With stormy months fast approaching, many Oregon homeowners are thinking ahead about outage prep and backup power. A clean approach to backup power is solar plus battery storage: solar panels produce renewable energy that powers your home and is stored in a smart battery. If an outage hits, the battery takes over, so you won’t be left in the dark.  

By producing clean, renewable energy, day after day, solar panels can significantly reduce annual energy bills. But adding battery storage allows solar to do more by providing backup power for things like lighting, refrigeration, phone chargers, home medical equipment, well pumps and other essential needs. You select which items to power with your battery system.  

After suffering through a week-long storm outage in 2021, Keizer residents Linda and Marc Vickery were motivated to install solar + storage for lighting and other essentials. Keeping their fridge running during an outage was especially important because Linda depends on medication that requires constant refrigeration.  

“At first, we started thinking about getting a big generator. Or do you get smarter about it? This was our ‘smarter about it,’” said Linda. “It’s such a greener way to operate.” 

(Read more about Linda and Marc’s solar + storage journey.)  

Smart battery storage systems are often installed in a home’s garage. There are a variety of brands, and most include home energy monitoring viewable through a mobile app.

Clean recharging, daily 

Other portable and hard-wired backup power systems depend on fossil fuels, and they could run out of fuel during a long outage. With a solar + storage system, the solar panels continue to generate clean, renewable energy to power essential loads and charge the battery daily. It’s clean, quiet and safe.

Incentives, tax credits lower costs 

In addition to cash incentives for solar, Energy Trust now also offers incentives to help lower the cost of installing smart battery storage too. Already have solar? You can still get an incentive for adding battery storage. Income-qualified households are eligible for Solar Within Reach increased incentives. You may also qualify for a 30% federal tax credit on solar + storage. Combined, the incentives and tax credits can save thousands of dollars.  

Curious how solar + storage could benefit your home? Request a free, no-obligation analysis and bid. You’ll be matched with qualified Energy Trust solar trade allies serving your area who can answer all your solar questions.