It’s the most common surprise for new solar owners in San Diego: the grid goes down on a sunny afternoon, and the house goes dark anyway. Here is why that happens, and what has to be added for solar to keep your home running.

If someone in your home depends on a CPAP, an oxygen concentrator or another powered device, a Public Safety Power Shutoff is more than an inconvenience. Here is how SDG&E’s notifications work, how much power common devices actually use, and how to keep them running for a night or for days.

Some San Diego neighborhoods see power shutoffs that coastal homes never do. Here is how to find out whether your address is in the High Fire Threat District, what that means for outages, and how to size backup power for a larger inland home.

A generator and a home battery both keep the lights on when SDG&E cuts power for fire weather. They do it in very different ways, and only one of them does anything for you the rest of the year.

When SDG&E shuts off lines during fire weather, the outage is planned, announced ahead of time, and can last for days. That makes it the kind of outage a home battery handles best, as long as the system is ready before the wind arrives.