Late September is when North Bay homeowners start reading the weather forecast differently. The dry offshore winds that usually peak in October are the same conditions that lead PG&E to cut power as a precaution. This year the shutoffs started early. In June, a Red Flag warning led the utility to switch off service to a few hundred Sonoma County customers and nearly a thousand in Napa. For most people, fire season hadn’t even started.
A Public Safety Power Shutoff is not a normal outage. Crews can’t turn the lines back on the moment the wind drops. Every affected circuit has to be patrolled and inspected first, so restoration can take anywhere from a few hours to several days. If your household depends on a well pump, medical equipment, a home office, or a freezer full of food, the real question isn’t whether you need backup power. It’s which kind you need, and how much.
The money looks different now
Two policy changes rewrote the math for homeowners. First, the 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. A homeowner who buys panels or a battery with cash or a loan no longer gets that deduction. Second, PG&E customers on the Net Billing Tariff, widely called NEM 3.0, earn only a few cents per kWh for exported solar. Meanwhile, the power they buy back in the evening costs in the low to mid 30s per kWh.
The result is simple. Panels without storage mostly sell cheap energy at noon and buy expensive energy between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. A battery changes that by storing your own daytime production for use in the evening. Installers across California report that paired solar and storage systems pay back in roughly seven to nine years, while solar alone takes noticeably longer.
Some help does remain:
- California’s property tax exclusion means the added value of a solar system isn’t reassessed.
- Leases and prepaid PPAs still pass along the commercial federal credit, which a financing company claims, for a limited window.
- State battery rebate funding has narrowed considerably. Check current availability before counting on it.
What each option does when the grid goes dark
Many homeowners are surprised to learn that solar panels alone shut down during an outage. This anti-islanding feature exists to protect line workers. Without a battery or a specially configured inverter, a rooftop array produces nothing useful while the neighborhood is dark.
A home battery such as the Tesla Powerwall 3 switches over almost instantly and runs silently. It uses no fuel, and it refills from the panels the next morning. One unit stores 13.5 kWh, which is enough to carry the refrigerator, lights, internet, and a few outlets through a night. Central air conditioning, a deep well pump, or EV charging usually requires a second unit or smart load management.
A standby generator, often a Generac running on natural gas or propane, starts automatically through a transfer switch. It keeps running as long as it has fuel, whether that’s two days or ten. The tradeoffs are weekly exercise cycles, annual servicing, noise setbacks, and zero value on ordinary sunny days.
The smoke problem most plans ignore
Wildfire smoke reduces solar output, sometimes sharply. A multiday shutoff during a nearby fire can leave panels unable to refill a battery. That scenario is why many North Bay households choose a hybrid setup: the battery covers short outages and daily evening savings, and a modest generator covers a long, smoky stretch.
| Outage scenario | Battery only | Generator only | Solar + battery + generator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four hour evening outage | Seamless, silent | Covered, brief startup delay | Seamless |
| Two day PSPS, clear skies | Likely covered if sized well | Covered | Covered with fuel to spare |
| Five day event with heavy smoke | Risk of running empty | Covered while fuel lasts | Most resilient option |
| Normal days, peak rate hours | Cuts evening bills | No benefit | Cuts evening bills |
The panel on the garage wall
Before any of this equipment goes in, your main electrical panel has to be able to handle it. Many older Sonoma County homes still have 100 amp service. Adding a battery, an EV charger, or a heat pump on top of existing loads can push that service past its limit.
There’s a code detail here too. Under the National Electrical Code’s 120% rule, a 200 amp panel with a 200 amp main breaker can accept only 40 amps of backfed solar or battery breakers. Electricians work around this with a main breaker derate, a supply side connection, or a full service upgrade. A full upgrade requires coordination with PG&E, which can add weeks to the schedule. Homes with older Zinsco or Federal Pacific Stab-Lok panels should treat replacement as the first step, not an optional add-on.
For homeowners in Santa Rosa, Windsor, Novato, and throughout Sonoma County who want all of this handled by a single crew, EFI Electric is a family owned contractor that covers the full picture. Their team handles solar installation, Tesla Powerwall systems, Generac standby generators, and 200 amp panel upgrades under one license. Owner Scott Connors gives straightforward, flat quotes, and reviewers consistently point to clear pricing with no surprise add-ons. Because EFI already works through PG&E permitting and interconnection regularly, a combined panel, battery, and solar project doesn’t have to be split among three companies. Estimates are free and come with no obligation, which makes this a good time to get a proper assessment on the calendar.
Sizing without overspending
Getting the size right matters more than the brand name on the equipment. A few steps help:
- Download 12 months of interval data from your PG&E account to see real evening usage instead of guessing.
- List your true essentials. Refrigeration, internet, a well pump, and medical devices usually fit on a critical loads subpanel, which costs far less than whole home backup.
- Decide how long you need to last. If you want coverage beyond two days, a generator or a larger battery bank belongs in the plan.
- Account for permitting time. Between county permits and PG&E’s Permission to Operate, a project started now may not be energized before the October winds. It will, however, be ready for next year’s early shutoffs.
Shutoff seasons are getting longer, rates keep rising, and export credits stay low. Under those conditions, a well planned backup system does more than keep the lights on during a PSPS. It lowers your bill every evening in between.
