By
Rob Nikolewski
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Widespread power shutoffs across the Golden State during peak wildfire season have spurred demand for what’s called “solar-plus-storage” as a way for customers to keep their lights on.

“Calling it an ‘uptick’ would be an understatement,” saidBarry Cinnamon, CEO of Cinnamon Energy Systems, a Silicon Valley-based solar company. Cinnamon said the level of inquiries has more than doubled and his company “had just about the best month ever” in its seven-year history.

“There’s a lot of people who said, ‘I’ve been hesitant to put in solar and now I want to put in solar and a battery, too.’ And there’s a lot of people who have existing systems … but now they want to add a battery.”

California leads the nation in the number of rooftop solar installations, thanks to abundant sunshine and aggressive programs passed by state policymakers. But while solar panels can provide electricity when the grid is running, customers need battery storage systems to allow their residences to power themselves, at least for a time, when the lines are closed.

And that happened multiple times last month when investor-ownedutilities deployed what is called “Public Safety Power Shutoffs”as high winds and weather conditions increased the risk of power equipment (such as fallen power lines) igniting a wildfire. Pacific Gas & Electric in recent weeks de-energized lines formore than 2 million peoplein its service territory in Northern and Central California.