Home energy
Lower your power bill, and keep the lights on when the grid goes down.
Home energy questions usually come down to money and outages. Will solar pay for itself now the federal credit has ended? Do I need a battery, and how big? What can a portable power station actually run? Each tool here uses your state's electricity price and sun, so the answer is yours rather than a national average.
Not every home can put panels on the roof. Renters and apartment dwellers can look at plug-in balcony solar, where state law allows it, and at portable power stations that need no installer.
Solar
How many panels you need, what they save, and how to judge an installer's quote.
Batteries and backup power
Keep the fridge, CPAP, Wi-Fi and well pump going through an outage, from a portable station to a whole-home battery.
- CalculatorOutage backup calculatorWhat size battery keeps your essentials on, and how fast solar refills it
- GuideHome battery backupWhole-home vs plug-in vs portable, with real prices
- CalculatorHome battery size calculatorHow many kWh you need for what you want to run
- ComparisonBest portable power stationsEcoFlow, Anker SOLIX, Jackery, Bluetti and DJI compared
- ComparisonPower station for a fridgeHours each one keeps a kitchen fridge cold
- ComparisonHead-to-head comparisonsTwo power stations or home batteries side by side
What things cost to run
Seasonal costs people search for when the bill arrives.
Questions people ask
- Is solar worth it in 2026 now that the tax credit is gone?
It can still pay for itself, just more slowly. The 30% federal credit for homeowners is not available for systems installed after December 31, 2025, so you now pay the full price, which EnergySage puts at about $2.60 a watt on average before incentives. Full answer
- Do solar panels work during a power outage?
Not on their own. A solar system installed without a battery stops producing during an outage, even on a sunny day, so it cannot feed power onto lines that utility crews expect to be dead. Full answer
- Do I need a battery with solar panels?
No. A grid-tied system works without one: the panels supply your home while the sun is up, and where your utility offers net metering the extra earns a bill credit. Full answer
- Do solar panels work on cloudy days and in winter?
Yes, but output drops in winter, a lot in northern states. In our PVWatts model, which runs on ten years of real hourly weather, clouds included, 1 kW of south-facing panels in Michigan makes about 57 kWh in January against about 138 kWh in June. Full answer
- How long do solar panels last?
There is no fixed end date: systems lose a little output each year. Full answer
- What is net metering?
Net metering is an arrangement between a solar owner and the utility that credits you for the solar power you send to the grid. Full answer
- How many solar panels does it take to charge an EV?
For 1,000 miles a month in a compact SUV like the 2026 Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD (31.1 kWh per 100 miles, EPA), you need about 3,732 kWh a year. Full answer
- Is plug-in balcony solar legal in my state?
As of our October 15, 2026 review, 10 states have passed plug-in solar laws: Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Utah and Vermont already, and California, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Virginia from 2027. Full answer
- Is a home battery worth it without solar?
As backup power, it can be: a home battery keeps your chosen circuits running in an outage without fuel. Full answer
- How long will a home battery power my house in an outage?
One 13.5 kWh battery, such as a Tesla Powerwall 3, runs the average US home for about 11 hours, because the average home uses about 28 kWh a day (EIA, 2024). Full answer
- How many years does a home battery last?
Makers warrant them for about 15 years or a set amount of use, whichever comes first. Full answer
- How long will a portable power station run a refrigerator?
About 9 hours on a 1 kWh station and about 18 hours on a 2 kWh one, for an average fridge. Full answer
- Should I get a power station or a gas generator for outages?
A power station has no engine, so it makes no exhaust and can sit next to the fridge, but it stops when its battery is empty unless you recharge it, for example from solar panels. Full answer
- Can I plug a generator or power station into a wall outlet to power my house?
No. Powering house wiring by plugging a generator into a wall outlet, called backfeeding, is extremely dangerous: the CPSC says it can electrocute utility workers and neighbors served by the same transformer, and it bypasses your home's built-in circuit protection. Full answer
- Can a power station run a space heater?
Only briefly. If your heater is rated 1,500 W on high (check its label), it needs a station that can deliver at least 1,500 W continuously, and it drains the battery fast: the 2,074 Wh Bluetti Elite 200 V2 runs it for about 1.2 hours, and a small 600 W station such as the Elite 30 V2 cannot run it at all. Full answer
More from Spark Powered
- Electric cars & e-bikesFree tools to pick a car, check it fits your driving, price home charging in your state and choose the right charger. No sign-up.
- RV, boat & camping powerRun-time calculators and battery pickers for RVs, vans, boats, kayaks and campsites, using the makers' own power figures.
- Off grid & emergency prepSize solar and batteries for winter, then plan the water, food and kit that get a household through an outage. Built on NREL, CDC, FEMA and Ready.gov.
- LearnMyths, incentives, state-by-state data and the questions people search most, each answer tied to the agency or study it came from.
Photo: Watt A Lot on Unsplash (Unsplash License).