What Happens to My Solar System During a Power Outage?

This is one of the most important things to understand about your solar system — and one of the most commonly misunderstood.

The answer depends entirely on whether you have a battery.

If You Do NOT Have a Battery

Your solar system will automatically shut off when the grid goes down.

This is not a malfunction — it is a required safety feature called anti-islanding protection.

Here's Why

Your solar system is designed to export excess power to the grid, where it flows to neighboring homes and businesses.

If your system kept producing during an outage while utility workers were on the lines making repairs, it would create a serious and potentially fatal electrical hazard.

To Prevent This

All grid-tied solar inverters are required by law to:

1. Detect a grid outage
2. Shut down immediately

What This Means

During a power outage, a solar-only system provides no power to your home — even on a bright sunny day with panels producing at full capacity.

• ❌ Your lights will be off
• ❌ Your outlets will be dead
• ❌ Your system remains offline until utility power is restored

When Power Returns

Once grid power comes back, your system:

1. Detects the stable grid signal
2. Automatically restarts (typically takes a few minutes)
3. Returns to normal operation

You don't need to do anything to bring it back online.

Common Frustration

This is a common source of frustration for customers who didn't fully understand this at the time of purchase.

💡 If you want backup power during outages, a battery is required.

See [[battery-add-on|Adding a Battery to Your Existing Solar System]] and our battery articles for more detail.

If You DO Have a Battery

A solar and battery system is designed specifically to keep your home powered during a grid outage.

How It Works

When the grid goes down, your system automatically:

1. Disconnects from the grid
2. Isolates your home's backed-up circuits
3. Switches to battery power

The switchover is nearly instantaneous — most customers don't notice it happening.

Once in Backup Mode

• Your battery powers whatever circuits are connected to your backup panel
• During daylight hours, your solar panels continue charging the battery
• This extends how long you can stay off the grid
• At night, you run on whatever charge remains in the battery

What's Powered During an Outage

What's powered depends on how your system was configured at installation.

Most Venture Home battery installations back up a dedicated set of circuits:

• ✅ Lights
• ✅ Refrigerator
• ✅ Outlets
• ✅ Router
• ✅ Phone charging

Rather than the entire home.

💡 Why not the whole house? Running everything simultaneously would drain the battery quickly and isn't practical for most battery sizes.

Your installer walked you through which circuits are backed up at activation.

Quick Reference: Battery vs. No Battery

Related Articles

• [[battery-add-on|Adding a Battery to Your Existing Solar System]] — How to get backup power
• [[backup-reserve|What Is Backup Reserve and How Should I Set It?]] — Optimizing your backup
• [[storm-guard|What Is Storm Guard / Storm Watch?]] — Pre-charging before storms
• [[battery-faq-enphase|Battery FAQ — Enphase]] — Common questions answered
• [[battery-faq-tesla|Battery FAQ — Tesla Powerwall]] — Powerwall-specific questions
• [[enphase-battery-settings|Managing Your Enphase Battery]] — Settings and modes
• [[tesla-powerwall-settings|Managing Your Tesla Powerwall]] — Settings and modes

Questions About Outage Behavior?

Contact Customer Success:

• Phone: 800-203-4158
• Email: Via the Venture Home app
• Webchat: Available on our website during business hours

We can:

• Explain how your specific system behaves during outages
• Review which circuits are backed up (if you have a battery)
• Discuss adding a battery to an existing solar system
• Help optimize your backup settings

Bottom Line

Want backup power? A battery is essential. Learn more about [[battery-add-on|adding a battery to your system]].