What Is Load Shedding & How Bay Area Homeowners Can Avoid It with Solar + Battery Backup
Load shedding is becoming more common across California, including in cities like Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond, El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, and Marin. If you’ve experienced sudden blackouts—even on sunny days—you’re not alone.
At Ally Electric and Solar, we help Bay Area homeowners protect their homes and families with solar and battery backup systems using FranklinWH, Tesla Powerwall, and Enphase IQ Batteries.
⚠️ What Is Load Shedding?
Load shedding is when utility companies like PG&E temporarily shut off electricity in certain areas to reduce stress on the power grid. This usually happens during:
Heatwaves when air conditioners overload the system
Wildfire risks or Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS)
Grid equipment failures
High evening demand under NEM 3.0
Even if you’re a responsible energy user, you could find yourself without power for hours—unless your home has a backup energy solution.
🔋 How to Stay Powered: Solar + Battery Backup
Adding a home battery system to your solar setup lets you store energy during the day and use it at night or during outages. With NEM 3.0 reducing export compensation, battery storage is now more valuable than ever.
Here’s how it works:
✅ Solar panels charge your battery during the day
✅ Battery powers your home in the evening or during blackouts
✅ No noise like a gas generator, and fully automatic
🏆 Top Battery Options We Install
At Ally Electric and Solar, we offer three top-tier battery systems that integrate seamlessly with solar:
🔹 FranklinWH Home Power System
Supports whole-home backup, including EV chargers and HVAC
Works with both new and existing solar systems
Built-in energy management with the aGate and aPower X
🔹 Tesla Powerwall 3
Compact, sleek design with integrated inverter
Stores up to 13.5 kWh per unit
Supports stacking multiple units for larger homes
🔹 Enphase IQ Battery 5P / 10T
Modular system that pairs perfectly with Enphase microinverters
Ideal for partial or essential-load backup
Real-time monitoring with the Enphase App
🔎 Why Choose Ally Electric and Solar?
With over 24 years of experience, we are your trusted local solar and battery installer serving Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
✅ Fully licensed and insured (CSLB #806465)
✅ Direct installer – no third-party middlemen
✅ Experts in SGIP rebates and Bay Area permitting
✅ Over 1,000 systems installed and raving fans throughout the region
📍 Serving the Bay Area
We proudly serve homes in: Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany, Moraga, Walnut Creek, Marin, and surrounding Bay Area cities.
💬 Ready for Backup Power?
Stop worrying about blackouts and PG&E outages. Get a free estimate for your solar and battery backup system today.
📞 Call us at (510) 559-7700
🌐 Visit: www.allyelectricandsolar.com
The RSSE Rebate: Free or Low-Cost Solar + Battery for Eligible PG&E Homeowners
California just made going solar and adding battery backup more affordable than ever for low-income households in PG&E territory. If you qualify, you could receive over $30,000 in rebates through the Residential Solar Storage Equity (RSSE) program — a game-changing incentive that covers solar AND battery storage.
🔋 What Is RSSE?
The RSSE rebate is part of California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). It's designed to make solar and battery backup accessible to households that need it most — especially those in disadvantaged communities or who struggle with power outages during wildfire season.
💰 How Much Can You Get?
Eligible homeowners may receive:
$3,100 per kilowatt (kW) of solar panels
$1,100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of battery storage
👉 For example, a 5 kW solar system + a 13.5 kWh battery like the Tesla Powerwall could qualify for:
$15,500 in solar rebates
$14,850 in battery rebates
= $30,350 total!
✅ Who Qualifies?
To be eligible, you must:
Own and live in a single-family home within PG&E territory
Have a household income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI)
OR be enrolled in programs like:CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy)
FERA (Family Electric Rate Assistance)
ESA (Energy Savings Assistance)
SASH or DAC-SASH (low-income solar programs)
These programs are in place to support Californians who need resilient, affordable energy — especially as climate-driven outages and energy costs rise.
Promotional graphic by Ally Electric and Solar Inc. showing a home with rooftop solar panels and a Tesla battery, highlighting over $30,000 in rebates through California’s Residential Solar Storage Equity (RSSE) program for eligible low-income PG&E customers
| Household Size | Contra Costa County | Alameda County | Marin County | Santa Clara County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $84,600 | $84,600 | $108,300 | $102,300 |
| 2 | $96,650 | $96,650 | $123,800 | $116,900 |
| 3 | $108,750 | $108,750 | $139,250 | $131,500 |
| 4 | $120,800 | $120,800 | $154,700 | $146,100 |
| 5 | $130,500 | $130,500 | $167,100 | $157,800 |
| 6 | $140,150 | $140,150 | $179,500 | $169,500 |
| 7 | $149,800 | $149,800 | $191,850 | $181,200 |
| 8 | $159,500 | $159,500 | $204,250 | $192,900 |
Call us at (510) 559-7700 or email us at nsaglam@allyelectricandsolar.com
Fill out the form to inquire further.
🔋 New SGIP Battery Sizing Rules for Standalone Storage: What California Homeowners Need to Know in 2025
California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) continues to be one of the best ways to reduce the cost of installing a home battery. But if you're planning to apply for a rebate in 2025, it’s crucial to understand the new sizing rules introduced by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) under Resolution E-5360.
These changes took effect on December 19, 2024, and they significantly impact how large your battery system can be — especially if you're installing standalone storage (a battery not connected to solar panels).
⚖️ What Changed?
Under the new rules:
SGIP now sizes battery systems based on energy (kWh), not power (kW)
The old 10 kW sizing threshold has been replaced by a 15 kWh threshold
If your system is larger than 15 kWh, you must justify the size with actual energy usage data
There is now a 30 kWh cap for all systems applying through the residential equity budget
📐 How to Justify Standalone Battery Size
If you're installing a standalone battery and want a system larger than 15 kWh, here's what you need:
You must use:
The average daily energy consumption from 4 PM to 9 PM
during a summer calendar month (June, July, or August)
This specific 4–9 PM window aligns with California’s peak demand period, when the grid is most stressed and energy is most expensive. SGIP wants to ensure batteries are used during these hours.
🧠 Example:
Let’s say you're applying in July 2025 and you provide usage data from June 2025.
Your utility data shows that during June, your household used an average of 15.6 kWh per day between 4–9 PM
Based on this, you’re eligible to install a battery up to 15.6 kWh in capacity
If you wanted to install two Tesla Powerwalls (which total 27 kWh), you’d need to prove your average usage during that time window was at least 27 kWh/day
⚠️ If you don’t have enough usage to justify the size, SGIP will not approve your rebate for the full system.
🚫 Residential Cap: 30 kWh Max
Even if your data supports a larger system, SGIP limits residential equity projects to a maximum of 30 kWh.
✅ When No Justification is Needed
If your standalone battery system is 15 kWh or less, you don’t need to submit any usage data at all. This makes one Tesla Powerwall (13.5 kWh) an easy choice for many homeowners who want to skip the paperwork.
🧾 What You’ll Need to Apply
Interval usage data from your utility (typically Green Button format)
A simple calculation of your average daily 4–9 PM energy use during a summer month
A sizing worksheet or justification form (varies by program administrator)
💡 Should You Pair Storage With Solar?
If you're having trouble justifying a larger standalone battery, you might consider pairing it with solar. Paired systems follow different rules — sizing is based on excess solar production, not your load. That can sometimes allow for larger batteries (we'll cover this in a separate post).
🏡 Bottom Line
If you're planning to install a standalone battery system in California and apply for the SGIP rebate, make sure you:
Understand your 4–9 PM summer usage
Stay below the 30 kWh cap
Use June, July, or August data to justify your system if it’s over 15 kWh
Have questions about your usage data or whether your home qualifies for SGIP? We can help you analyze your numbers and design a right-sized system that qualifies for incentives.
