In February 2021, when Texas went into a deep freeze and an ice storm hit, the Brooke R. and her family of four, along with their six pets, went without power for six days. Thankfully, the couple’s two young daughters were able to stay at a neighbor’s house who had power but Brooke and her husband, Justin, couldn’t leave their pets behind in a freezing home. To get through, the couple used blankets to block off a room and heated it with their fireplace.
A few months later, Brooke's family, who live in a home constructed in the 1870s by a Civil War veteran, decided it was time to take control of their power situation.
“Even before the ice storm, we’d often lose power. One year the power went out eight times for all sorts of reasons – trees would hit the lines or snakes would get into the transformer boxes and blow them out. We decided to take things into our own hands and get solar and batteries installed together.”
Brooke
The family went big and worked with Native Solar to install 70 Hanwha solar panels, three Sol-Ark 12K inverters and 12 PHI 3.8-M batteries from Briggs & Stratton Energy Solutions.
"SimpliPHI batteries are a game changer for installers like NATiVE Solar,. Their user-friendly installation, compact design and dependable performance make them a top choice for homeowners seeking reliable energy storage solutions."
Chris Renner, COO for NATiVE Solar.
The Briggs & Stratton PHI batteries use Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) chemistry and run cooler, meaning they’re safer, more reliable and have a longer lifespan with 10,000 cycles at 80% DoD (depth of discharge). The batteries, which are cobalt-free, can easily be scaled to increase capacity to 294kWh and they provide integrated solutions that are compatible with other brands. They can also replace older lead-acid batteries and are well suited for flexibility in off-grid applications. PHI batteries from Briggs & Stratton Energy Solutions all come with a 10-year limited warranty while AmpliPHI and SimpliPHI® batteries come with an industry leading 15-year limited warranty.
“It’s been great. I don’t even notice when our electricity goes out because the batteries kick in automatically. Our next step is to get the addition to our house wired and then we’d like to go off the grid completely. It really gives us peace of mind, knowing we’ll always have power no matter the weather or what’s happening with the local grid. At times when ERCOT is telling us to reduce our energy usage, we don’t have to worry about that because we’re generating our own power.”
Brooke
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