Power in Emergencies
In an emergency, you will need to be able to supply your own power. Commercial power is one of the first things to go down in an emergency, either due to storms, or a sudden increase in demand (Think heat or cold wave). There are many ways to supply your own power, and we will break them down into the some basic categories below.
Batteries
Batteries generally have a fairly long shelf life and do not require a separate storage area like generators or fuel, nor are they a fire hazard*. Rechargeable batteries do not last as long as other types, or give as much power, but they can be recharged and used multiple times and can be charged via solar or your car battery if needed. Smaller (traditional) Alkaline batteries are available just about anywhere and can be stored for 1-10 years depending on manufacturer and model. They also provide more power (voltage and amperage) which means longer runtimes than most rechargeable batteries. Large batteries (Car/Riding Mower) can power Inverters, recharge devices, or provide power for an emergency jump-start if needed. The latest technology, LiFePO4 batteries, are affordable and VERY light when compared to traditional large lead acid batteries (like the ones in your car or riding mower) and have a much longer shelf life and discharge percent. They are designed to be recharged for thousands of cycles, and some can be discharged fully (or very close to it) without harming the battery.
Generators
A generator is generally a gas-powered engine (Gasoline, Propane, Natural Gas) that produces an AC output that can power essential items in your home. However, there are also Solar generators as well. Gas generators are great if you have the money/room for them and are comfortable storing their fuel in quantity (if needed). Solar is great if you don’t want to bother with storing/needing fuel, and are willing to potentially spend a little more upfront. Below, I will cover the different kinds of generators available and some advantages and disadvantages of each.
Whole-Home Generators
A whole-home generator can run your whole home without any effort from you to start or stop when power resumes. They use a transfer switch to switch the house over to use their power when the power goes out and switch back and shut down when it returns. If powered by Natural gas, you don’t have to worry about the fuel supply or storing fuel separately, unless a natural disaster affects the supply lines in the ground. But for basic power outages that don’t affect the gas supply, they can run around the clock without the need to refuel them. Gasoline can be harder to store since it can give off flammable vapors, and can go bad in as little as 6 months. Ethanol gasoline is even worse to store, and I don’t advise you use it in a generator since it can “gum” it up faster and cause start/run issues. Gasoline is also a potential fire hazard when refueling the generator due to the possibility of spills, which is not an issue with LP or Natural Gas.
Gasoline Powered Generators
Gasoline powered generators are the most common, but also my least favorite due to the upkeep required to keep them reliable and the necessity of storing gasoline, which has a limited shelf life. You can extend the life of your stored gasoline up to a year or more by using special gas stabilizing treatments, but you will still have a limited shelf-life when storing gasoline.
Natural Gas Powered Generators
Natural Gas generators are normally the “whole home” variety that are permanently located at your home, and attached to a Natural Gas line that runs underground. You do not need to store fuel for these. During basic power outages, your gas supply should not be affected. However, during a natural disaster, the gas supply may be shut off if leaks are detected in the main or auxiliary supply lines.
LP Powered Generators
LP (Liquified Petroleum, commonly known as Propane) generators can run off different LP sources, usually either a large refillable tank provided by your gas supplier, or smaller tanks like those used for gas grills. The smaller tanks can be exchanged for filled tanks, or refilled – which is generally cheaper. The small tanks are also more easily moved if needed for travel, and can provide fuel for a gas grill for cooking. Since LP gas doesn’t go bad over time like gasoline does, it can be stored indefinitely. If your generator is powered by LP, you can store as much Propane as you can afford, for as long as you want to store it.
Portable Power Stations
Portable power stations have come a long way in a short time thanks to advances in battery technology. With the advent of LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate or simply LFP) batteries, portable power stations have become much lighter, and much more affordable. Ecoflow is one of the leaders in this category. These units cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars for their smaller units, to $1,000 or more for a more powerful unit that could be used in place of a generator in emergencies or for camping. These units are steadily gaining popularity, and go on sale for 20-50% depending on when new units are coming out, or supplies exceed demands. One downside to these is that the batteries inside the units have a lifespan of around 10 years. You cannot replace the batteries in most units, so if this is a deal-breaker for you, look into a portable battery with an inverter and charge controller setup instead.
Power Inverter and Your Car
An Inverter is a device that can take DC power (like from a car battery) and convert it to AC power that can power items in your home, like a refrigerator or lights. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to supply emergency power is to use your vehicle as the Engine/DC supply and use an inverter to power a small number of essential devices in your home. This only requires you to connect the Inverter to your car’s battery and start your car. Your car already has an engine that you know will start, hopefully enough gas, and is designed to be outside and run in the rain without any problems. Extension cords will power select devices as needed (cycle them if needed). Advantages to this method are that inverters do not require any fuel in them, so they are easy to store and take up very little room. It also makes them easily portable if you need to move them to another location.
Some disadvantages to this method are that Inverters can be limited in their power output and may not be able to power as many devices as other methods due to limited outlets. Also, most inverters only provide 120V, which cannot run your 240V equipment (e.g., water heaters, stoves, and large Heat/AC’s). Gas generators (Gasoline, LP, NG) generally supply more power and have more outlets for devices, including 240V power outlets.
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)
A UPS is a combination of a small battery and a small inverter all in one package. It can generally only supply a computer for 15 minutes to an hour depending on its rating, but it can also be useful to run other small power demand items for short periods of time like lights, or chargers for a device.
Solar Power
Solar power can be a great way to produce electricity, not just in emergencies, and can be used to charge batteries or with an Inverter to generate AC power. Solar is very versatile, and can be scaled easily to meet your needs. Solar panels can range from extremely small panels that only provide a few volts and watts, to very large arrays that can provide high voltage and amperage to power a whole house and store energy for future use. A small panel can be used to recharge your phone or other mobile devices, recharge batteries.
A huge benefit of solar is that the sun shines most days, and after you have bought the panels and other gear, that power is “free” in the future. A huge disadvantage for solar is that the sun only shines during the day, and even then, it won’t be at full power every day. If you plan to use solar for anything when the sun is not shinning, or not shining very brightly, you will need batteries to store the power for later usage.
Solar will also generally require some sort of power conversion to be useful. Small panels may only put out 5v-12v and work to recharge a cell phone or other devices, but you will still need some kind of charging adapter to control the power, and to limit the charge rate and time so you don’t risk overcharging your batteries and damaging them. Larger arrays of solar panels may use a charge controller too, like the smaller panels, to charge a bank of batteries for storage, but they also might use microinverters that connect directly to each solar panel (usually 1 per panel) that converts the solar panels DC output to 240V AC, which allows easier feeding of grid-tie systems, as well as allowing for smaller gauge wiring to be run from the panel to the grid-tie equipment or charge controller. Some systems use microinverters to directly power a device like a hot-water heater, or a Heat or AC device like a mini-split unit.
Grid-tie, Stand-Alone, and Hybrid Systems
A Grid-Tie Solar system feeds all of the energy that your solar panels produce directly back into your local power provider’s grid. In return for this, you receive some form or compensation from your power provider. Ideally, the power you generate would “roll-back” your power meter. So for each kilowatt you produce, you get a credit for one kilowatt that they provided your home. In some areas however, the power provider will only buy the power you generate from you at a much lower rate than what they charge per kilowatt hour, and will also send you a W2 at the end of the year to report your “income” to the IRS. If the latter is the case in your area, you should probably look into a either a Stand-Alone system that uses a battery bank to store ay unused power, or a Hybrid system. Then, you can use the power you generated and stored in your home when the panels are not currently producing power. One huge disadvantage of this system is that when commercial power goes out, even if your panels are producing power, the system will not benefit you in any way. It will stop feeding the grid so it doesn’t “back-feed” and harm anyone. That means you are not generating any power credits. It will also not power your home, since it is not configured to do so.
Stand-Alone solar systems are just that. There is either no commercial power powering the home, or the stand-alone system is treated more like a generator and switched over to power the home when commercial power is not available or simply not needed. One disadvantage to these systems is the battery requirement. The batteries to store generated power are expensive, and have a limited life-span of anywhere from 5-10 years in most cases.
There are also Hybrid systems that can perform both functions. In a hybrid setup you use the commercially provided power when you do not have enough power stored or being generated, but you either use or store your own generated power when there is enough power being generated by the solar panels to do so. This is the best of both worlds since you essentially are using commercial power as your backup, and are not 100% reliant on either power source alone.
Recommendations to get you started:
Generac 7,500-Watt Dual-Fuel Compatible Portable Generator
Generac 14kW Home Standby Generator with 200-Amp Transfer Switch
ECOFLOW DELTA 2 Portable Solar Power Station
ECO-WORTHY 10.7KWH 48V Solar Power Complete System for Home
2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter 12V DC to 120V
3 Foot 1/0 AWG Alligator Clamp Battery Cable with 5/16″ Ring Terminals
Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Solar Charge Controller
LiTime 12V 100Ah Group 24 Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery