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The December 2007 ice storm remains one of the most destructive outages in Kansas history — days of freezing rain coated lines and trees across the state and knocked power out to hundreds of thousands, some for more than a week. It’s the kind of event Evergy and the wider Southwest Power Pool (SPP) grid can’t restore quickly, because ice takes down feeders faster than crews can reach them across Wichita, Topeka, and the Kansas City suburbs. Add tornado season and summer straight-line winds, and Kansas homes face outages in every season. If you’re already comparing Kansas solar quotes, remember that a grid-tied rooftop system shuts off during a blackout (anti-islanding) unless you also have storage — a solar generator is the quiet, fuel-free way to close that gap.
Why ice is the Kansas grid’s worst enemy
Tornadoes are the state’s signature threat, but ice does the most sustained damage to the grid. A tornado’s outage is intense and local; an ice storm’s is broad and slow to fix, glazing hundreds of miles of line at once. That’s why sizing backup in Kansas means planning for a multi-day event, not an afternoon — you want a battery that carries your essentials and refills from the sun between rounds of weather.
Match the solar generator to what you need to run
Rather than buy the biggest unit you can, start with the loads that matter and pick from there.
| Unit | Capacity / output | Best for | Runs central AC? |
|---|---|---|---|
| HomePower 3000 | ~3,072Wh / 3,600W | Fridge, Wi-Fi, lights for 1–2 days | No |
| HomePower 3600 Plus | 3,584Wh / 3,600W, to 21kWh | Essentials plus a window AC unit | No (window unit yes) |
| Solar Generator 5000 Plus | 5,040Wh / 7,200W, to 60kWh | Whole-home loads, central air | Yes |
If you want to keep central air and heavier loads running through a summer tornado-season outage, the 5000 Plus has the output for it, with both 120V and 240V.
▶ View the Solar Generator 5000 Plus
For most Kansas homes, the HomePower 3600 Plus is the sweet spot — it ties into your circuits through a transfer switch and comfortably handles a window unit plus your essentials.
▶ Check the HomePower 3600 Plus
And if the goal is simply keeping the fridge, Wi-Fi, and lights on through an ice-storm outage, the HomePower 3000 covers essentials for one to two days and ships with the panels to recharge mid-outage.
▶ See the HomePower 3000 solar generator use code DEAL5
Why solar beats gas after an ice storm
When roads are glazed and stations are shut, the last thing you want is a generator that needs a fuel run. Jackery’s LiFePO4 units run near 30 decibels, are zero-emission and safe indoors, and recharge from the sun instead of a gas can. Not sure which size fits? List what must stay on, total the watts, and match it to a unit with room to spare.
▶ Compare all Jackery home backup options
Keep reading: Kansas solar incentives & costs · Best solar generators for home backup (Oklahoma) · Best solar generators for home backup (Missouri)