Home Battery Boom 2026: What the Q1 Record Means for You

The home battery boom of 2026 caught a lot of people off guard, including a homeowner sitting across from a solar installer that January, watching the quote print out and quietly wondering if they showed up to the party a year too late. The federal tax credit had just expired. Every headline said the residential battery storage rush was over. That homeowner was wrong on the part that matters.

Because in the first three months of 2026, the US installed a record 3.3 GW / 8.4 GWh of battery energy storage — the biggest first quarter ever recorded, across every market segment, up 54% over the prior Q1 record [1][2][3]. The residential slice of that record grew faster than anything else in the report: 1.3 GWh, up 86% year over year [1]. The party, it turns out, was just getting loud.

Most coverage of that milestone was written for utility planners, in gigawatts and tax-equity footnotes. This post is written for you — the person deciding whether to buy a battery this year. We will translate the trade data into a real decision, separate the one-time tax-credit sugar rush from the permanent shift underneath it, and tell you what to do about it.

Key takeaways

• The US installed a record 3.3 GW / 8.4 GWh of battery storage in Q1 2026, 54% above the prior Q1 record, with utility, commercial, and residential segments all hitting new highs (ACP + Wood Mackenzie US Energy Storage Monitor, released June 23, 2026) [1]. Verified as of 2026-06-27.
• The residential segment specifically installed 1.3 GWh in Q1 2026, up 86% year over year and 5% quarter over quarter — the fastest-growing segment by relative growth, though small in absolute terms (ACP + Wood Mackenzie, Q1 2026) [1]. Verified as of 2026-06-27.
• The national solar-plus-storage attachment rate reached 45% in Q1 2026, up from 38% a year earlier — nearly half of new solar buyers paired a battery without being required to (ACP + Wood Mackenzie, Q1 2026) [1]. Verified as of 2026-06-27.
• The federal Section 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit (30%) is no longer available for any installation completed after December 31, 2025 — there is no federal tax credit for homeowner-owned batteries installed in 2026 (IRS OBBB FAQ) [4]. Verified as of 2026-06-27.
• After a projected 5% residential contraction in 2026, the segment is forecast to grow at a 12% average annual pace over the following four years, driven by net-metering reform, rising time-of-use rates, and grid-outage hours (Utility Dive, citing Wood Mackenzie, June 2026) [11]. Verified as of 2026-06-27.

What does the record 3.3 GW / 8.4 GWh of battery storage actually mean for homeowners?

The 3.3 GW / 8.4 GWh figure is a total across the whole storage market, most of it utility-scale, not residential — so do not read it as a number about home batteries [1]. For homeowners, the figure that matters is residential battery storage: 1.3 GWh installed in Q1 2026, up 86% year over year [1]. The headline is the weather. The residential number is your forecast.

Here is the scale in terms you can feel. At the US average household electricity use of about 29 kWh per day (derived from EIA residential consumption data), the 8.4 GWh added in a single quarter is roughly enough to run around 290,000 average homes for a full day [8]. The grid is being rebuilt around stored electricity, fast enough to notice within a single calendar season.

The headline is the weather. The residential number is your forecast.

The composition matters, because the press coverage blurs it. Utility-scale storage made up more than 2.3 GW / 6.8 GWh of the Q1 total, and the commercial, community, and industrial (CCI) segment added 97.7 MW, up 27% quarter over quarter [1]. Residential is the smallest by volume but posted the highest relative growth at 86% year over year — the home market is accelerating, not coasting on the big utility number [1].

There is one more number that frames the whole moment. Solar and storage were 91% of all new US grid capacity added in Q1 2026, according to the SEIA + Wood Mackenzie US Solar Market Insight (June 2026) [14]. So when a homeowner installs a battery in 2026, they are not making a fringe choice — they are doing, at the scale of one house, exactly what the entire grid is doing at the scale of the country.

Residential storage hit a new Q1 record — but it is a small share of the total market.

Source: ACP + Wood Mackenzie US Energy Storage Monitor Q1 2026, released June 23, 2026 [1]. Residential and CCI power capacity (GW) not separately published by ACP; shown as "not reported." Do not infer a residential GW figure.

The takeaway under all that data is simple: the hardware in a garage did not suddenly change. What changed is how many of your neighbors decided it was worth installing — and the segment growing fastest is the one your home lives in.

Why are so many people buying home batteries in 2026?

Homeowners are buying residential battery storage because three structural forces made storage pay for itself in more places — and all three started before the federal tax credit and outlast its expiration. The forces are: the collapse of net-metering credits, rising grid-outage hours, and battery economics crossing a price threshold [1][7][11]. The credit was an accelerant; these three are the engine. The popular "everyone bought for the tax credit" story leads to the wrong conclusion — wait — and the data says the opposite.

Force 1 — The net-metering squeeze

Net metering used to mean your solar exports earned you full retail credit — roughly one kilowatt-hour out for one kilowatt-hour back. California's NEM 3.0, adopted in the CPUC's 2022 Net Billing Tariff decision (D.22-12-056) and in effect for new applicants since April 2023, replaced that with avoided-cost export values that run far below retail — frequently on the order of 70 to 80% lower in early analyses — while peak retail power still costs a premium to buy back [17]. Confirm your own utility's current export schedule, as values vary by hour and season. When the credit you earn for exporting collapses and the price you pay at peak stays high, a battery stops being an upsell and becomes the only way to keep the value your panels create.

The gap is real money. California residential electricity averaged 32.54 ¢/kWh in 2025, nearly double the US average of 17.3 ¢/kWh, and peak time-of-use windows run higher still [8]. A battery lets you store cheap midday solar and use it during the expensive evening peak instead of buying that power back. That is value you simply lose without storage in a post-NEM market.

When the export credit collapses, a battery stops being an upsell and becomes the only way to keep the value your panels create.

This is the part the "tax credit caused everything" story misses entirely. NEM 3.0 is a permanent regulatory shift, not a credit window — and time-differentiated pricing is spreading beyond California, with utilities such as Arizona's APS running mandatory residential TOU rate plans per their current published tariffs [16]. The rules that made solar pay on its own are being rewritten, and a battery is how you adapt — see our explainer on what NEM 3.0 means for solar homeowners.

Force 2 — Rising outage hours and grid anxiety

The grid is going down more often, and homeowners can feel it. US electricity customers experienced more outage hours in recent years than in the prior decade, and federal regulators have warned of rising reliability risk as demand climbs and older plants retire — the structural story we cover in why the US power grid keeps failing. This is not fearmongering; it is in the planning documents of the people who run the grid.

And the willingness to pay for reliability is measurable. A peer-reviewed LBNL stated-preference survey of 483 northeastern US residential customers found households were willing to pay roughly $1.7 to $2.3 per kWh to sustain their own private demand during a hypothetical 10-day winter blackout, and a further $19 to $29 per day to support their communities (Nature Energy, 2020) [12]. Put plainly: when the lights go out, people discover their true price for power — and it is far above the utility rate.

When the lights go out, people discover their true price for power — and it is far above the utility rate.

This is where the difference between a battery and a system shows up. The Kora Smart Panel adds circuit-level control for up to 12 circuits, so during an outage your stored energy goes to the refrigerator, the well pump, and the medical equipment first — not drained blindly across the whole house [15]. Deciding what stays on is what makes a finite battery last through a long event. For outage planning, see our summer grid outage prep guide.

Force 3 — Battery economics have crossed a threshold

The third force is the quiet one: the math finally works in more places. Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cell costs have fallen substantially in recent years, and installed residential storage now commonly runs in the four-figures-per-kilowatt-hour range before any state incentive, per LBNL Tracking the Sun installed-price data and broader industry estimates [18]. Cheaper storage means a shorter payback, and shorter paybacks pull demand forward — credit or no credit.

The 25D credit's expiration did remove a real federal offset — roughly 30% of system cost for installations completed through the end of 2025 [4]. That is not nothing. But in high-rate markets, the savings from shifting energy out of peak windows can still carry the economics, especially stacked with a state program. The credit lowered the entry price; it never was the reason the asset earns.

The credit lowered the entry price. It never was the reason the asset earns.

Durability matters too. Kora's Powerblocks use LFP cells rated for 6,000+ cycles at 80% capacity [15], spreading the upfront cost over thousands of charge-and-discharge days — the real question is cost per useful cycle over a decade-plus, not the sticker. See our breakdown of LFP battery chemistry and rated life.

So why are so many people buying? Because in 2026 a home battery does three jobs at once — guards against outages, beats the new rate rules, and pays back faster than it used to. The tax credit was a nudge on top of that; the three forces are why the nudge landed.

Did everyone buy a battery because of the tax credit expiring?

No. The expiring Section 25D credit pulled some demand forward, but it did not create the boom. The ACP + Wood Mackenzie report states Q1 2026 residential volumes were "buoyed by an overflow of installations initiated at the end of 2025 to capture the expiring Section 25D tax credit" [1]. That overflow is real — and it is only part of the story.

Here is the tell. The solar-plus-storage attachment rate hit 45% in Q1 2026, up from 38% a year earlier [1]. If the only buyers were tax-credit chasers, that ratio would not have climbed — it tracks the share of new solar buyers who add a battery, not the raw count. Nearly half of new solar customers are now walking in the door asking for storage: a behavior change, not a subsidy artifact.

Nearly half of new solar customers are now walking in asking for storage. That is a behavior change, not a subsidy artifact.

The forecast settles the argument. ACP + Wood Mackenzie projects a shallow 5% residential contraction in 2026 — a post-credit hangover tied to tax-equity constraints, not a collapse [1]. After that, the residential segment is expected to grow at a 12% average annual pace over the following four years [11]. A market that was purely a tax-credit phenomenon would crater and stay down. This one dips and then climbs — because the three structural forces never left.

So the honest read is balanced: yes, the end of 25D inflated the Q1 2026 number, and yes, the durable trend underneath it is real and independent of the credit. Treating the boom as a closed window is the costliest misread a homeowner can make this year.

Will battery prices drop in 2026 if I wait to buy?

Probably not enough to justify waiting. Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cell prices have fallen substantially in recent years and may ease further as manufacturing scales, but near-term US trade-compliance and supply-chain costs can offset cell declines at the installed level [18]. Meanwhile, every month you wait is a month you keep paying full peak rates and lose any open state incentive.

The "wait for cheaper hardware" instinct misreads how home-battery value works. The savings on a residential battery storage system come from avoided peak energy and resilience, not the sticker price — a battery installed today starts shifting your most expensive hours immediately, while a cheaper unit next year banks nothing in the meantime [8]. Waiting to save 5% on hardware can cost you a full year of bill savings.

Waiting for a cheaper battery banks nothing. A battery installed today starts shifting your most expensive hours immediately.

There is also a program clock most homeowners miss. State incentive budgets such as California's SGIP and Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions run on fixed funds that subscribe and change terms [7][13]. Hardware might shave a few percentage points over a year, but a state rebate that closes is gone in full — verified as of 2026-06-27.

Find out how much battery your home actually needs before you buy — explore the factors in our home battery ROI breakdown. TODO: link sizing calculator when live.

Is home battery storage still worth it without the Section 25D credit?

In high-rate and outage-prone markets, the answer in 2026 is often yes — three factors set it: your rate structure, how often your power goes out, and whether your state still offers an incentive [1][8]. The federal Section 25D credit is gone for any installation completed after December 31, 2025, per the IRS OBBB FAQ, with no federal replacement — so the math is harder, not impossible [4][5][6].

The value of a battery is set by your bill, not by a brochure. A California homeowner under NEM 3.0 paying 32.54 ¢/kWh on average in 2025 has a fundamentally different equation than someone near the 17.3 ¢/kWh national average (EIA, 2025) [8]. Same hardware, very different payback.

The value of a battery is set by your bill, not by a brochure.

Interactive

The factor matrix below is the fastest way to locate yourself: if most of your situation lands in the high-value column, the post-25D economics likely still work; if it lands in the low-value column, a battery may be more about resilience than return. For the dollar-by-dollar math, see our honest ROI breakdown for home batteries in 2026.

Rate structure and outage risk decide the economics far more than the credit ever did.

Source: EIA Retail Sales of Electricity, 2025 (US 17.3 ¢/kWh; CA 32.54 ¢/kWh) [8]; CPUC NEM 3.0 Decision D.22-12-056 [17] and SGIP program materials [7]; LBNL value-of-resilience survey [12]; Kora tech specs [15]. Verified as of 2026-06-27.

Where Kora fits is the high-value column. The Powerblocks in Self-Power and TOU modes store surplus solar and discharge it during the most expensive windows — the exact behavior that makes the post-25D case work in a high-rate market [15]. We will not promise a number; your number depends on your rates, roof, and usage. But the mechanism is a configurable feature, not a hope.

Which states still have battery incentives in 2026?

With the federal credit gone, several states still run residential storage incentive programs in 2026 — most notably California's Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions, and New York's NYSERDA storage incentives [7]. Budgets and terms change often, so confirm any figure directly at the program's own page or at DSIRE [10].

A few specifics, each verified as of 2026-06-27:

• California's SGIP funds equity and resiliency-focused storage rebates through the CPUC, with the richest per-kilowatt-hour incentives reserved for income-qualified and high-fire-risk customers; the general-market budget is far more constrained [7].
• Connecticut's Energy Storage Solutions — whose upfront incentive previously ran up to $16,000 for income-qualified residential customers on larger systems, with standard residential awards lower and scaled by capacity, income, and location — shifted on April 1, 2026 to pay-for-performance (roughly $300 to $550 per kW-year over 10 years) [13]. The program is still active; the shape of the money changed.

A state program can swing the economics by thousands of dollars — but only if you act while the budget is open.

The detail no installer blog keeps current for you is availability — these programs run on fixed budgets that subscribe, reopen, and change rules. Treat every figure below as a starting point to verify at DSIRE, never a guarantee [10].

The federal credit is gone, but active state programs still pay roughly $300/kWh up to a five-figure maximum, depending on income and location — if your market has one.

Source: CPUC SGIP program materials [7]; Connecticut PURA / Green Bank Energy Storage Solutions updates [13]; DSIRE state incentive database [10]. Amounts are ranges that change frequently with budget cycles and customer tier; verify each directly. Verified as of 2026-06-27.

The so-what: waiting risks the program, not just the credit. A Kora system is eligible where standalone-storage incentives apply, but confirm your specific case with a licensed installer — installation and program enrollment should always be handled by a qualified professional.

How does NEM 3.0 and time-of-use pricing change the economics?

NEM 3.0 and time-of-use (TOU) pricing change the economics by widening the gap between what you earn exporting solar and what you pay importing power at peak — and a home battery is what captures that gap. California's NEM 3.0 (CPUC Decision D.22-12-056) cut solar export credits to avoided-cost values well below retail, while peak TOU rates remain high [8][17]. The spread between the two is the value residential battery storage recovers.

In plain terms: old net metering let your meter spin backward at full price. Under California's NEM 3.0 (CPUC Decision D.22-12-056), exporting at midday earns little while buying back at the 4-to-9 p.m. peak costs a lot [17]. Storing your own midday solar and using it at night is the bridge between cheap production and expensive consumption.

A battery stores energy. Kora makes it usable at the right moment.

This is not only a California story, even if California is the clearest case. The grid mix has shifted hard: utility-scale solar generated about 295.7 TWh nationally in 2025 (roughly 388.8 TWh including rooftop), part of about 821.9 TWh from all renewables out of about 4,430 TWh total US generation (EIA, 2025) [9]. As renewables grow, more utilities adopt time-differentiated pricing. Arizona's APS, for example, runs mandatory residential TOU plans with a 4-to-7 p.m. on-peak window per its current published tariffs [16]. The TOU logic that pays off in California today is coming to more bills tomorrow.

This is exactly where Kora's software earns its keep. In TOU mode, a homeowner configures on-peak, off-peak, and shoulder windows — say, a 4-to-9 p.m. on-peak window and overnight off-peak — and the system prioritizes solar and stored energy before grid power during the expensive hours [15]. That is not a theoretical benefit; it is a setting.

The bottom line for your bill: in a NEM 3.0 or high-TOU market, a well-orchestrated battery shifts your most expensive hours onto your own cheapest energy — the savings live in the timing, and timing is what the system controls.

What's the difference between the utility boom and the residential boom?

The utility boom and the residential boom are two different markets growing at once — different scale, different incentives, different reasons to buy. Utility-scale storage drove most of the Q1 2026 record at 2.3 GW / 6.8 GWh; residential was a separate 1.3 GWh with its own economics [1]. Do not assume the giant utility number means your home math improved.

Utility-scale batteries are bought by grid operators to firm up renewables and meet reliability obligations — and they still qualify for the federal Section 48E investment tax credit, which the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act preserved on a phase-down schedule (IRS OBBB FAQ; Utility Dive) [4][11]. That credit is a business incentive for grid operators. It does nothing for a homeowner's purchase, which is why conflating the two booms is a mistake.

The utility number is the grid's story. The 1.3 GWh residential number is yours.

Residential storage runs on an entirely different fuel: rate optimization, backup resilience, and post-net-metering economics at the single-home level, and its 12% residential CAGR forecast is a separate line from the larger utility curve [1][11]. Your decision should be driven by your rates and outage risk, not a gigawatt headline about a battery farm two counties over. Kora is a residential-native integrated home energy system — a Smart Panel, modular Powerblocks, and the Power App built for a house, not a utility product shrunk to fit a garage [15].

What should homeowners do right now to benefit from this shift?

Make three moves, in order: check your rate structure, check your state program, and think in terms of a system rather than a single battery [1][7][15]. The home battery boom is a reason to position now, while the structural forces are strong and the programs that remain are open.

First, check your rate structure. On a flat tariff in a low-cost market, the math is harder and resilience may be your main reason to buy. On TOU rates or in a NEM 3.0 state, the arbitrage economics are live right now — every expensive peak you ride through on stored solar is money you keep [7][8]. Pull up your latest bill and find your peak rate; that one number tells you most of what you need to know.

Second, check your state program. SGIP, Connecticut's ESS, and NYSERDA run on limited budgets with changing rules [7][13]. The clock on state programs is real — verify your options at DSIRE today [10].

A battery alone captures one use case. A system captures three: peak avoidance, prioritized backup, and a path to energy markets.

Third, think about the system, not just the battery. A battery alone gives you backup. A Kora Smart Panel plus Powerblocks plus the Power App gives you load-level control, TOU optimization, and a path toward future grid participation [15] — the difference between buying a backup appliance and building a home energy operating system.

A note on what that path includes. Kora Energy Trading is a planned capability, in development, designed to position Founders Edition homeowners to join when it launches — not a current earnings program, and not a promise of revenue [15]. For how grid-payment economics work in general, with third-party data, see our guide on how homeowners can earn from their battery. Getting in now means being ready when it does.

Still weighing storage against a generator? Our generator vs. battery comparison lays out the tradeoffs. But for most homeowners reading the 2026 data, the question has quietly shifted from whether to store energy to whether your home knows what to do with it.

See what the Kora 4-in-1 integrated home energy system could look like for your home → Reserve your Founders Edition. The Smart Panel, Powerblocks, Power App, and planned Energy Trading access, designed to work as one system. No guaranteed savings — your results depend on your rates, roof, and usage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the US home battery record set in Q1 2026?

The US residential battery segment installed a record 1.3 GWh in Q1 2026, up 86% year over year, per the ACP + Wood Mackenzie US Energy Storage Monitor released June 23, 2026 [1]. The total US storage market across all segments hit 3.3 GW / 8.4 GWh — but that 3.3 GW headline includes utility and commercial storage, not residential alone [1].

Is the 25D tax credit still available in 2026?

No. Per the IRS OBBB FAQ, the federal Section 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for any installation completed after December 31, 2025 [4]. As of June 2026, there is no federal tax credit for homeowner-owned battery systems installed this year. Some state programs remain active — verify each directly (verified as of 2026-06-27) [10].

Why did so many homeowners install batteries at the end of 2025?

Many rushed to lock in the Section 25D credit before it expired on December 31, 2025. The ACP + Wood Mackenzie report confirms Q1 2026 residential volumes were "buoyed by an overflow of installations initiated at the end of 2025" to capture the credit [1]. That backlog inflated Q1 figures but does not explain the sustained 45% attachment rate [1].

Do I need solar to benefit from a home battery in 2026?

Not necessarily. A standalone battery can still arbitrage time-of-use rates — charging at cheap off-peak hours and discharging at expensive peak — plus provide backup power [8][15]. That said, solar plus storage is the strongest economic pairing, especially in NEM 3.0 states where a battery recovers the export value that solar alone now loses [7].

Related Articles

• Are Home Batteries Worth It in 2026? An Honest ROI Breakdown
• What Is NEM 3.0? California Net Metering Explained
• How Homeowners Can Earn From Their Battery: The VPP Economics
• Why the US Power Grid Keeps Failing in 2026

References

1. ACP + Wood Mackenzie, US Energy Storage Monitor Q1 2026, "U.S. Energy Storage Market Q1 2026 Sets Records Across Sectors," American Clean Power Association, June 23, 2026. https://cleanpower.org/news/u-s-energy-storage-market-q1-2026-sets-records-across-sectors/ ↩
2. Wood Mackenzie, US Energy Storage Monitor (primary report page). https://www.woodmac.com/industry/power-and-renewables/us-energy-storage-monitor/ ↩
3. American Clean Power Association, US Energy Storage Monitor resource page. https://cleanpower.org/resources/u-s-energy-storage-monitor/ ↩
4. Internal Revenue Service, FAQs for modification of sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D under Public Law 119-21 (the One, Big, Beautiful Bill) — Section 25D credit not allowed for any item whose original installation is completed after December 31, 2025; Section 48E preserved on a phase-down schedule. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-for-modification-of-sections-25c-25d-25e-30c-30d-45l-45w-and-179d-under-public-law-119-21-139-stat-72-july-4-2025-commonly-known-as-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-obbb ↩
5. Internal Revenue Service, Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) (consumer-facing credit overview). https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit ↩
6. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 26 U.S. Code § 25D — Residential clean energy credit. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/25D ↩
7. California Public Utilities Commission, Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) program materials (per-kWh residential storage rebates; equity and equity-resiliency tiers). https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/demand-side-management/self-generation-incentive-program ↩
8. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Retail Sales of Electricity, 2025 (US residential 17.3 ¢/kWh; California 32.54 ¢/kWh; Texas 15.47 ¢/kWh; ~29 kWh/day average household consumption derived from annual residential use). Verified via EIA v2 API, period 2025. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data.php ↩
9. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Electric Power Operational Data, 2025 (utility-scale solar ~295.7 TWh; estimated total solar incl. rooftop ~388.8 TWh; all renewables ~821.9 TWh; total US generation ~4,430 TWh). Verified via EIA v2 API, period 2025. https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data.php ↩
10. DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency), N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center. https://www.dsireusa.org ↩
11. Utility Dive, "US sees record Q1 2026 energy storage installations amid rosy outlook" — 12% residential storage CAGR over the following four years (citing the Wood Mackenzie US Energy Storage Monitor), June 2026. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/us-sees-record-q1-2026-energy-storage-installations-amid-rosy-outlook/823547/ ↩
12. Baik, S., Davis, A. L., Park, J. W., Sirinterlikci, S., & Morgan, M. G., "Estimating what US residential customers are willing to pay for resilience to large electricity outages of long duration," Nature Energy 5, 250–258 (2020), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — stated-preference survey of 483 northeastern US residential customers: willingness to pay US$1.7–2.3/kWh to sustain private demand and US$19–29/day to support their communities during a hypothetical 10-day winter blackout. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0581-1 ↩
13. Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) / Connecticut Green Bank, Energy Storage Solutions Program — pay-for-performance framework effective April 1, 2026 (residential ~$300–$550/kW-year over 10 years); prior upfront incentive up to $16,000 maximum for income-qualified residential customers on larger systems, scaled by capacity, income, and location. https://portal.ct.gov/pura/electric/office-of-technical-and-regulatory-analysis/clean-energy-programs/energy-storage-solutions-program ↩
14. Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) + Wood Mackenzie, US Solar Market Insight (Q1 2026 / Q2 2026 report) — solar and storage made up 91% of new US electric generating capacity in Q1 2026; a record 45% of residential solar installations paired with battery storage, June 2026. https://seia.org/news/solar-and-storage-provide-over-90-of-new-power-in-q1/ ↩
15. Kora Power, Founders Edition Tech Specs (canonical product spec source: Smart Panel 12 circuits / 200 A grid input / IP65 / 12-year warranty; Powerblocks LFP 6,000+ cycles at 80% capacity / 11.4 kW continuous / Self-Power and TOU modes; Energy Trading planned). https://korapower.com/pages/tech-specs-founders-edition ↩
16. NREL / OpenEI Utility Rate Database (URDB), residential time-of-use rate structures (incl. Arizona Public Service mandatory residential TOU plans), retrieved 2026-06-27. https://openei.org/apps/USURDB/ ↩
17. California Public Utilities Commission, Net Billing Tariff (NEM 3.0), Decision D.22-12-056 (adopted December 15, 2022; effective for new applicants April 15, 2023) — replaced retail-rate export credits with avoided-cost-based export compensation well below retail. https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/demand-side-management/customer-generation/nem-revisit/net-billing-tariff ↩
18. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Tracking the Sun — installed-price data for residential solar and storage systems. https://emp.lbl.gov/tracking-the-sun ↩