ConnectedSolutions is a program run through your utility. A few times a year, when the grid is under heavy demand, your battery sends some of its stored power back to the grid for a couple of hours. You get paid for it — automatically, in the background. You don’t have to do anything, and your home stays powered the whole time. It’s the main reason the batteries end up costing you almost nothing over time.

Here’s the honest answer. The program works on a 5-year contract, and the payment rate is locked in for those first 5 years — that part is guaranteed. After year 5, it renews automatically, one year at a time. For years 6 through 12, we’ve assumed the rate stays about the same as it is today. Could it change? In theory, yes. But this program has run for years, the utilities rely on it to keep the grid stable, and the trend has been rates holding steady or going up, not down. So while we can’t promise the exact year-6-through-12 number the way we can promise the first five, we think it’s very likely to hold. We’d rather tell you that straight than pretend it’s carved in stone.

No. Once you’re enrolled, it runs on its own. The utility signals your battery during the handful of high-demand events each year, it shares power, and you get credited. You’ll never be left in the dark — the system always keeps enough in reserve to protect your home.

That’s what the batteries are for. Whole-home backup means when the grid goes down, your house keeps running — lights, fridge, heat, the works — off your stored energy. ConnectedSolutions is the bonus that pays for the system; backup is what you actually get to live with every day.

Short version: the federal tax credit for buying batteries with cash ended in 2026, so a cash buyer gets nothing back from the government. Because the lease keeps the equipment business-owned, the commercial credit and depreciation still apply — and we pass that savings straight to you as roughly 35% off. One payment, no loan, no monthly bill, no rate that creeps up over time.

It’s an estimate, and we want to be upfront that it’s an estimate — that’s why it says “as low as.” The prepaid price is a known, fixed number. The ConnectedSolutions payments are what bring your net cost down to nearly nothing, and those depend on the program continuing to pay roughly what it pays today (see the guarantee question above). Under current rates, three batteries land right around break-even or slightly better over 12 years.