How does your Base battery work? How does it connect to the grid? What happens during an outage?

This guide covers everything you need to know about how your Base battery operates, protects your home, and supports the power grid. You’ll also find answers to common battery myths and top tips to help you prepare for outages.

How grid connectivity works

Base batteries run in two directions, which is how Base is able to keep costs low for homeowners.

The batteries charge during off-peak hours, like midday and late at night, when energy is more available and demand is low. When the grid goes down, the battery hub separates your house from the grid and all the energy in the battery goes to power your home.

When the grid is working and chances of outages are low, Base sends some energy from the battery back to the power grid. This process is called grid-balancing.

Base batteries deploy energy to the grid faster than any other service, which is how Base is able to recoup the cost of the battery equipment and keep prices low for homeowners.

Charging and discharging patterns

The vast majority of the time, Base batteries hold a charge greater than 93%. Sometimes, the batteries discharge to a lower level in order to pass energy back to the power grid. This pattern is called "grid-balancing."

Base batteries help balance the grid by deploying energy when electricity is in high demand and the grid is stressed to keep up. For more on your Base battery state of charge, read the section on “Common misconceptions | My battery won't be charged during an outage” below.

Understanding outage protection

What happens during a power outage

During a power outage, the Base hub disconnects your home from the grid. This ensures that the stored energy in your battery powers only your household. Learn more about the components of your battery system below, in the section "What's inside your Base battery system."

The average power outage in Texas lasts 2.5 hours. At low energy use, the single-unit Base battery can protect an average household for 20 hours. At moderate energy use, backup duration is typically 12-14 hours.

You can extend this time by using fewer power-hungry appliances.

For more specific information based on your battery configuration, check our specs here.

How to extend your battery life

"Secret Power-Guzzlers" are what we call high-energy devices. They can drain your power supply quickly, which can overwhelm your battery. When your battery gets overwhelmed during an outage, it will shut off automatically. It does this to protect itself from draining too quickly. 

Key examples of power-guzzling devices include:

• Hot tubs and jacuzzis
• Electric water heaters (especially tankless models)
• Electric dryers and washing machines
• Air conditioners
• Conventional, resistance-based electric whole-home heating systems 

Finding the breakers that control these appliances and switching them off during outages can substantially extend battery life. 

It's helpful to keep a list of power-guzzling appliances before your Base installation. That way, if an outage happens, you will remember to turn off these devices. This will significantly lengthen your battery duration and prevent your battery from getting overwhelmed.

Key steps for outage preparation

1. Pre-outage preparation: Get to know the high-energy appliances in your home. Remember to turn them off during outages. It’s also good to communicate your appliance setup with our team during installation for personalized advice.
   
   
2. During an outage: The system will attempt three automatic restarts if the battery shuts off due to overwhelm. This is how our batteries protect themselves from draining too quickly. If you have tried three times and still haven't reduced your power usage, you can restart your battery manually. You can do this through the Base App once you are ready.
   

3. Moving from grid to off-grid power: When the grid goes down, the hub separates your home. This gives you exclusive access to the energy that's stored in your battery. This transition includes a brief half-second delay, which you may notice.

What's inside your Base battery system

The Base battery system is built for performance and reliability. It combines a high-capacity lithium iron battery with intelligent software to optimize energy use. 

The Base battery system has three main components: the battery pack, inverter, and hub. The long white unit is the battery pack. You can mount it on the wall or the ground depending on what works best for your home. Inside the battery pack, there are stacked modules. Each module has many battery cells. These cells store energy as lithium ions.

We use Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO₄) batteries. They are safer and more stable than Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) batteries (NMC batteries are often found in cell phones). Stability is what makes lithium batteries the prime choice for home energy storage.

Lithium batteries are widely used because lithium is lightweight, energy-dense, and capable of reversible chemical reactions. Here's how it works:

• Charging: Lithium ions move from the cathode to the anode, intercalating (inserting) into the anode's structure.‍
• Discharging: The process reverses, with lithium ions moving back to the cathode.

This reversible intercalation process is what allows lithium-ion batteries to store and release energy efficiently. Over time, lithium batteries lose their ability to recharge. That’s why all lithium batteries eventually wear out, but it takes awhile. 

Base’s battery lifespan is 10-15 years, comparable with other systems. We have also built our batteries to handle extreme Texas weather, making them a reliable long-term energy solution.

The three components of your Base system

• Battery Pack: This long white unit is the physical assembly of battery modules that store energy. Each module contains battery cells which are made of LFP.
  
  
• Inverter: The smaller white unit next to the battery stack contains the inverter. The inverter changes alternating current (AC) from the grid into direct current (DC) for storage. It then converts it back into AC for use in homes. When the battery powers your home, the inverter converts the stored DC energy into AC energy for your appliances.
  
  
• Hub: The hub connects to the grid, the inverter, and to your home’s electrical system. The hub typically routes energy from the grid to your home, except during outages. During an outage, the hub disconnects your home from the grid by flipping a switch and your battery powers your home instead. The switch is what ensures the battery's energy is used for only your home, essentially creating its own power grid.

Available battery configurations

Base offers three different system configurations. The right configuration depends on your home’s layout, energy needs, and space availability.

• 25 kWh Single Ground Mounted: A single-unit ground-mounted system is great for most homes. It fits into smaller outdoor areas.

• 50 kWh Double Ground Mounted: A two-unit ground-mounted system is great for homes with a lot of outdoor space and high energy needs.

• 20 kWh Wall Mounted: A single-unit wall-mounted system is best for houses with limited outdoor space. It can be mounted indoors or outdoors. 

You can compare the Base systems more in-depth here. 

FAQs

What happens when transitioning from grid to battery power?

When an outage happens, our current battery model causes a short interruption in power. This break lasts less than half a second as the hub switches from grid power to battery power. This interruption only happens when the grid is down. It does not happen when the grid is on.

The transition happens because the hub contains a switch that disconnects your home from the grid during an outage. This ensures all energy is redirected from the battery to your home and prevents any power draw from the grid.

You might notice this brief gap as the hub completes the switch. However, as we continue to enhance our battery technology, we expect to eliminate this interruption in future updates.

During an outage, my battery turned on then shut off after a minute. What happened?

This likely occurred due to your battery getting overwhelmed by you using a lot of power all at once. When too much power is drawn from the battery, the system's safety mechanism activates. This usually happens because of the use of high-demand appliances, such as an oven or other power-hungry devices. The safety feature protects both the battery and the inverter.

Here’s what happens:

1. The battery will try to provide the needed power. If the demand is too high, the system will restart to recover.
2. The system is designed to retry up to three times. If the issue persists after three attempts, the battery shuts down as a protective measure.

This safety mechanism ensures the longevity of your battery and prevents damage to the entire system. If this happens, check your power usage. Reduce the load by turning off or unplugging devices that use a lot of power. Then, restart the battery by logging into your Base account.

Common misconceptions about batteries

"Batteries have a fixed duration"

How long your battery lasts depends on how much energy your household uses. You backup duration can change a lot based on your appliances.

Making small changes to how you use devices can help extend your backup duration. For example, skip a hot shower. Turn down your air conditioning. Shut off your jacuzzi. Turn off your tankless water heaters. Avoid using your oven.

You can get a better sense of what duration looks like for your specific Base system, by referring to our specs here. We list out typical energy duration as well as average energy duration for reduced appliance usage.

"My battery won't be charged during an outage"

The vast majority of the time, our batteries are over 95% full. A small minority of the time, the batteries drop to lower charges when we are performing our grid-balancing services. Base prioritizes keeping your battery charged when there is an increased risk of an outage.

Base keeps a 20% charge reserved for the customer at all times.

"It's better for me to own the battery"

Base Power is a home energy company that provides affordable, reliable power to Texas homes. We don’t sell batteries.

By owning and operating our battery fleet, we help our members avoid the high upfront costs of equipment, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. This alleviates the homeowner from the financial and logistical burden of purchasing and maintaining a battery system.

Because of our grid-balancing operations, we're also able to guarantee energy rates remain lower than the market average.

Additionally, since we own our system, we are highly motivated to keep all our batteries running well. We service our batteries efficiently, at no cost to the homeowner. We will also replace them if necessary to ensure high performance.

The Base model is designed to give homeowners peace of mind and reliable performance. This way, you enjoy the benefits of backup power and low rates without the added stress of consistent maintenance and high upfront investment.

Conclusion

Your Base battery keeps your home powered, protects against outages, and helps you use energy more efficiently. By understanding how it works and preparing for outages, you can get the most out of your system. With reliable technology and full support, you’re set to enjoy affordable, dependable energy every day.