Quick Stats

System Size: 19.95 kW

System Type: SunPower Equinox^® + SunVault™ 26

Est. Lifetime Savings: $176,462

Est. Electricity Offset: 123%

Finding the Way Forward

In 2018, California's Woolsey Fire demolished more than 1,600 structures and burned through 97,000 acres of land. In the four years since the fire, southern California residents are still rebuilding—and many are choosing to power their homes with solar plus energy storage to protect themselves from grid outages.

This was Jimmy's experience. His Bell Canyon house was destroyed in the fire. When he rebuilt his home, he wanted to have peace of mind during outages, so he decided to switch to solar plus storage.

"I wanted to go off grid when they shut my power down for windy days, and save money too," Jimmy says.

With the help of Leeron from Plug It In Solar, Jimmy added a SunPower Equinox® rooftop solar system with SunVaultTM Storage. The solar panels pack so much power that they cover just over 20% of the roof but are expected to generate 32,454 kWh of clean electricity per year – offsetting approximately 123% of Jimmy's electricity use.

The system's AC modules contain built-in microinverters on each panel, with automatic shutoff in the event of a fire. The SunVault stores excess energy for peak demand times and allows the system to operate off-grid in an outage. Jimmy can also choose to share any extra power with the grid for greater savings.

The all-in-one Equinox system is expected to save Jimmy approximately $3,408 in the first year of going solar and about $176,462 over the life of the system.

"As if nothing even happened."

The team at Plug It In Solar designed the system to fit snugly on the blue ceramic roof, and the bluish cast of the panels blend well with the tile. Wiring conduits were run behind the walls of the garage to keep things tidy.

"This was one of the most unique roofs we have ever installed on," Leeron said. "We wanted to maintain the new construction look...as if nothing even happened."

Jimmy praised the Plug It In team for their workmanship.

"Plug It In Solar installed solar on both of my neighbors' houses. They were so happy with Leeron, his team, and the quality of the installation, that it didn't make sense to use anyone else," Jimmy said.

"It was an amazing experience. Everyone should go solar with Plug It In Solar and SunPower."

With such attention to detail, it's no surprise that this project won a 2021 SunPower Intelegant award, recognizing residential SunPower projects for their excellence in aesthetics, quality, and performance.

With SunPower Equinox, Jimmy doesn't have to worry about the power going out during a bad storm or routine maintenance by his local utility. Instead, he has the peace of mind knowing his energy independence is in his own hands.