Installing solar panels with a battery means your home will have power even during an outage, right? Wrong. As installers know, not every home energy management system (HEMS) will automatically provide backup power in the event of an outage.
Yet many homeowners lack reliable information about different HEMS and batteries and what capabilities a system provides. With solar adoption continuing to grow, and the proliferation of solar companies and installers across the U.S., it’s vital to educate consumers about the systems they’re buying and ensure they understand the tradeoffs and benefits of various solutions.
“People often hear from their friends or neighbors about how these systems work for them, but every home and use case is different,” says Vincent Curcie, CEO and founder of OC Solar. “There are batteries for full-home backup, partial-home backup and those without backup capability. You as the installer must understand your customers’ goals to provide the right system,” he says.
Ultimately, it’s up to installers to break through the competitive noise and provide guidance to their customers so they can make the most informed choice of HEMS and batteries.
Help customers understand why backup power is necessary
“There are a lot of misperceptions out there about the costs and benefits of batteries,” says Curcie. To help customers understand their options, it’s crucial for installers to explain the long-term trends driving battery adoption. The push to electrify the economy means more demand on our grids at all times. The growth of EVs and heat pumps is shifting demand from gas to electricity, and the proliferation of data centers, for example, is going to add significant energy demands for years to come.
At the same time, more extreme weather events are driving more weather-related outages. These can be storms in summer or winter, and drought conditions can lead to power cuts to reduce wildfire risks. All of these factors make backup batteries extremely important for homeowners with solar installations. But they must understand that they need not just a battery but a load management system, such as Panasonic’s EVERVOLTⓇ SmartBox, that will provide power specifically when outages occur.
Guide customers to choose the system that’s right for them
Once homeowners are ready to choose a battery system, it’s incumbent on installers to take a few critical steps:
- Evaluate each home’s unique needs. “Determining customer usage patterns is crucial to properly sizing a battery,” Curcie says. “Do they want to back up only the emergency circuits in their house, such as the refrigerator and garage door, or do they want to back up the entire house?” Installers must then calculate loads based on the customer’s desired usage and size the battery system appropriately.
If customers have an EV (or multiple) that charges in the garage, this will affect battery capacity. Even if they aren’t charging EVs now, they might do so in the future, and a backup battery system should account for this possibility. “Talk to customers about their needs today and five years from now,” advises Cody Melamed, Southwest regional sales manager with Panasonic Eco Systems. “How long do they plan to live in the house? Are they thinking of buying an EV or plug-in hybrid? Will they add a pool one day? These types of future loads should be discussed up front,” he says.
- Identify critical loads. Once you know if a customer wants partial-home backup, you can decide with them which loads are critical to maintain during an outage. With Panasonic’s SmartBox, customers can back up six loads and have the flexibility to change them depending on the duration of an outage. “They can have their refrigerator, Wi-Fi and some lights on the backup circuits and then set a threshold where the battery sheds non-critical loads if the outage is longer than expected,” Melamed says. “Say the battery reaches 60% — customers can have it automatically shed lights and keep the refrigerator running longer.”
There are tools to help installers explain this process to customers. Software that creates graphs and visualizations is valuable for OC Solar: “We can display for customers the size of the proposed battery, what circuits it will back up, and how quickly it will be depleted based on usage,” Curcie explains.
- Implement the right system for backup capabilities. With detailed load management plans in place, installers can provide customers with a seamless solution. Panasonic’s SmartBox, for example, allows homeowners to change or shed loads all from a mobile app so they can modify their backup power as an outage occurs. This flexibility also means they can be proactive. “If a weather event is coming, you can utilize the entire battery for backup instead of for cost savings during peak hours,” says Curcie. “The SmartBox’s functionality allows customers to simply choose on their phone what they want powered and what they don’t. That’s the energy independence that customers want,” he adds.
The SmartBox also features gas generator integration capabilities, so if a customer has a generator (or plans to get one in the future), they can specify when the generator takes over based on battery capacity. “That flexibility gives you control over the battery’s functionality,” Curcie says.
This approach to battery solutions builds trust with customers as they reap the benefits of a battery system designed to meet their needs, not a one-size-fits-all answer.
Be ready for changing conditions
Backup power will become increasingly important — and expected — as more homeowners add solar plus battery storage. The long-term challenges facing our grids mean that customers will continually need backup power, so installers who provide education now will build a strong foundation for loyal customers, positive reviews and greater market share in a more competitive landscape.
“People want energy independence, and it’s up to installers to clearly identify the benefits of various systems and work with customers to get it right the first time,” says Curcie.
Homeowners can’t be expected to be experts in all types of batteries and HEMS, but with the right support, they will reach their desired energy goals and forge a strong relationship with their installers in the process.
Learn more about EVERVOLT SmartBox solutions for your customers.
