Battery Backup
Take complete control of your energy and protect your home from unexpected power outages with a custom solar battery backup system. Solar YYC builds customized storage solutions tailored to your energy goals.
Why Alberta Homeowners Are Adding Battery Storage
Blackout Protection: Keep your home safe during severe weather, winter cold snaps, and sudden grid failures.
Continuous Solar Production: Allows your solar panels to continue generating power during an outage rather than shutting down.
Daily Energy Independence: Store excess daytime solar power to use in the evening or on cloudy days, reducing what you buy from the utility grid.
Future-Ready: Prepared for evolving time-of-use utility pricing and rising electricity costs in Alberta.
Compare our Battery Systems
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Feature
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APsystems ELS + Soluna Battery
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Tesla Powerwall 3
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Essential Loads: Fridge, freezer, furnace fan, Wi-Fi, lighting, and select outlets.
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Homeowners seeking premium smart-home integration and whole-home backup.
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Backup Coverage
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Essential Loads: Fridge, freezer, furnace fan, Wi-Fi, lighting, and select outlets.
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System Highlight
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Lower entry price point using robust LFP chemistry.
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Advanced monitoring and smart controls via the Tesla App.
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How do batteries affect my return on investment with Solar.
Will my system still run during a blackout?
- Solar + Battery Backup: Yes! A battery system automatically isolates your home from the grid in milliseconds and creates its own backup power loop. Your essential circuits stay on, and your solar panels will continue to power your home and recharge the battery while the sun is out.
Standard Solar (No Battery): No. For safety reasons, utility regulations require grid-tied solar inverters to shut off during an outage so power lines are safe for utility repair workers.
Should I install battery storage with my solar panels?
Battery storage is ideal for homeowners who want greater energy independence and peace of mind. Instead of sending all excess daytime solar back to the grid, a battery lets you store that power to run your home in the evening or keep essential electronics running during a blackout.
A battery isn’t required for every solar setup, but if you want backup power and maximum control over your energy usage, it’s a fantastic upgrade. All Solar YYC systems are built battery-ready for easy integration down the road!
Partial Home Backup vs. Whole Home Backup
Partial Home Backup (Recommended) The APsystems ELS 11.4KW with a Soluna battery is designed for partial home backup (also known as a critical load backup). This means during a power outage, only your most essential circuits will remain powered.
What stays on: Critical loads like your refrigerator, freezer, furnace fan, Wi-Fi, select lighting, specific outlets, and any special requests you designate.
The Benefit: It is the most efficient and cost-effective way to add battery backup to a home electrical system, providing safety and comfort without unnecessary bulk.
Whole Home Backup Whole home backup means your entire electrical system and every appliance remains powered during a blackout. While this offers total continuity, it results in a vastly more expensive and complex system due to three main factors:
Expensive Hardware: It requires costly automatic transfer switches installed between the meter base and main panel to prevent power from back-feeding into the grid.
More Powerful Inverters: You need a larger, more expensive battery inverter capable of handling the high electrical demand of all your household appliances running simultaneously.
Massive Battery Capacity: A significantly larger battery bank is required to keep an entire house running for the same amount of time that a smaller battery can run a partial backup.
Where can a solar battery be installed in my home?
Due to building and electrical safety codes, an attached garage is the ideal installation spot for solar batteries. If that isn’t an option, batteries can be installed in an in-home fire-safe room (a dedicated utility room with drywall and a self-closing door) or a detached garage (which may require extra wiring and trenching). We will explore and confirm the best location for your home during your initial site visit.
How long does a 10 kWh solar battery last during a power outage?
A 10 kWh battery (like the Soluna 10 kWh system) provides about 9.2 kWh of usable energy. If you run your main essential items together (averaging a typical 1.5 kW draw), the battery will last 6 to 7 hours on a single charge. If the sun is shining, your solar panels will continuously recharge the battery during the day, keeping your power on even longer.
Here is how long a fully charged battery can run everyday household items on its own:
Refrigerator (150W): ~50 hours
Furnace Fan (600W): 12 to 14 hours
Wi-Fi & Electronics (150W): ~50 hours
10 LED Lights (100W total): ~90 hours
All Essentials Running Together (1.5 kW load): 6 to 7 hours
Does the size of my solar system affect the number of batteries I need?
The system size will not affect how many batteries you can add, however your solar system sizing will dictate the recommended battery quantity that we’d advise, based on what your battery goals are.
If I add a battery can I increase the size of my solar system?
Wire Owners will still permit the same system size whether or not batteries are included or not. Both Grid Tied, and battery backup options are still required to follow the 100% offset rule as per the Alberta Utility Commission Microgeneration policies.
How does warranty work on battery storage?
Batteries are warrantied on a 10 year product warranty, or 8000 cycles, whichever arrives sooner. Most batteries will cycle a maximum of 1 cycle per day in average use cases, so typically the 10 year warranty will be exceeded first.
Additional Services:
● Heat Pump Installation
● Critter Guard Installation
● Emporia Consumption Monitor
Ask Us All your Solar Questions! No matter how big or small.
We will be glad to send you a free estimate for a solar panel system that meets all your needs.
