As the coupling of solar panels with battery storage technology becomes more proficient, more customers and service providers are plugging in.

On June 2 Houston-based Sunnova Energy International Inc. announced an expansion of its offerings to nine new states. The company extended its lease service offerings for solar-plus-storage systems to Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, New York and Rhode Island, where customers will now have more choices.

The expansion applies to residential rooftop solar panels combined with battery storage systems manufactured by Tesla and Generac. Customers can lease the equipment or take out a loan with Sunnova to pay for it.

This expansion should create ample work opportunities for electrical contractors working in installing and maintaining rooftop solar and solar-plus-storage systems in those nine states.

The company explained that American families are spending more time at home. At the same time, they are experiencing increasing power outages caused by extreme weather conditions and stresses to the grid. Sunnova noted that its dealers installed three times the number of battery systems in 2020 compared to 2019, and more than doubled the number in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter last year.

Sunnova’s system includes intelligent software that automatically manages the battery system when the main grid goes down to provide seamless and reliable backup power to essential appliances in the home.

In addition to the installation of new systems, Sunnova is also offering options for existing solar customers in 22 states to upgrade their system to solar-plus-storage.