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NuWatt designs, installs, and manages solar, battery, heat pump, and EV charger systems across 9 states. One company, one warranty, one point of contact.
Get a Free QuotePower outages are getting longer and more frequent. Simulate a 48-hour outage to see exactly how your battery and solar system perform — hour by hour, load by load.
48-Hour
12 Loads
5 Batteries
Solar + Battery
Select from popular battery systems, 10 kWh to 40 kWh.
Toggle solar on/off and set system size for daylight recharging.
Select which appliances to back up, from fridge to AC.
Watch your battery drain hour by hour with load shedding events.
Configure your battery, solar, and loads to simulate an outage
The average U.S. customer experienced over 8 hours of outages in 2024, nearly double the 2015 average. Climate events, aging infrastructure, and grid strain are driving longer and more frequent blackouts.
A properly sized battery keeps your refrigerator, medical devices, lights, and communications running through multi-day outages. With solar, your system recharges daily for indefinite protection.
Smart battery systems automatically shed low-priority loads as charge drops, keeping critical loads running longer. Understanding your load priorities before an outage is essential.
Without solar, a battery is a fixed tank of energy. With solar, your battery recharges every day. A summer outage with solar + battery can provide indefinite backup for essential loads.
10-13.5 kWh
Fridge, lights, Wi-Fi, phone charging. 24-48 hours without solar, indefinite with solar in summer.
20-27 kWh
Add furnace blower, sump pump, TV, and occasional microwave use. 24-36 hours without solar.
27-40+ kWh
Include AC or heating, well pump, and full kitchen. 12-24 hours without solar, multi-day with solar.
A single Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh) can power essential loads (refrigerator, lights, Wi-Fi, phone charging) for 24-48 hours depending on the season and whether you have solar. With solar panels recharging the battery during the day, essential loads can run indefinitely in summer. Without solar, expect 12-20 hours for essentials only, or 6-10 hours if you include high-draw items like a space heater or AC.
Yes, if your solar system is paired with a battery. Standard grid-tied solar systems shut off during outages for safety (anti-islanding). But with a battery, your solar panels recharge the battery during daylight hours, potentially extending your backup indefinitely. In summer, a 8 kW solar system with a 13.5 kWh battery can power a typical home through multi-day outages.
Priority order: (1) Medical equipment if applicable, (2) Refrigerator/freezer to prevent food spoilage, (3) Lights and Wi-Fi for communication, (4) Phone charging. Lower-priority items like TV, microwave, and space heaters should be shed first as battery depletes. Smart battery systems do this automatically based on the priority you set.
Season affects both solar production and load. Winter means shorter days and less solar production, but you may need a furnace blower or space heater. Summer has more solar but you may run AC. Spring and fall are ideal — moderate solar production and minimal heating/cooling loads. A winter evening outage is the worst-case scenario.
For essential loads only (fridge, lights, Wi-Fi, phone): 10-13.5 kWh is usually sufficient, especially with solar. If you add a furnace blower or sump pump, you need 20-27 kWh. For whole-home backup including AC or heating, plan for 27-40+ kWh. This simulator helps you right-size your battery based on your actual load profile.
This is an educational simulation using average appliance power draws and typical solar production profiles. Your actual results will vary based on your specific appliances, battery health, local weather, and real-time usage patterns. Use this as a planning guide and discuss specific sizing with a solar installer.