1.8.5 Adding a battery is usually unnecessary

We routinely talk customers *out* of adding a battery. In California, 90% of "I want to add a battery" requests are misguided — because the actual problem isn't storage capacity.

Many California systems were installed before 2023, on NEM 1.0 or NEM 2.0. Household electricity use has crept up year over year, eventually outpacing the system's production, and the bill starts climbing. Combined with the fact that new NEM 3.0 systems require a battery, many homeowners conclude that adding a battery to their old system will solve the problem.

It won't. Pre-2023 systems are on NEM 1.0 or NEM 2.0 with a 20-year grandfathering period — during which the grid itself acts as a free, infinite-capacity battery. There is no reason to add local storage.

These customers don't have a storage problem. They have a *production* problem — they need more energy, not more storage. The real solution is to expand the array with additional panels, not bolt on a battery.

System expansion has its own design considerations. Reach out and we'll walk you through them.