Whole-Home Backup

A sub-panel containing only essential circuits — typically refrigerator, some lighting, phone charging, and select outlets. Consumer battery backup products (Powerwall, PWRcell, Enphase IQ) typically only back up a critical load panel, not the full main panel. This means HVAC, water heaters, EV chargers, pools, and other high-draw systems lose power during an outage even with a consumer battery installed. A whole-home microgrid backs up the main panel — every circuit.

An operating state in which an appropriately configured property electrical system is isolated from the utility grid and supplied by local resources such as storage or generation. Island-mode capability, transition behavior, supported loads, and runtime depend on system architecture, approved protective equipment, available energy, and site conditions.