title: "Briefing: Grid Resilience & Outage Prep (Week of Feb 23, 2026)" date: 2026-02-23 tags: ["Grid", "Resilience", "Outages", "Battery"] summary: "Storm season preparation, battery backup sizing, and the growing role of distributed energy in grid resilience."

Grid Resilience & Outage Preparation (Week of Feb 23, 2026)

Outage frequency is increasing. The average U.S. customer experienced ~7 hours of power interruption in 2024 (excluding major events), and over 15 hours including major events — up significantly from the 2013–2018 average of ~5 hours. Climate-driven weather events are the primary driver.
Solar alone doesn't work in outages (by code, grid-tied systems without battery shut down during outages). Battery storage is the only residential solution that keeps your power on — and with solar, provides potentially unlimited duration backup during daylight hours.
Battery sizing for backup: As a rule of thumb, 10–15 kWh covers essential loads (fridge, lights, router, medical devices) for 12–24 hours. Whole-home backup through a multi-day outage requires 20+ kWh minimum, paired with solar for daily recharging.

If you have solar without battery: Understand that your system will not provide power during grid outages. Consider adding battery.
If you have solar + battery: Test your backup mode. Check that essential circuits are properly configured in your battery management app.
Check your outage readiness: Flashlights, water, medications, phone charging plan. Even with battery backup, having non-electrical backup supplies is good practice.