At Solarsure.ie, we believe in empowering our customers – quite literally – with reliable, sustainable energy solutions. Recent media reports raised questions around whether solar battery systems could legally or safely be used during power outages in Ireland. Understandably, this caused confusion and concern for homeowners and businesses relying on solar energy as part of their resilience strategy.

The Good News: You Can Use Your Battery During a Power Cut

It has now been officially clarified that customers can use the energy stored in their solar battery systems during a grid outage. This is a crucial clarification, as many feared they would be left in the dark – despite having invested in solar and battery systems designed to provide backup power.

Why the Confusion?

The issue stemmed from grid safety protocols. In a standard solar setup, when the grid goes down, the inverter shuts off automatically to prevent "islanding" – a situation where electricity from your system could back-feed into the grid and endanger line workers.

This is why simply having solar panels and a battery doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have power during an outage. You need the right hardware – and the right installer.