In January 2014, a couple of inches of ice brought metro Atlanta to a standstill: Georgia Power crews spent days restoring the more than 200,000 customers left without power while the region iced over. Three and a half years later, Hurricane Irma pushed into Georgia in September 2017 and, at its peak, knocked out power to roughly 680,000 Georgia Power customers, part of about 1.5 million outages statewide as high winds toppled trees across the state. Then in 2024, Hurricane Helene went further still, becoming the most destructive storm in Georgia Power’s history. Between those headline events sit the everyday culprits: summer thunderstorms and falling limbs that trip Georgia Power lines across the metro every year. If you rent in Atlanta, the usual solar advice doesn’t apply, since you can’t put panels on a roof you don’t own, but you’re just as exposed to those outages as any homeowner. Our Georgia solar guide covers the rooftop market, yet for a renter the practical answer is portable.
Three storms, three different causes
Atlanta’s grid has failed in three distinct ways inside a decade, which shows how varied the risk is:
The January 2014 ice storm. Freezing rain coated trees and power lines across the metro, and the weight snapped both. Georgia Power reported more than 200,000 customers without power at the height of the storm, with some homes dark for days while crews worked through ice-covered roads.
Hurricane Irma, September 2017. By the time Irma reached Georgia it had weakened from its Caribbean peak, but its wind field was still enormous. Georgia Power alone reported as many as 680,000 customers without power at the height of the storm, part of roughly 1.5 million outages across the state as trees came down statewide, from Savannah through metro Atlanta.
Hurricane Helene, September 2024. Georgia Power has called it the most destructive storm in the company’s history, with damage and outages reaching far beyond the coast and into the Atlanta metro area.
Why rooftop solar doesn’t fit a rental
Two things rule out the standard playbook. First, you don’t own the roof, so a permitted rooftop installation isn’t on the table. Second, and this catches even homeowners off guard, a grid-tied rooftop system shuts off automatically when the grid goes down, an anti-islanding safety feature, so those panels wouldn’t power the apartment in any of the three storms above anyway. Portable solar skips both problems. It needs no roof, no permit, and no landlord sign-off, and it moves to your next place when the lease ends.
What portable solar actually powers in an apartment
A portable solar generator is a battery power station paired with foldable panels you set on a balcony, patio, or by a sunny window. The essentials it’s built for are modest on paper: a fridge draws about 150W, ten LED bulbs roughly 50W together, a router near 10W, and phone charging about 20W. Add a fan and you’ve covered what actually matters when the power’s out.
| Load | Typical draw | Energy per day |
|---|---|---|
| Fridge/freezer | ~150W running (cycling) | ~1,200Wh |
| Wi-Fi router | ~10W | ~240Wh |
| LED lights (ten bulbs) | ~50W | ~300Wh (6 hrs) |
| Phone and laptop charging | ~20 to 60W | ~150 to 250Wh |
| Box fan (summer outage) | ~60 to 100W | ~500Wh |
Fridge, Wi-Fi, lights, and phones come to roughly 1,900Wh a day: comfortably inside what a mid-size battery carries for a day or two between charges.
What it won’t do is run central AC or a whole house: that needs a large fixed system you can’t add to a rental. It’s also quiet at around 30 decibels and safe indoors because it’s zero-emission, unlike the gas generators most Atlanta apartments and HOAs ban outright.
Where to start
For most Atlanta renters, the HomePower 3000 is a practical middle size. At roughly 3,072Wh and 3,600W it keeps a fridge, Wi-Fi, and lights running for one to two days, and its bundle includes foldable solar panels you can set out on a balcony to recharge during daylight, so it carries you through a multi-day outage with no wall outlet.
Current price of the HomePower 3000 at Jackery (panels included)
| Unit | Capacity / output | Best for Atlanta renters | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| HomePower 3000 | 3,072Wh · 3,600W · panels included | Essentials for 1 to 2 days, moves with you at lease-end | Check the price |
| HomePower 3600 Plus | 3,584Wh · 3,600W · to 21kWh | A larger apartment or a multi-day Irma- or Helene-scale outage | Check the price |
| Solar Generator 5000 Plus | 5,040Wh · 7,200W · 120V/240V · to 60kWh | A house-share or larger unit wanting a window AC covered too | Check the price |
If that size doesn’t fit your place (a studio that needs less, or a larger apartment that needs more) compare Jackery’s other portable power station sizes and match one to the loads you actually need to keep on.
Jackery power station lineup and current prices
Set-up checklist before the next outage
- Charge it as soon as an ice storm, tropical remnant, or severe thunderstorm watch is issued. Atlanta’s worst outages (2014, Irma, Helene) all came with at least some advance warning.
- Keep it away from windows during ice or wind, and off a balcony that could flood or ice over.
- Map which outlets matter. Fridge, router, one lamp, phone chargers, a fan.
- Set the panels out on the balcony or a sunny sill as soon as daylight returns between storm bands.
- Test it once in a quiet week so you know what it runs before you need it.
- Keep a battery-powered CO alarm regardless: a neighbor’s gas generator can still put CO in your unit.
Because it’s fully portable, it also has uses beyond outages: camping, tailgating a Falcons game, or a move across town. When you change apartments, it comes with you, with nothing to reinstall or leave behind.
Keep reading: Georgia solar incentives & costs · Do South Carolina homes need battery backup? · Do North Carolina homes need battery backup? · Solar generator vs gas generator