Four months with my first home battery taught me what whole-home backup really means

Anker Solix E10

4 / 5

Very good

pros and cons

Pros

Brings expanded battery capacity without an electrician.

Generator integration adds impressive flexibility.

Solar keeps the power going during an outage.

The app makes energy monitoring simple.

Cons

A single stack only backs up essentials.

Installation can cost far more than Anker estimates.

Some app settings are buggy.

$4,099.98 at Amazon

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Every fire season in Northern California brings with it the all-too-real possibility of losing power. When PG&E announces a Public Safety Power Shutoff, neighborhoods like mine can go dark for unspecified amounts of time, and for years, my family has talked about getting backup power connected to our home to alleviate that anxiety.

When Anker offered to install its Solix E10 whole-home backup system at my house, I jumped at the chance to shift my solar array to a system that promises to keep my essentials running when we need it most. I was also very curious to find out whether a company I've known more for phone chargers could make something as complicated as home batteries more accessible to noobs like me.

Also: Anker's whole-home backup is the power outage solution of my dreams - and it's on sale now

Four months into having the system fully integrated into our home energy and solar setup, I've found myself triggering fake power outages, running diagnostic self-tests, and even running my home off a lowly propane tank borrowed from my grill. As a first-timer, this system has me at ease about what's possible the next time our power goes out.

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Batteries that stack like building blocks

The E10 is a slick and relatively easy-to-understand modular system, which is what makes it so appealing. Each battery holds 6,144 Wh, and they stack on top of each other underneath a matched inverter unit. My two-battery setup stores 12.3 kWh, but I could easily add more capacity myself without the need for an electrician to do the additional work.

The brains of the unit live inside the Power Dock, a smart transfer switch that manages the grid, solar, batteries, and even a generator inlet that accepts any brand of generator. Anker also sells a matching Smart Generator 5500 that runs on gasoline, propane, or natural gas, and there's a very capable app that controls the entire system, including the generator directly.

Also: I spent two years testing wind power at home - here's why solar is still my preferred source

At my house, the system is set up to back up our most essential circuits: the refrigerator, furnace blower, gas range, kitchen outlets, and the lights throughout the house. Only the dishwasher, clothes washer, dryer, and electric water heater were kept off the backup circuit, but thankfully, my install was prewired for a second separate stack of batteries if and when we want to expand the capacity of the system. I'll get to that in a bit.

The process from the February site evaluation to a working system took about a month, with a separate solar integration visit a month later. California fire code effectively keeps lithium batteries out of most living spaces, so everything was installed along an exterior wall, far enough away from any windows or doors. The crew from Eleos Electric remapped circuits and mounted hardware exceptionally well, which led to the system passing the mandated post-installation inspection by the city.

Also: This Anker solar power station kept my home running during an outage - and it's $600 off

There was one hiccup, though it wasn't the fault of the Anker hardware. The initial self-test failed with a specific complaint about the current transformers monitoring my panel. The app actually pointed in the right direction, and the electrician recognized the error from a previous Anker install: Both CTs needed to sit downstream of the main breaker. Minutes later, the test passed.

The system knew where the problem lay, and it led the team straight to the fix.

I wanted to see what would happen when the house lost grid power, so I started with the app's manual off-grid mode, a simple toggle that commands the Power Dock to disconnect from the grid and run my essential circuits on battery. When I did, the power blinked hard enough to reboot my desktop computer in the den and reset the clock on my range hood.

The system actually promises a near-instantaneous switchover to battery power, so this took me by surprise. However, every transfer test I've run since has been close to imperceptible, keeping the desktop computer powered on in the process.

Also: How much I saved on electricity after months of using backyard solar panels - and my most effective setup

For a harder test, I simulated a real outage by flipping the 70-amp breaker feeding the system while my solar was producing. Anker rates the switchover at under 20 milliseconds, faster than a blink, but this time the circuits went dark for about 20 seconds before the battery took over. Anker confirmed to me that this happens only when AC-coupled solar is actively exporting at the moment of grid loss and said a firmware update will address it. Back in March, before the solar was tied into the system, the same test was practically undetectable to me. Until that firmware update ships, you might be wise to keep a small UPS on your most sensitive gear.

My baseline load across eight circuits hovers around 600 watts, and the app estimates around 20 hours and 20 minutes of runtime from a full charge on batteries alone. I stress-tested that math by running a space heater and a blow dryer at once -- about 2 kW of draw and roughly a third of the inverter's output.

The system handled it easily, but looking closer at the numbers, those two small appliances tripled my consumption, which would shrink nearly a day of runtime to around six hours. Suddenly, I understood why power-hungry circuits like laundry didn't make it to my critical load panel and why expanding the system's capacity down the road is so tempting.

The generator sealed it for me, which was a huge surprise. Setup was color-coded and incredibly simple. The electric start fired on the first try with a full propane tank plugged in, and it's honestly the slickest and easiest generator I've ever used. Sliding a control in the app to turn it on while I'm in the house and hearing it rumble to life around the corner felt pretty magical.

Also: I powered my 3,000-sq-ft home with an EcoFlow battery in a blackout - here's how it kept my AC on

I watched it push 3.5 kW into the batteries, and my 20-pound propane tank stores enough energy for roughly a recharge and a half of the entire bank. This is one house and one configuration, so your results will undoubtedly differ. Anker markets this combo as "infinite backup power," and after watching propane refill my batteries on command, I felt a deeper level of comfort knowing how resourceful the system would be in the event of sudden power loss.

An even smarter house thanks to the app

The companion app is where Anker's consumer DNA shows, especially for someone like me who isn't a home energy know-it-all.

Also: The solar-powered backup station I trust after years of testing - and why it works so well

The animated energy-flow screen shows a model house with all of the components of our system, along with power moving between solar, batteries, house, and grid in real time. It turned electricity from an abstraction into something I can check and understand as easily as I check the weather. When the system is off-grid, the app tells me exactly how long I have left, which is what I'd want to know first in a power outage.

It's not all perfect, though. The propane fuel-level setting inside the app has refused to save when I add a fresh tank, so the generator's contribution to my total runtime estimate reads "unknown." That's not the end of the world, but the perfectionist in me would love to get it dialed in.

One piece of advice from the installer had less to do with the Anker system itself and more to do with outdoor batteries in general. My battery stack sits shaded for much of the day, but both the electricians and the solar crew recommended I build a small shade structure around the batteries to protect them from prolonged exposure to the sun. That structure is now firmly added to my honey-do list.

Also: How much I saved on electricity after months of using backyard solar panels - and my most effective setup

The month before our solar was connected to the Solix system, my house used almost the same amount of energy as it did the previous April, but we paid 57% less because the batteries filled up overnight when power cost about 23 cents per kilowatt-hour and carried the house through the evening peak, when it cost more than double. In June, with the system fully integrated, we exported to the grid during the expensive 4 to 9 pm window every single day of the billing cycle and closed the month with a $51 credit.

Add up the whole year, though, and my bill is tracking almost exactly where it was before the battery. My grandfathered NEM2 solar contract already pays near-retail rates for exports, which leaves a battery little room to actually earn. Brian Atchley, co-owner of Amy's Roofing and Solar, helped me understand: On NEM2, "you're not going to save much or anything."

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The flip side matters more if you're buying today. Under NEM3, exports earn around 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, so storing your own solar instead of selling it cheap becomes the biggest gain. "The savings are massive," Atchley said.

ZDNET's buying advice

My configuration, two batteries plus the Power Dock, lists for $7,799 before installation. In my case, installation was the real wild card. Anker's site has suggested installation figures around $2,000, but my California quote came to $9,378, and the whole system, as installed, lands at around $21,000 at list prices. You'll want a local quote before you fully commit.

Also: Aferiy P280 review: A multifunctional power station that I'd use for emergency backup

I sized this system for survival during a nasty power outage so that it keeps our essentials alive, but given our NEM2 contract, we're unlikely to see massive cost savings. On a modern NEM3 solar plan, it can pay you back daily on top of peace of mind. Anker's real accomplishment with the SOLIX E10 system is taking a category that can intimidate homeowners and making it something a first-timer can understand, monitor, and trust.

So what comes next in the Howell household? My family is already sizing up a second battery stack to bring the rest of our house on board.

Full disclosure: Anker supplied the E10 system and covered its professional installation by Eleos Electric for this review. The rooftop solar array it connects to, and the integration work by Amy's Roofing & Solar, came out of my own pocket.