Hi, I’m Peter Thornton with Duthie Power Services, also known as “Ask Pete” on our website. The question is, does the generator at your home power your solar power when the power goes out? The answer to that is no, as they are two completely different systems. So, when the power goes out, your solar power system does not work and you need the backup generator to stand in for it. The reason your solar power system does not work during the power outage is that it can allow it to back feed to Edison which would hurt or damage a worker trying to put the power back on. For this significant safety reason, it is a completely separate source of power.

The next question is, if I sell power back to the utility, can I store that power at home? The answer is no. Generally, the additional power you’re getting from your solar system is given back to you in credits; there’s nothing stored; power is on a constant move there’s no way to store it.