Grid Fail: The Truth About Solar During Power Outages
🌞 Summary Notes
This post tells the story of Ainul Rahmah, a civil engineer and mother in flood-prone Taiping, Malaysia, who thought going solar meant she’d be protected during blackouts. But when a monsoon storm knocked out power, her solar system failed her—because like most Malaysians, she wasn’t told that standard grid-tied solar shuts off during outages.
Determined to never be caught off guard again, Ainul rebuilt her system—adding battery storage, hybrid inverters, and critical load panels. Now, she’s not just a solar user—she’s a resilience advocate, sharing her journey to help others avoid the same costly lesson: solar isn’t backup unless you design it to be.
☞☞ Click here to read the full blog post!! 🌧️💡🧕🏽
⚡Key Themes
🔹 Solar ≠ Backup (Unless You Plan for It)
Ainul learned that:
🚫 Grid-tied systems shut off during blackouts to protect line workers
🚫 Net Energy Metering (NEM) focuses on savings, not resilience
🚫 Installers rarely mention outage limitations unless asked
🌞 The sun may be shining—but your panels can’t help if your system isn’t built for independence.
🔹 Design Matters More Than Discounts
Ainul upgraded with:
🔋 A 5.5kWh lithium battery
🔌 A hybrid inverter with auto-islanding
🪛 A critical load panel for fridge, Wi-Fi, fans, and lights
🌐 Community support via a local energy co-op
💡 She didn’t start over. She got smarter.
🔹 Empowered Voices, Real Solutions
Now Ainul:
🎤 Speaks at local forums
👩🏫 Helps women understand solar + storage
📚 Educates others on Malaysia’s SEDA programs and Self-Consumption pathways
🌱 Clean energy is only empowering if users know what they’re signing up for.
⚡Discussion Questions
💬 Do people in your community believe solar = backup power?
How can we better educate new solar adopters?
💬 How should governments and solar providers rethink outreach in flood-prone or blackout-prone regions?
💬 What are the barriers—cost, complexity, policy—that stop people from adding storage?
💬 What role can peer support (like Ainul’s co-op) play in spreading resilient energy knowledge?
⚡Action Steps for Real Energy Resilience
✅ Ask your installer if your system works during blackouts
✅ Request hybrid-ready or battery-compatible inverters
✅ Design for future battery add-ons, even if you delay installation
✅ Learn about national or local programs that support backup storage (like Malaysia’s SEDA Self-Consumption support)
✅ Separate your critical loads so you know what truly needs power when the grid fails
⚡Reflection
Ainul’s system didn’t fail because solar is unreliable.
It failed because no one told her the whole story.
Now she’s rewriting it.
Because solar isn’t just about saving money.
It’s about saving peace of mind.
Keeping food from spoiling.
Keeping her children connected.
Keeping the lights on—when it matters most.
“The sun never stopped shining,” she says.
🌤️ “I just had to learn how to hold onto it.”
