precisely where this man-carrying drone lands today.
To be fair, I’m not sure the main purpose of this flying EV is to carry people.
They do advertise it with a few images of a person suspended beneath it to show off the drone’s carrying capacity. And at least one of the photos seems like it’s actually non-recreational as the guy appears to be in the process of accessing a communications tower platform.
I guess for those who don’t want to spend half an hour climbing a ladder to change a light bulb or swap a connector, a drone might be a shortcut to some of these difficult access areas. It could also open up the worker pool for that job to not only people with Popeye’s forearms.
But manned work doesn’t seem like the main use case for a heavy-lift drone like this.
Instead, it appears to me that it’s primarily a work drone designed for utility tasks where you’d want to lift a serious amount of weight in tools or supplies.
The stated 200 kg (440 lb) weight-carrying capacity is quite impressive, especially since the unit only weighs 40 kg (88 lb) by itself. But you’ll want that extra lift potential for a number of its other advertised uses, such as a water sprayer for cleaning tasks or a heavy-lift drone for moving supplies in mountainous or otherwise hard-to-reach areas.
Some companies even seem to use them to clean wind turbine blades.
Interestingly, the drone can either run off of its 16 on-board batteries or can be tethered to an electrical cable for continuous flying. For longer duration jobs like window washing, that’s probably the better way to go.
The batteries only offer 20 minutes of flying time, and replacing 16 batteries with freshly charged units would probably take you another 20 minutes on the ground. That limited battery flight time also means that if you are going to use it to carry workers up onto aerial platforms, you better not take the scenic route.
The drone does come with three parachutes that can automatically deploy if it enters free fall, which makes me feel only marginally better about hanging onto that rope ladder and going for a ride.
The factory also advertises that the controls can be run tethered, so you don’t have to use radio frequency in areas where it might be jammed. That has me a bit worried about what other uses they’re envisioning for a heavy-lift drone like this, but I’ll leave that for another day.
With an advertised price of US $5,000, it also seems weirdly affordable. I have no idea what the going rate for a man-lift drone is these days, but I probably would have guessed more than that. You can barely buy an electric motorcycle for that much, and those only move in a single plane.
Of course, the catch is that you have to buy two of them, as that’s the minimum order quantity from the seller. So if you’re crazy enough to strap into one of these things, you better find an equally crazy friend for the second one.
And in case it wasn’t yet clear, please don’t actually try to buy one of these from Alibaba. This column is a tongue-in-cheek exercise in exploring just how amazing and interesting the world’s largest EV provider’s catalog of wacky vehicles has become. But I am certainly not encouraging anyone to run the financial and emotional gauntlet of trying to buy something expensive on Alibaba. I’ve been there and done that, and it’s not for the timid.
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China’s first major sodium-ion battery energy storage station is now online, according to state-owned utility China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage.
The Fulin Sodium-ion Battery Energy Storage Station entered operation on May 11 in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in southern China. Its initial storage capacity is said to be 10 megawatt hours (MWh). Once fully developed, the Station is expected to reach a total capacity of 100 MWh.
The state utility says the 10 MWh sodium-ion battery energy storage station uses 210 Ah sodium-ion battery cells that charge to 90% in a mindblowing 12 minutes. The system comprises 22,000 cells.
Once the project reaches 100 MWh, it could release 73,000 MWh of clean energy each year. That’s enough to power 35,000 households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50,000 tonnes annually.
In an interview with China Central Television, Gao Like, a manager at the Guangxi branch of China Southern Power Grid, said that the energy conversion efficiency of its sodium-ion battery energy storage system exceeds 92%. It’s comparable to the efficiency of common lithium-ion battery storage systems, at 85-95%.
Chen Man, a senior engineer at China Southern Power Grid, said [via the South China Morning Post] that once sodium-ion battery energy storage enters the stage of large-scale development, its cost can be reduced by 20-30%. He continued:
This can be achieved through further improvements in the sodium-ion battery structure, manufacturing process, material utilization, and cycle life, thus lowering the energy storage cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity.
Large-scale sodium-ion batteries are gaining momentum due to their lower cost and abundance of raw materials compared to lithium-ion batteries. The challenges with sodium-ion batteries have been lower energy density and shorter lifespans that can limit efficiency and long-term performance in large-scale applications.
Read more: A new sodium-ion battery breakthrough means they may one day power EVs
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.
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