{"id":28130,"date":"2025-08-07T17:47:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/?p=28130"},"modified":"2025-08-07T18:12:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:12:54","slug":"most-us-homes-can-save-money-and-ride-out-outages-with-solar-plus-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/most-us-homes-can-save-money-and-ride-out-outages-with-solar-plus-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Most US Homes Can Save Money and Ride Out Outages With Solar Plus Storage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-e7eb3fc3 uagb-blockquote__skin-border uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">A new Stanford study reveals that most U.S. homes can reduce electricity costs and weather blackouts with solar panels and battery storage, but homeowners need to act before federal tax credits expire.<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0dfbf163 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><div style=\"font-size:16px;\" class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\">The University Network<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share uagb-social-share__outer-wrap uagb-social-share__layout-horizontal uagb-block-ee584a31\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-ec619ce7\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"facebook\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256c0 123.8 90.69 226.4 209.3 245V327.7h-63V256h63v-54.64c0-62.15 37-96.48 93.67-96.48 27.14 0 55.52 4.84 55.52 4.84v61h-31.28c-30.8 0-40.41 19.12-40.41 38.73V256h68.78l-11 71.69h-57.78V501C413.3 482.4 504 379.8 504 256z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-32d99934\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"twitter\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M389.2 48h70.6L305.6 224.2 487 464H345L233.7 318.6 106.5 464H35.8L200.7 275.5 26.8 48H172.4L272.9 180.9 389.2 48zM364.4 421.8h39.1L151.1 88h-42L364.4 421.8z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-1d136f14\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"linkedin\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M416 32H31.9C14.3 32 0 46.5 0 64.3v383.4C0 465.5 14.3 480 31.9 480H416c17.6 0 32-14.5 32-32.3V64.3c0-17.8-14.4-32.3-32-32.3zM135.4 416H69V202.2h66.5V416zm-33.2-243c-21.3 0-38.5-17.3-38.5-38.5S80.9 96 102.2 96c21.2 0 38.5 17.3 38.5 38.5 0 21.3-17.2 38.5-38.5 38.5zm282.1 243h-66.4V312c0-24.8-.5-56.7-34.5-56.7-34.6 0-39.9 27-39.9 54.9V416h-66.4V202.2h63.7v29.2h.9c8.9-16.8 30.6-34.5 62.9-34.5 67.2 0 79.7 44.3 79.7 101.9V416z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A compelling new study from Stanford University reveals that the majority of U.S. households could significantly reduce their electricity costs and endure power outages by installing rooftop solar panels and battery storage systems. The study suggests a pressing need for families to invest in these systems before the end of the year to take advantage of federal tax credits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the study, around 60% of U.S. homes could see a reduction in their electricity costs by an average of 15% with the installation of a solar-battery system, factoring in the annualized capital and operating expenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Impressively, this same system could enable 63% of households to withstand local or regional blackouts, meeting about half of their electricity needs on average.  For these families, this would either result in savings on their electricity bills or at least prevent an increase in costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the remaining households for which solar-battery systems are not cost-effective are typically the ones that already face higher utility bills and frequent power outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith electricity rates now rising in most states, shaving utility bills can help people quite a bit, but the ability to ride out local or regional blackouts is becoming very important to many families,\u201d senior author Ram Rajagopal, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and of electrical engineering at Stanford, said in a news release. \u201cThat\u2019s because U.S. electricity infrastructure is old and getting replaced slowly, while the extreme weather events like hurricanes and heat waves that cause blackouts are becoming more frequent, intense and longer lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41560-025-01821-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Published<\/a> August 1 in the journal Nature Energy, the study involved a high-resolution, nationwide assessment of over 500,000 U.S. households&#8217; access to solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41560-025-01822-9\">policy brief<\/a> on the subject was released alongside the study in the same issue of Nature Energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Federal Tax Credits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, will discontinue the residential clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 at the end of this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Homeowners currently can deduct 30% of their investment costs in solar panels and battery packs from their federal taxes, equating to a $12,000 rebate on a $30,000 solar array and $10,000 battery system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe bill does affect our analysis starting next year since our calculations include the 30% federal tax credit,\u201d added lead author Tao Sun, a postdoctoral scholar in Rajagopal\u2019s lab, who earned his doctorate earlier this year in the Department of Civil &amp; Environmental Engineering, a joint department of Stanford\u2019s School of Engineering and Doerr School of Sustainability. \u201cHowever, homeowners can still access tax credits indirectly after 2025 through leasing arrangements or power purchase agreements. These indirect benefits will continue until 2027 for solar and 2033 for batteries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sun calculated that the removal of this tax credit would reduce the economic viability of solar-battery systems from 60% to about 32%, though this percentage is expected to recover to 60% by 2033 as the cost of battery packs continues to decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Declining Utility Payments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Changing trends in state policies also play a significant role in the financial viability of residential battery storage. Many states are now lowering the compensation homeowners receive for selling excess electricity to local utilities, which historically made battery storage less financially appealing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With lower payments for excess solar power, homeowners can now find it more beneficial to store surplus energy for personal use when the sun isn\u2019t shining, effectively reducing costs by avoiding retail electricity rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Non-Economic Areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers also highlighted that households in states with frequent power outages generally benefit less from solar-battery systems. Meanwhile, those facing higher electricity bill burdens usually see only moderate savings from such installations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surprisingly, regions that stand to gain the most cost reductions also achieve higher levels of affordable backup power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe solar-battery benefits often fail to align with the areas that need them most, like in certain high-outage-risk states where only one-fourth of households can get affordable backup power from solar-battery systems,\u201d added co-author Arun Majumdar, the dean of Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. \u201cAs weather extremes like heat waves intensify the frequency and severity of power outages, ensuring affordable, secure and sustainable backup power is increasingly critical for at-risk homes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Path Forward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The study\u2019s findings underscore the need for targeted economic incentives, financing mechanisms and community-based programs to support regions with high financial and reliability needs but low economic viability for solar-battery systems.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEconomic incentives, financing mechanisms and community-based deployment programs that target areas with high financial and reliability needs but low economic viability of solar-battery systems could help families that need such systems the most,\u201d Sun added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Rajagopal emphasized, ongoing research and future innovations like mobile energy storage could further enhance the affordability, sustainability and resilience of energy systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/energy.stanford.edu\/news\/most-us-households-can-save-money-and-weather-blackouts-solar-plus-storage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Stanford University<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A compelling new study from Stanford University reveals that the majority of U.S. households could significantly reduce their electricity costs and endure power outages by installing rooftop solar panels and battery storage systems. The study suggests a pressing need for families to invest in these systems before the end of the year to take advantage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[53],"class_list":["post-28130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-stanford-university"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"The University Network","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/author\/funky_junkie\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A compelling new study from Stanford University reveals that the majority of U.S. households could significantly reduce their electricity costs and endure power outages by installing rooftop solar panels and battery storage systems. The study suggests a pressing need for families to invest in these systems before the end of the year to take advantage&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28130"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30268,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28130\/revisions\/30268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}