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California Public Safety Power Shutoff Survival Guide

California Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) Survival Guide

Keep The Lights On When The Utility Turns Them Off

During the last two years, more than 16,500 wildfires ignited across California, and in the past 4 years, equipment owned by California’s three largest investor-owned utilities have been deemed responsible for sparking more than 2,000 fires. These utility-caused wildfires and associated damages and lawsuits have motivated PG&E, SCE and SDG&E to implement PSPS and their joint campaign: ‘The Power of Being Prepared’.

Understand Your Solar Array As Back-Up

If you have installed grid-tied solar without energy storage, you will lose power during an outage. Grid-tied solar arrays feed electricity to the grid, not your home. Adding as few as two PHI batteries to an existing solar installation will allow you to disconnect or ‘island’ from the grid during a blackout and continue to generate, store and use your own power until the utility service is restored.

Understand How Much Power Your Will Need

How much electricity do you want at your disposal when the grid goes down? Storage solutions are as diverse as the range of customers who need them. As a homeowner, you might decide to create a residential energy storage system sized to provide power only for critical loads like the refrigerator, a home medical device, a computer, cell phone charging, lights and the HVAC system, while another could decide to install a large PHI battery bank sized to support a home’s entire utility load. Yet another could decide to keep it simple and select a turn-key mobile energy storage solution to take with them in the event of an evacuation, like the ExprESS or Genny Emergency Kits. These turn-key solutions are also ideal for people who rent homes, condominiums or apartments.

Model Type Features

PHI Batteries

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Hard wired*
  • Modular batteries that can be combined to create a battery bank of any size to power any electricity load

AccESS Energy Storage System

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Turn-key hard wired*
  • Back up whole-home power solution that includes all the PHI battery and inverter equipment you need in one enclosure
  • NEMA-3R rated cabinet can be installed indoors or outdoors

ExprESS Mobile AC Generator

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Turn-key mobile or hard wired*
  • Fuel-free generator alternative
  • PHI batteries and an inverter enclosed in a NEMA-3R-rated cabinet on heavy-duty, lockable casters
  • Sufficient power to operate computers, appliances, power tools and heating/cooling for hours at a time

Genny Emergency Kits

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Portable
  • Easy-to-carry briefcase- and roller bag-sized mobile generators that come with their own folding solar panel
  • Sufficient power to operate computers, cell phones, appliances, power tools and emergency lighting for hours at a time

*Initial installation by a licensed C10 or C46 electrician required

SimpiPhi’s applications engineers and I.Q. Certified Installers can help you calculate how much energy storage capacity you will need and what solution is best for you. Little and Big Genny Emergency Kits can be purchased directly from Amazon.

Know Your Manufacturer

When it comes to emergency power, failure is not an option. SimpliPhi’s energy storage and management solutions have been proven in the field for a decade, including by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Safety is also critical. SimpliPhi’s energy storage solutions are ideally suited for use in regions prone to wildfires because they feature the safest, cobalt-free lithium ion chemistry: there are no toxic hazards, no fumes and no risk of fire from the battery itself. Many consumers do not realize that most other lithium ion batteries contain cobalt — which can be incredibly dangerous in a fire because there isn’t a way to extinguish a cobalt battery that catches fire, and because cobalt fires produce deadly, toxic fumes.

Not only does SimpliPhi have a proven global track record you can trust, our California operations lend us unique insight into the wildfire and PSPS problems and the ideal solutions that home and business owners want and need to be resilient and survive with minimal hardship. Through Energize California, we’re committed to ensuring every Californian is truly able to realize the power of being prepared.

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