Home Battery Backup Installation
All American Exterior Solutions installs whole-home and essential-circuit battery systems across Northern Chicagoland — engineered by the same team that handles the roof and the solar above them. When ComEd goes dark in a July storm line or a February ice event, a properly sized battery keeps the sump pump pumping, the furnace blowing, and the refrigerator cold, switching over automatically in a blink.
Storage also earns its keep on ordinary days now: ComEd credits exported solar at the supply rate only, so power you bank at noon and burn at night is simply worth more than power you sell. That math is why most of our 2026 solar proposals include a storage option — and why batteries retrofit well onto arrays we didn’t originally install.
Tesla Powerwall
Powerwall 3 packs 13.5 kWh of storage with an integrated inverter and supports whole-home backup; larger homes stack additional units. It pairs naturally with Tesla Solar Roof and Tesla panels, and the Tesla app gives you one view of production, storage, and grid status. As a Tesla Certified Installer we handle the full package — design, permits, installation, and ComEd paperwork.
Enphase IQ Batteries
Enphase takes a modular path: IQ Battery units combine into whatever capacity your circuits actually need, managed by the same ecosystem as IQ8 microinverters. For homes with existing solar from another installer, Enphase is usually the cleanest retrofit; for shaded lots where per-panel electronics already make sense, it keeps the whole system in one brain. We size it from your panel schedule, not a brochure.
Backup Without Solar
No array? A standalone battery still works — it charges from the grid when power is cheap and available, then carries your chosen circuits through the outage. It’s silent, permit-friendly, and doesn’t care whether the gas station has a line. If solar is a maybe-later, we’ll wire the electrical side so panels can join the system without rework.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size battery does my house need?
Size follows the circuit list. Whole-home backup with air conditioning demands the most; an essential-loads panel — sump pump, furnace fan, refrigerator, lights, internet — runs far longer on the same battery. We walk the panel with you and size from what must stay on, for how long.
How fast does it switch over in an outage?
Fast enough that the clocks don’t blink and the Wi-Fi doesn’t drop — the transfer is automatic and near-instant. You usually learn the grid failed from the app notification, not the lights.
Is a battery worth it without solar panels?
For outage protection alone, often yes — especially with a finished basement riding on a sump pump. The economics improve further with solar, since stored self-generated power beats exporting it under ComEd’s supply-only crediting.
Can you add storage to solar we bought from someone else?
Usually. Enphase IQ batteries retrofit onto most existing residential arrays, and we confirm compatibility during the free evaluation — including the electrical panel work, permits, and utility paperwork.
Where does the battery go, and will the village allow it?
Garage or exterior wall in most homes, roughly the footprint of a water heater. Placement rules vary by village; we handle the permit drawings and inspections as part of every install.