Delaware’s geography is its own weather forecast: a small, low, flat state wedged against the Atlantic, served for the most part by a single utility running long feeders out to the beaches and across open country. That combination, flat exposure plus long lines, turned two very different storms into real outages within the last six years. Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out power to nearly 80,000 Delmarva Power customers in August 2020, and it still took crews a full day to restore 95% of them. Then, in February 2026, Winter Storm Hernando buried the peninsula in more than two feet of wet snow and hit Sussex County harder than almost anywhere else on the East Coast. Delaware sits inside the PJM regional grid, but PJM runs the high-voltage backbone; it can’t restore the flooded or snow-loaded Delmarva Power feeder on your road. That’s what a home battery is for. If you’re comparing Delaware solar quotes, it’s the piece that turns panels on the roof into power you can actually use when the grid is down.
Two storms, six years apart, the same lesson
Isaias and Hernando failed the grid in opposite seasons but for the same underlying reason. On August 4, 2020, Isaias came ashore with enough wind to snap trees onto Delmarva’s long coastal feeders, and at the peak nearly 80,000 customers across the company’s Delaware and Maryland territory were dark: restoration required replacing more than 120 utility poles and stringing over 40,000 feet of new wire before the grid was whole again. On February 22-24, 2026, it was heavy, wet snow and gusts over 55 mph doing the same thing in the opposite direction: more than 84,000 customers across Delaware and Maryland lost power, nearly 66,000 of them on Delmarva Power’s own lines, with Sussex County taking the worst of it. Both times, about 9 in 10 customers were back within a day, which sounds fast, until you’re one of the tens of thousands who weren’t, sitting in a cold or hot house with a fridge full of spoiling food.
Start with the loads that matter
You don’t need to power the whole house; you need to protect the short list that matters when the grid is gone. In most homes that’s a fridge (about 150W), a few LED lights (roughly 50W), a Wi-Fi router (near 10W), and phone charging (about 20W): near 300W of steady draw.
Current price of the HomePower 3000 at Jackery (panels included)
How long each Jackery runs a Delaware home’s essentials
Size against energy used per day, not the wattage printed on the box.
| Load | Typical draw | Energy per day |
|---|---|---|
| Fridge/freezer | ~150W running (cycling) | ~1,200Wh |
| Furnace blower (winter storm) | ~300 to 600W | ~1,500 to 3,000Wh |
| Wi-Fi router | ~10W | ~240Wh |
| LED lights (ten bulbs) | ~50W | ~300Wh (6 hrs) |
| Phone and laptop charging | ~20 to 60W | ~150 to 250Wh |
| Window AC (summer coastal outage) | ~900 to 1,200W | ~4,000 to 6,000Wh |
| Sump pump | ~800 to 1,300W while running | ~500 to 1,000Wh |
| Space heater | 1,500W | Not recommended |
Fridge, lights, Wi-Fi, and phones come to roughly 1,900 to 2,000Wh a day. Add a furnace blower in a Hernando-style winter storm and the day climbs toward 4,000 to 5,000Wh; add a window AC in an Isaias-style summer storm and it climbs further still.
The Solar Generator HomePower 3000 covers the lighter end of that range: about 3,072Wh and 3,600W, enough for one to two days on its own, with solar panels in the box so it recharges each day the sun returns.
HomePower 3600 Plus. 3,584Wh and 3,600W, expandable to 21kWh: enough to carry a furnace blower or a window AC through the kind of multi-day restoration Hernando caused in Sussex County.
Solar Generator 5000 Plus. 5,040Wh, 7,200W, 120V and 240V, expandable to 60kWh: the only one of the three built to run central air conditioning or a well pump on 240V.
| Unit | Capacity / output | Best for in Delaware | Retailer link |
|---|---|---|---|
| HomePower 3000 | 3,072Wh · 3,600W · panels included | Essentials for 1 to 2 days of a coastal storm outage | Check the price |
| HomePower 3600 Plus | 3,584Wh · 3,600W · to 21kWh | A multi-day restoration like Hernando's, furnace or AC included | Check the price |
| Solar Generator 5000 Plus | 5,040Wh · 7,200W · 120V/240V · to 60kWh | Central AC or a well pump on 240V through a week-plus outage | Check the price |
Battery versus gas generator on a Delmarva feeder
A tropical storm or a wet, heavy snowfall is exactly the wrong weather for a gas generator: it has to sit outside, in the wind or the snow, venting exhaust that is deadly if it drifts back indoors. A Jackery is zero-emission, LiFePO4, and near-silent at about 30 decibels, so it can run from a closet or utility room with the doors shut.
- Indoor safety and carbon monoxide. A battery station vents nothing and runs with the house sealed up against wind or snow.
- Noise. About 30 decibels versus the 60 to 90 a gas generator runs at.
- Fuel in a storm. The battery is charged before the storm and refilled by the sun after. Gasoline has to be stored fresh, and when roads are blocked by downed trees or snowdrifts, the gas station may be unreachable too.
- Maintenance. Oil, carburetor, and monthly test runs for gas. A monthly top-up for the battery.
- What gas still does better. A very long outage with no sun, and whole-house 240V at a lower upfront cost.
Set-up checklist before the next storm
- Charge to full and top up monthly, whether it’s hurricane season or the first winter storm watch.
- Keep it indoors, above freezing in winter. A closet, utility room, or heated basement, never an unheated garage.
- Map which outlets and which loads. Fridge, furnace or AC, router, one lamp per room. Tape the list to the unit.
- Buy extension cords rated for the load. A short 12-gauge cord for the fridge and furnace runs.
- Test the furnace or AC on the battery once before the season starts.
- Keep the panels accessible and clear of snow or storm debris.
- Pair the HomePower 3600 Plus with a transfer switch for hardwired circuits. Licensed electrician only.
- Keep a battery-powered CO alarm regardless. A furnace, water heater, or a neighbor’s generator can still put CO in the house.
Decide before the season, not during the warning. A battery that was charged and staged in a closet before the first watch went up is ready to use; a trip to a sold-out store as a storm bears down usually is not.
Current Jackery prices and lineup at Jackery
Keep reading: Delaware solar incentives & costs · Do New Jersey homes need solar battery backup? · How to keep the lights on in a Maryland outage