How lucky we are! We live in a time when high-quality solar and storm alert-connected home batteries are available to install at almost any home. In the spirit of this week’s “lucky” holiday, here are 4 smart new ways that the latest solar and energy storage can help you make your own good luck all year round.
Think you’re vigilant about storm outages? Meet Storm Watch mode
Are you the person who as soon as it pops up, you announce to your whole family, office, or whoever’s around (pets? houseplants?) that there’s a National Weather Service alert on? With the Storm Watch feature, your home battery already “knows” and springs into action. How does it work? The energy storage system is Wifi connected, so just like your phones and smart speakers it receives the NWS bulletin anytime it’s issued. It’s now going to top off its charge, overriding any other settings, to make sure there’s as much juice as possible to supply to your critical loads if the lights do go out during that bad storm.
Pretty nifty, and that’s included with any battery system that Ipsun Solar installs.
Grid power: more or less expensive in 2030?
Ok, time will tell if in a few years’ time our area electric rates are set higher or lower than currently. But if you’re willing to bet they’ll stay the same or go up, your best chance is solar. That way, a decade down the road you’ll still be using energy from your own source, the cost of which can’t change, and a lot less energy from the grid than non-solar customers, who get stuck paying for 100% grid energy and potentially facing spiking bills.
Add storage and you’ll also be lucky enough to benefit from a dynamic rate that jacks the electricity price during peak demand times – simply program your battery to draw on your reserve in those hours to the maximum possible before using any grid power, then recharge your battery later the next time you’re running on your abundant solar.
Outages: Always at the most inconvenient time!
Power outages just seem to strike when there’s already trouble brewing. Stuck inside on a gray stormy day with grumpy family members? Bam, now there’s a power outage and it’s getting hot and stuffy too. Trying to get out the door for a big celebration or important occasion? Boom, wind blows a tree down on a power line and you’re in the dark. Solar with energy storage saves the day without creating more headaches – no smelly air pollution like a generator, no uncertainty or expense of manual refueling, nothing to check on in-person if you’re headed out of town, just a well-planned system for keeping the essentials on when there’s no telling how long it will be, so you can keep your own special plans.
Now you’re really lucking out!
So your luck changed again and now you’re moving? Hooray!
What if your lucky day comes and you or your partner suddenly get an unbelievable dream job across the country? Solar and storage is good luck for selling your home, too. Even pre-pandemic when fewer people spent working days at home, over 80% of home buyers said that energy-efficient features were important to them.
The value of solar energy systems and home batteries are reflected in faster sales and higher home sale closing prices, so don’t worry that you’d lose what you invested by moving. Thinking of renting out your home? Tenants may be willing to pay a bit higher rent knowing that their monthly utility is lower, and may be willing to pay a hefty premium on their rent for sophisticated and reliable battery backup. Try marketing the home toward someone who needs minimal power interruption for a home computer server, prescription refrigerator, or chest freezer, or a young family keen on keeping their furnace blower, breast pumps, and baby monitor online 24/7.
At your destination, you’ll be lucky enough to find a member of our nationwide network of solar installers Amicus Solar will be happy to set up your next home with solar and energy storage too. Spread that luck around!
Share the luck of the stylish!
If you’ve already got solar and storage, it’s still someone’s lucky day! Give this blog post to someone who you’d like to see get lucky with a new solar and storage install this year. Thanks for reading, and top o’ the sunny mornin’ and best of luck to you!
