5 levels of home backup power—and how to find yours

Power outages are getting worse, and when they hit your home, it's not just your lights that go dark: It's your fridge. Your heat. Your internet. Medical devices. That's a huge problem.

But, there's a solution: home batteries.

Whether you want a simple plug-in solution or a whole-home system, there's a battery option that fits your lifestyle: small batteries that keep your essentials running, smart batteries that automatically power your apartment, or giant batteries on wheels you might already have in your driveway.

“For the first time, we are taking the energy that comes into our house, and we're able to have say over how we store it, use it, and when we use it—that’s really exciting,” said Patrick Anderson, one half of the clean energy YouTube channel The Electric Duo.

Below, we're breaking down five levels of backup power—from a simple portable fix to a home that can operate nearly independently from the grid—so you can find the setup that fits your needs.

The simplest entry point into home energy storage is a portable power station—essentially a giant version of a phone battery bank. No installation, no electrician, no landlord permission required. You charge one from a standard wall outlet, then plug in whatever matters most: laptops, routers, lights, even a fridge for a few hours.

Anderson uses one to keep his San Diego home office running on stored power through outages, so his YouTube work never misses a beat. "It charges up at midnight and usually only takes 30 minutes…and then the entire day our home office is powered by that relatively small 2.6 kilowatt-hour battery," he said.

Portable power stations are ideal for short outages, camping trips, or—to Anderson’s point—home offices. They’re also pretty affordable; mid-size units typically run $500 to $1,500. But, you have to remember to keep them charged, and outages rarely give advance notice. If only your battery could think ahead for you. As it turns out, now it can.

Level 2 is where batteries stop being adhoc emergency gear and start going to work for you every single day. These are plug-and-play systems that sit between your wall outlet and your appliances, silently storing energy in the background and automatically stepping in when you need them—no installation required.

One example is the Pila battery, developed by Chad Conway and founder Cole Ashman about a decade after the two helped design the now-famous Tesla Powerwall. Their goal was Powerwall-level intelligence without the permits, professional installation, or a large price tag—Pila units cost $1,299, compared to roughly $14,000 for a Powerwall.

Conway has seen firsthand what happens when people rely on traditional generators during emergencies: "Oftentimes they aren't ready to go—the fuel is bad, or there hasn't been maintenance, and when you need it most, it doesn't work. But the great thing about Pila is that it's working every day. So even before the storm gets there, it's going to be ready to go."

Plug-and-play batteries automatically charge when electricity is cheapest, then discharge stored energy "when the energy is least renewable and sustainable," Conway explained. You don’t have to remember to do anything. Multiple units can even communicate with each other throughout your home to A) ensure your most prioritized appliances have reliable power at any moment, and B) save you money.

As a bonus, you can pair them with portable solar panels if you have a balcony or a sunny window. Your devices can still run on sunshine—no roof needed.

Here's something that might change how you think about your car: If you own an electric vehicle, you may already be sitting on one of the biggest batteries money can buy. Most EVs hold enough energy to power a home for days, and a growing number of them allow you to tap into that power when you need it.

It’s called bidirectional charging—electricity flowing both ways, so your car's battery can power your home during a blackout. There are three ways this works: vehicle-to-load (V2L), vehicle-to-home (V2H), and vehicle-to-grid (V2G).

If you're in your forever home and want to eliminate power anxiety entirely, a home battery system is the gold standard. Dedicated home battery systems—like the Tesla Powerwall or FranklinWH—can power your entire house for hours, or keep your essentials running for days. These systems cost around $15,000 to install, though state and local incentives can bring that number down significantly.

More homeowners are certainly understanding the value they provide: Home battery installations jumped 132% from 2024 to 2025.

While you don’t need solar panels to benefit from a battery, pairing the two is where your savings really shine. Without a battery, any extra energy your solar system generates gets pushed back to the grid. Depending on your utility's net metering policy, you may receive a decent credit for that energy—or you might get very little in return. A battery lets you store that surplus for nighttime use, peak rate hours, or outages. If the grid goes down, your solar panels can keep recharging your battery, so you're never stuck.

"If you're trying to back up your entire home and you happen to be getting a solar system installed on your roof, it really makes sense to go with the whole-home system," said Conway. "You're already doing the permit for the solar and you really want that full-home sufficiency."

In areas with high electricity prices and time-of-use rates, that stored energy can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in avoided costs over time. For example, in California, solar-plus-battery systems can save about $21,000 to $44,000 more in avoided electricity costs compared to solar alone.

The best part? Because solar panels can keep recharging your battery while the grid is down, your backup power refreshes every day the sun rises.

You could technically go completely off-grid with this setup—but it gets expensive fast. Achieving full energy independence for a single day with a whole-home backup battery can require upward of $25,000 worth of batteries. For many homeowners, staying grid-connected with enough storage for essentials makes the most financial sense.

Something bigger happens when you get a home battery—you become part of the energy equation rather than just a passive customer. When thousands of homes with batteries, EVs, and solar systems work together, they can form what's called a Virtual Power Plant (VPP); a coordinated network that supports the grid when it's under stress.

Utilities often offer incentives for participating in VPP programs, whether you're using a plug-and-power battery like Pila, a whole-home system like a Tesla Powerwall, or an EV with vehicle-to-grid capability. It's one more reason home battery storage makes so much sense right now: It's good for your household and your community.

No matter where you live—and whether you rent or own—there is now a battery solution that fits your situation. The technology keeps improving, costs keep falling, and control over your electricity is finally shifting into your hands. And depending on your location, incentives may even be available to offset the cost. 

The climate and the grid are growing increasingly unpredictable. The future of home energy isn't just about generating power—it's about controlling it.