High-profile interruptions to the grid have influenced more homeowners than ever to install solar. From wildfires in California, Oregon, and other western states to the deep freeze in Texas, homeowners have become anxious about the unreliability of the grid. This has led to higher-than-usual adoption of solar and storage.
The threat of power outages causes stress during weather-related events like thunderstorms, extreme heat and cold, and wildfires. More than 52% of homeowners who experienced a disruption in power have lost trust in their utility company. Even nearly 20% of those who didn’t experience a loss of power report distrust in their provider.
Those who had an outage of even as short as an hour are taking action to prepare for such events. They are 4X more likely to have purchased solar and 4X as likely to purchase storage compared to homeowners who have not had an outage. In fact, when available, 70% of homeowners consider solar plans to include a battery in their purchase. Homeowners with existing solar say that they installed a battery to be able to cope with outages.
Solar adoption is driven by a number of factors: lowering energy costs, the desire to act sustainably, and increasingly to prepare for energy outages and gain independence from the grid.
