Free bill analysis - bring a power bill, get the production math for your actual roof, panel brands like Qcells and REC compared side by side
If the pitch starts at your door and ends with "sign tonight for the special," sleep on it. The sun will still be there tomorrow; so will we.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Solar Battery Storage & Backup Across Davis
Solar battery storage in Davis costs roughly $9,500 to $18,000 installed for a single battery, with most jobs landing between $11,000 and $14,500 before incentives. That gets you real backup power when outages hit, lower bills under NEM 3.0 rates, and a system sized for your actual usage, not a brochure number. Gus’s Solar serves every Davis zip code: 95616, 95617, and 95618. Call (877) 550-6892 and we’ll walk your roof and your bill before we quote anything.
Why Gus’s Solar Is Davis’s Preferred Solar Battery Storage & Backup Company
We spend a lot of time in Davis, and most of it is on roofs that already have solar. This town adopted panels early, back when the California Solar Initiative made them cheap and the city ran its own rebates. That means a big share of our battery work here starts with a system that is 15 or 20 years old. We know what those installs look like, what has failed, and what code updates a battery retrofit will trigger. That’s the local knowledge you cannot get from an out-of-state crew running a door-knock route.
Gus Petrakis started this company in 2011, and he still answers his own phone. When a Davis customer calls about a battery that is not holding charge, Gus picks up. There is no ticket queue and no call center three states away. Reviews from Davis homeowners consistently mention the same thing: someone showed up when they said they would, quoted a real number, and did the work with their own crew. Our techs are background-checked, uniformed, and we do not sub out installs to whoever is available that week.
We also back every job with the 90-Day Done Right Promise. If something is not right, Gus makes it right, in writing, no argument. That matters most on battery retrofits, where a rushed install can leave you with a system that passes inspection but fails the first time the grid goes down. We do not want that phone call any more than you do. We just want to get it done correctly the first time, which is why we quote the year-25 output and not the day-one brochure number.
Our Solar Battery Storage & Backup Services in Davis
Battery Retrofit for Existing Solar
Most Davis homes already have panels. That changes everything about how we quote battery storage here. A retrofit means we need to look at your inverter age, your panel type, and whether your system meets current rapid-shutdown code. Davis is full of mid-2000s systems that pre-date NEC 2017, and adding a battery to those homes often means upgrading module-level electronics at the same time. We will tell you that on the first visit, not surprise you with it after the permit comes back.
Time-of-Use & NEM 3.0 Optimization
Under NEM 3.0, exporting solar to the grid earns you pennies on the dollar. Storing that power and using it during peak evening rates is the whole game now. We size Davis batteries by looking at your actual hour-by-hour consumption from your PG&E bill, not a generic square-footage table. If you work from home in North Davis and run AC hard from 4 to 9 p.m., your battery math looks very different than a retiree in South Davis who is home all day. Bring us a bill, we’ll bring you the math.
Whole-Home Backup Power
Whole-home backup means your refrigerator, well pump, medical equipment, and HVAC keep running when the grid fails. In Davis, that is a real consideration. Summer heat waves push the regional grid hard, and the wildfire season brings public safety power shutoffs to the Sacramento Valley. A single Tesla Powerwall can handle essential loads. Two can often carry a whole single-story ranch home through an evening outage. We model the loads before we recommend anything, because guessing on this is how you end up with a dead battery at 3 a.m.
Tesla Powerwall and Enphase IQ Battery Installation
We install both Tesla Powerwall and Enphase IQ Battery systems, and the choice usually comes down to what is already on your roof. On a Mace Ranch two-story, our tech found a mid-2000s SunPower array with no rapid shutdown and an aging inverter that had stopped reporting production estimates. We paired an Enphase IQ Battery with a microinverter retrofit, preserving the existing panels while bringing the system up to code and restoring whole-home backup in one trip. If your existing inverter is Enphase, the IQ Battery is often the cleaner path. If it is a string inverter, the Powerwall is frequently simpler. We will lay out both options with real numbers.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Davis
We work with Qcells, REC, and Panasonic panels, and pair them with battery hardware from Tesla, Enphase, and FranklinWH. What that means for Davis homeowners is that we are not locked into one manufacturer’s ecosystem. If a specific battery pairs better with your existing roof, we recommend that one. We keep common parts and connectors stocked, which means a follow-up visit to a home in East Davis or Wildhorse does not wait on a shipment from three states away. Our Solar Battery Storage & Backup team does this work every week, and they know which inverters play well with which batteries and which ones do not.
Common Solar Battery Storage & Backup Problems We See in Davis Homes
- Tule fog undercharging batteries November through February. Davis sits on the Sacramento Valley floor, and the fog here is persistent. A battery sized for a typical winter day during a foggy stretch will not refill fully, which is exactly when you need backup most. We size winter production separately from summer output, and we will show you the difference on your own bill.
- Rapid shutdown code failures on pre-2017 systems. This is the most common surprise in Davis. A mid-2000s system with no module-level power electronics will fail inspection the moment a battery permit is pulled. We flag this during the estimate, not after the inspector leaves a correction notice on your door.
- Aging asphalt shingles delaying retrofits. The 1960s and 70s ranch homes in Central Davis and Village Homes often need roof work before we will mount anything new. If your roof has five years left, adding a battery and panels now means paying for a re-roof twice. We will give you an honest read on that timeline before you spend a dollar.
- Inverters that stopped reporting. Many aging Davis systems have inverters that still produce some power but stopped communicating data years ago. The homeowner assumes everything is fine until we test it. A battery retrofit on a system we cannot monitor is a battery we cannot guarantee, so we replace or repair the inverter as part of the job.
Pricing for Solar Battery Storage & Backup in Davis, CA
Here are straight numbers for the Davis market. A single Tesla Powerwall installation typically runs $11,000 to $14,500 before the federal tax credit. An Enphase IQ Battery system with controller runs $5,500 to $9,500 depending on capacity and whether we are replacing the inverter at the same time. A whole-home backup setup with two batteries and a smart panel upgrade lands between $22,000 and $35,000. If your existing system needs rapid-shutdown upgrades, add $1,500 to $4,000 for module-level power electronics. That range covers most Davis retrofits we quote. The federal tax credit knocks 30% off the battery portion if it is charged from solar, which changes the net number substantially. Call (877) 550-6892 for a free estimate built off your actual usage, not a table of averages. Take two weeks. Think about it. The price will be the same.
We Also Serve Cities Near Davis
Our crews work throughout Yolo County and the surrounding valley. If you are in Dixon, Woodland, West Sacramento, or Winters, we handle battery backups, panel installs, and retrofits the same way we do here: real numbers, our own crew, and a live person on the phone. You can read more about how we approach Solar Battery Storage & Backup in Davis right here, and the same standards apply no matter which of these towns you call home.
Serving Davis, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Davis area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Solar Battery Storage & Backup in Davis
Yes, in most cases, if your system was installed before 2017. Davis has a large stock of mid-2000s arrays built under the original California Solar Initiative, and those systems were not required to have module-level power electronics. The moment you pull a permit to add a battery, the inspector will check for NEC 2017 rapid shutdown compliance, and if it is missing, you will need to add optimizers or microinverters at each panel. That runs $1,500 to $4,000 on a typical Davis roof. We identify this during the estimate so there are no surprises after permit submittal. Call (877) 550-6892 and we will walk your system before you commit.
Tule fog in Davis measurably suppresses winter solar production from November through February. A system that produces 35 kWh on a clear summer day may produce 8 to 12 kWh during a foggy winter stretch. If your battery is sized for average winter production, it will not fully recharge during multi-day fog events, which is exactly when the grid is most vulnerable. We size winter battery capacity separately and will show you the fog-adjusted number before you buy. If you want to know what that looks like for your roof, call (877) 550-6892.
Yes, but the sequence matters. Many Davis ranch homes from the 1960s and 1970s have aging asphalt shingles that will need replacement within a few years. If a re-roof is in your near future, we recommend doing it before the battery retrofit, because pulling panels off an old roof, re-roofing, and reinstalling is a cost you will pay twice if you retrofit first. We will give you an honest read on your roof’s remaining life during the first visit. Some Davis homeowners choose to do the roof, panels, and battery as one project to capture a single permit cycle and one inspection. We can price both paths for you.
Under NEM 3.0, the export rate for solar pushed to the grid dropped to a fraction of the retail rate. That means the old strategy of treating the grid as a free battery no longer works, and storing your own daytime production for evening use is how you keep your bill low. In Davis, PG&E peak rates run roughly 4 to 9 p.m., and a battery sized to cover that window will usually pay for itself in 7 to 11 years depending on your usage pattern. The math is specific to your bill, and we build every quote off the actual 12-month history, not a generic average. Bring us a bill, we’ll bring you the math.
We test the inverter, check the panel output, and pull the original permit records before quoting anything. Many mid-2000s Davis systems have inverters that still produce power but stopped reporting data years ago. Some have undersized conduit or outdated disconnects that will not pass current inspection. Compatibility comes down to the inverter brand, the panel string configuration, and whether the system meets current rapid-shutdown code. The only way to know is a site visit, and we do it for free. Call (877) 550-6892 and we will come out to your Davis home and tell you exactly what works and what does not.
Written by Gus Petrakis, Owner at Gus’s Solar, serving Davis since 2011.