Residential independent energy is in its early stages within the CEDIA market, similar to where lighting sat a decade ago. It took years for CI integration companies to garner interest, learn, understand, and implement presenting, selling and installing lighting systems. Today, lighting is second nature, and a significant part of most proposed and sold home systems.
In the not-too-distant future, the design and installation of an energy and power solution in the home construction plan is a reality for off-the-grid power independence. Consumers with the financial means today want to power their homes (and businesses) off the local power grid. The more affordable personal energy/storage systems become, the greater the appeal for consumers to adopt energy/power independence as the only real solution, and they will move forward in time.
At the recent Lightapalooza 2025 in Dallas, Texas, Energy Alley returned for its second year, which included all-things energy, power, and electricity. Residential energy and power storage is an opportunity for the CI integration channel to embrace it, just like lighting, window coverings/shades, security, and other tech advances for the home.
Today, several temporary and long-term power and energy solutions are on the market. Let us take a quick look at a few of the energy solutions.
Connected Generators
There are three main types when selecting the application for which you want a generator: portable, standby, or backup and inverter solutions. Some can be a less expensive solution but will require more work when the need strikes. Others can spend a bit more money and wait for it to be needed for its job.
Most generators are purchased as portable solutions for emergencies or off-grid use, such as during camping or outdoor activities. These can require a little more work from the homeowners, such as buying fuel, refueling, and running power cords to the necessity appliances. A second solution for the home would be to buy a built-in permanent natural gas-powered solution connected to the electrical panel for immediate response when the power goes out. Many homeowners hope they never have to use it, but the peace of mind that it is there just in case can make the emergency a little less panic focused.
Battery Powered Station
There are many battery products that consumers can choose from, typically providing up to 4500 watts and costing $2000 and under. These range from compact solar-powered phone chargers to wheeled units that can support critical loads like refrigerators, lights, emergency radios, and phones during outages. Many of these solutions are purchased for an off-grid need when camping and offer a solar solution to keep the battery charged when the sun shines for your needs at night.
Given that mother nature has taken its toll on our lives over the last 20 years, coupled with an aging and deteriorating power grid across the nation, most people are aware that temporary and sustainable power solutions are a necessity.
The growth of the portable batteries market makes it easy to find a solution. Today, most homeowners and tenants buy larger portable units for emergency solutions, as they can be more affordable. Being prepared can cost you money in advance, but not being prepared can cost you more once an outage occurs.
Whole-Home Battery System
The choice of a full-home battery system over the generator or portable solutions can be a better option in many ways. A battery system fully connected to the house gives peace of mind, can offset electricity costs, and it will increase the value of the house when it is sold.
A whole-home system can be large and heavy to move, so they are typically placed in a garage or basement area. These locations typically have easy access to the electrical connection from the local power company to the home. This tie-in is needed to offset your electric bill and use the electric energy to keep the battery system charged with full power for when there is an occurrence where the system is needed as backup.
Depending on what the homeowners end-goal is for this backup system, they can select various options for storage needed. If they are looking to back-up the entire home, the battery system will need more energy or kilowatt-hour storage. This may give them a shorter backup life on the battery, per not having enough storage to keep all things powered with the allotted kWh. Some manufacturers allow battery stacking, so you can have multiple units connected to the system. When one is drained, the next kicks on in the system. Alternatively, by backing up only critical loads, homeowners can extend battery duration.
Another option would be to connect these batteries to a solar system, so that, if you use them to offset and back-up, you know they will be constantly charged by the solar Photovoltaic system (a.k.a. Solar PV). This can vary depending on the time of year, sun activity/exposure, and the type and number of panels used in the system and their wattage.
When you or your customer are at the point of selection, look for a professional that can help you run the numbers to come to the best solution for their individual need. There is always the option of starting at a base point of battery, adding more batteries, and then adding solar over time.
Rooftop Solar Panels and Freestanding Canopy Solar Systems
Rooftop solar panels have been on the market for decades, but many homeowners are slow on adoption due to not understanding the technology. Like all technology, it is ever evolving. The homeowner will need to do due diligence to select their solar panels system or Photovoltaic system for their home. There are several options for solar panels, but there can be a fall back on roof replacement, added insurance costs for roof placement, and homeowners’ association restrictions.
There are ground solutions where solar panels are placed on a pole or array across the ground, but if you don’t have a large yard or acreage for this solution, you will lose critical property for other needs. Advanced solutions are a full canopy/pergola-style PV system. This option is not attached to the home itself, but still a permanent fixture, and a more aesthetically pleasing solution than ground placement. Some PV solar systems include EV chargers and others can contain the entire battery system within the canopy to save space. The advanced PV residential systems are energy-saving systems that completely power the entire home and permit the homeowner to sell the excess power back to the local provider in select areas of the country.
Once you decide where and what, you must determine which products are offered for watts per PV panel, so you know how fast and efficiently the battery system is charged. As of 2025, the average power range for residential PV modules typically falls between 370 to 450 watts per panel. This depends on the efficiency and the size of the panel. You can calculate how many panels are needed by determining the daily energy consumption (kWh) and the average daily sunlight in the area and dividing them by the wattage of the panels. You can do this for a low-watt and a high-watt panel to see what best fits the solution for PV module purchase.
Ready For the Future
As the industry evolves, the convergence of renewable generation, storage, and smart home integration is pushing the boundaries of what a residence can achieve on its own. Integrators who once hesitated at the complexity of lighting systems are now faced with a new frontier — energy. The difference? This frontier isn’t just about ambiance or automation, it’s about resilience, cost control, and future-proofing homes against a volatile energy landscape.
Those who take the time now to understand how independent power plants can be seamlessly woven into the fabric of residential design will not only create lasting value for clients, but also future-proof their own businesses in a market that increasingly values energy autonomy.
The opportunity isn’t coming, it’s already here!
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