When I hopped on a flight to Arizona to shadow a home battery installation, the last thing on my mind was the weather. When I think of Arizona, I imagine a dry desert landscape, clear skies and some cacti sprinkled here and there. After landing in Phoenix, my expectations immediately met reality. It was wet, raining and there were way more cacti in Arizona than I thought.
Turns out, we ended up catching some rain from the tail end of Arizona’s winter rainy season. While it’s still possible to install batteries in the rain, it doesn’t make for an ideal outdoor viewing scenario. The plan — to attend a live installation of a home battery backup system on a real house — was thwarted and the installation was rescheduled for another day. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to be around for the new installation date.
On my flight back, I wondered what other complications could arise on the days leading up to a battery installation. Turns out, the weather isn’t the only thing that can slow down the process. Rain isn’t even enemy number one. Here are a few ways to avoid complications on the days leading up to your battery installation.
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Make sure you and your installer are on the same page
One of the easiest ways to avoid compilations with your installation is to just communicate with your installer. Be honest about your energy goals. Let your installer know as soon as you can what you plan to use the battery for, where you want to put it and what your budget is. Establishing these early helps your installer understand exactly what you need and plan accordingly. This helps them gather the right equipment and eliminate any surprises on installation day.
“I think communication and planning early is important,” Ryan Barnett, senior vice president of policy and market development at Palmetto Solar, told CNET. “Have the customer engaged early on, so they can identify around their home what loads and circuits and appliances are most critical to them to have access to during an outage. It makes the ‘day of’ certainly a lot smoother.”
Tell your installer exactly which circuits you want backed up. And if you’re looking into participating in a virtual power plant program, bring that up with your installer too. The more you can tell your installer about how you plan to use the battery, the easier it will be for your installer to make sure they meet your expectations.
Rain isn’t the end of the world
Under the right circumstances, a rainy day can be quite enjoyable. But when you’re working with electrical wiring, this type of weather isn’t the best. Precipitation can be tricky to predict, but your installer is likely going to try and choose a day with clearer skies. If it does happen to rain, there’s no need to worry: home battery installations, and even solar panel installations, can happen in the rain. Many battery components nowadays are outdoor-rated and made to withstand much worse than a little rain. The power to your home will be shut off anyway for the safety of the installers.
Solar panel and battery installations happen in the rain all the time.
Choose your location wisely
If you’re spending $10,000 or more on something that’s going to be permanently installed on your house, you probably have the perfect place to put it in mind. And then your installer says no and suggests a different spot. Not cool.
But your installer likely has good reasons for suggesting some alternatives. There are certain areas of a home where batteries shouldn’t be installed for safety reasons, such as any wall that connects to a bedroom or habitable space. In the unlikely event that a battery catches fire, the ideal location for a battery is somewhere away from those rooms.
“Building and fire code is catching up to the technology,” Barnett said. “The fire and building code prescribes the acceptable siting and placement of the batteries. Maybe not intuitive for a consumer, but the solar developers and the electricians certainly are aware of those restrictions.”
Many people choose to install their batteries in the garage. There, the biggest question is, inside or outside? Again, most batteries are outdoor-rated and perfectly fine sitting on the side of your house. However, some batteries perform better in a temperature-controlled environment that doesn’t get too cold. So if you have some space in the garage, it might be worth bringing it up with your installer.
Another thing to consider when discussing battery location with your installer is the proximity to your home’s main electric panel and other service equipment. Since your battery is going to be part of your home’s electrical system, you want the battery as close to your main electric panel as possible. The further away from the main panel you go, the more wiring (and effort) it’s going to take to get everything hooked up. Straying too far from your main panel could drive up the cost of your installation.
“Proximity to the other equipment that the battery needs to be interconnected with and communicating with is going to have a cost,” Barnett said. “Like any home improvement, custom is going to be more expensive than what is easier or more common sense as far as equipment placement.”
You’re on the installer’s schedule
Installers are busy people. You’ll need to compromise with them to find an installation day that works for everyone involved. Many installers have daily projects and can be booked up weeks in advance. If you need to reschedule your battery installation day, your installer could find a date as early as the next day or you could get pushed back a few weeks. Most battery installations tend to take only a few hours, so your installer might even be doing multiple installations per day and could squeeze you in somewhere between projects. Make sure to pick a day when you’ll be home.
“If an install is scheduled, then the installer has already secured the external approvals like the permitting and utility interconnection,” Barnett said. “The equipment’s been procured, so it really is installer’s discretion at that point, and kind of homeowner’s availability.”
Your installer is going to make sure they have everything they could possibly need before beginning the installation. If there’s a delay in the permitting process or the shipment of your battery’s components, this could slow down the installation timeline.
