If you’ve been searching for the best renewable power companies for renters, here’s the honest answer for Boston: there isn’t one, because the solar companies that come up all install rooftop systems, and as a renter you don’t own the roof. The best renewable power option for a Boston renter isn’t a company you hire at all. It’s portable solar equipment you buy once: a battery power station plus foldable panels that need no installer, no landlord sign-off, and no wiring. That matters here, because Eversource and National Grid have both had major outages more than once. On October 29, 2011, the Halloween nor’easter dropped record-breaking wet snow on trees still holding their leaves, and National Grid reported roughly 116,000 Western and Central Massachusetts customers without power the evening it hit, part of a storm that knocked out power to 3.2 million homes and businesses across 12 states. Then, in a ten-day stretch in March 2018, a trio of nor’easters battered the state, and at the height of the third storm alone, more than 230,000 Massachusetts customers were without power, according to the state’s emergency management agency. A triple-decker or Beacon Hill apartment gives you nowhere to run a gas generator safely. If you’re curious how ownership works more broadly, you can still read up on Massachusetts solar incentives and costs: but for a rental, portable solar is where to start.
Two storms, seven years apart, the same gap
The 2011 Halloween storm and the March 2018 trio hit Massachusetts in completely different ways (one an early, heavy wet snow that snapped tree limbs still in leaf, the other three separate nor’easters stacked back-to-back inside ten days) but both left tens or hundreds of thousands of Eversource and National Grid customers waiting on the same thing: crews working through downed lines block by block. A renter has no say in how fast that restoration reaches their street, which is the whole reason to have backup that doesn’t depend on it.
Why portable is the renter’s version of solar
Portable solar isn’t a rooftop array shrunk down; it’s a battery power station you charge from the wall or from foldable panels, use indoors, and take with you when your lease ends. There’s nothing bolted to the building and no landlord conversation, which is the whole point in a city where most people move apartments every year or two. In a Boston nor’easter, it turns “the power’s out and I can’t do anything about it” into “the fridge and the Wi-Fi are still on.”
Two utilities, one restoration order
Eversource covers Boston proper and much of the metro south and west, while National Grid serves large stretches to the north and out toward Western Massachusetts: the same split that put most of the 2011 Halloween storm’s reported outages on National Grid’s side of the map. Whichever company runs your street, both restore the same way: substations and main feeders first, then the branch lines, then the individual service drop to a single triple-decker or apartment building. That’s why some blocks came back within hours of both the 2011 and 2018 storms while others waited days. A charged battery in the unit doesn’t wait on that order at all.
What it can and can’t do in an apartment
A portable station covers the essentials cleanly: a fridge draws about 150W, ten LED bulbs roughly 50W together, a router near 10W, and phone charging about 20W, the core of an apartment kept running quietly and with zero exhaust.
| 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 |
| Space heater (winter nor’easter) | 1,500W | Not recommended |
Fridge, Wi-Fi, lights, and phones come to roughly 1,900Wh a day, well inside a mid-size battery’s range for a day or two between charges. What it won’t do is run central AC or electric baseboard heat, and a small balcony limits how much panel you can set out, so recharging is slower than a rooftop system. For a renter riding out a nor’easter, that trade-off usually makes sense: working backup, with nothing attached to the building.
Where to start
For most Boston renters, a practical size is the HomePower 3000: about 3,072Wh and 3,600W, enough to hold the fridge, Wi-Fi, and lights for one to two days, long enough to cover the restoration window Eversource and National Grid crews needed after both 2011 and 2018. Its bundle includes foldable solar panels you can set out on a balcony or in a sunny window to recharge mid-outage: no rooftop, no wiring, no permission needed.
Current price of the HomePower 3000 at Jackery (panels included)
| Unit | Capacity / output | Best for Boston 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 nor'easter stretch like March 2018 | Check the price |
| Solar Generator 5000 Plus | 5,040Wh · 7,200W · 120V/240V · to 60kWh | A house-share wanting a space heater or window unit 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 nor’easter
- Charge it as soon as a winter storm watch is issued. Both 2011 and 2018 were tracked days ahead: use that lead time.
- Keep it indoors, away from windows during high wind or heavy wet snow.
- Map which outlets matter. Fridge, router, one lamp, phone chargers.
- Set the panels out on the balcony or a sunny sill as soon as the storm clears.
- 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, or a move across town. And when you move to the next place, it comes with you: worth noting in a city where the standard September 1 lease turnover means a large share of renters change apartments every single year, and a rooftop system would simply stay behind with the building.
Keep reading: Massachusetts solar incentives & costs · Portable solar for New York City renters · Keep power on in a Connecticut outage