Best Solar Generator for Home Backup of 2026
The best solar generator for home backup is the EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 for most houses: 4,096 Wh of storage, 4,000 W output, native 120V and 240V, and expansion up to 12 kWh. A home-backup unit is a different animal from the portable solar generators you take camping. It sits by the panel, stores enough to ride out a multi-day outage, and ideally puts out 240V so it can run a well pump, a dryer, or a mini-split. Here are the picks that do that, ranked by how much house you need to keep on.
Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which products we recommend.
EcoFlow Delta Pro 3
Who it is for: Most homes that want essentials plus a couple of big loads through a long outage.
- +4,096 Wh of LiFePO4 storage runs a fridge, lights, internet, and a furnace blower for a day or more per unit.
- +4,000 W output with native 120V and 240V, so one unit alone can feed a 240V circuit, not just wall outlets.
- +Expandable to 12 kWh with two add-on batteries, and two units can link for 8,000 W of split-phase 240V.
Watch out: It is large and heavy at roughly 113 lb with wheels; this is a park-it-by-the-panel unit, not a grab-and-go one.
Anker SOLIX F3800
Who it is for: Homes with a well pump, electric dryer, or EV that need real split-phase 240V.
- +3,840 Wh base and a strong 6,000 W output, the highest here, with true 120V/240V split-phase from one unit.
- +Has a NEMA 14-50 outlet, so it can slow-charge an EV or run a range circuit during an outage.
- +Expandable to about 26.9 kWh with expansion batteries, and two units can combine for 12,000 W.
Watch out: The base unit and one expansion battery already run into serious money; price it against a home battery before you commit.
Bluetti AC500 + B300S
Who it is for: Buyers who want to start smaller and grow the battery bank over time.
- +The AC500 is a 5,000 W pure sine inverter that pairs with B300S batteries of about 3,072 Wh each.
- +Stack up to six batteries per inverter for roughly 18 kWh, enough for extended essentials backup.
- +Two AC500 units in a fusion box give split-phase 240V and up to 10,000 W for whole-home coverage.
Watch out: The AC500 has no internal battery, so the entry price only makes sense once you add at least one B300S.
Bluetti AC200L
Who it is for: Smaller homes and apartments that just need the fridge, lights, and devices to stay on.
- +2,048 Wh and 2,400 W output (up to 3,600 W on resistive loads with Power Lifting) at a much lower entry price.
- +LiFePO4 cells rated for thousands of cycles, and expandable to about 8 kWh with add-on batteries.
- +Light enough at roughly 62 lb that one person can reposition it.
Watch out: It is 120V only, so it cannot run a 240V well pump, dryer, or central AC; it is an essentials unit.
What actually matters when buying
Size the watt-hours to your essentials, not your whole panel. A home-backup solar generator is meant to keep the critical loads on, not run everything at once. A fridge, some lights, internet, phone charging, and a furnace blower draw on the order of a few kWh a day, so a 3 to 4 kWh unit covers a day and refills the next morning from panels. Add up your must-run loads with our guide on how many watts it takes to run a house, then size storage to the hours you need.
You need 240V for a well pump, dryer, or central AC. Standard 120V units run outlets and small appliances but cannot feed a 240V circuit. If your water comes from a well pump, or you want the electric dryer or a central air handler, you need a split-phase 240V unit like the Anker F3800 or a paired setup. Confirm the model outputs 240V on its own; many smaller stations only reach 240V when you buy two and a combiner.
Expandability decides how long you last. Base capacity gets you a day; a multi-day outage needs either more sun or more battery. The units worth buying let you bolt on extra battery modules later, so you can start at 3 to 4 kWh and grow to 12 kWh or more. Pair that with panels sized to refill it, which you can plan with the solar panel calculator.
Connecting it to your house wiring is an electrician's job. Plugging appliances straight into the unit with extension cords is fine and needs no permit. But wiring it into your home's circuits so outlets and hardwired loads come on by themselves requires a manual transfer switch or an interlock kit installed by a licensed electrician. Never backfeed a generator into a wall outlet; it can electrocute a lineworker and start a fire. See our disclaimer for the limits of this general information.
Insist on LiFePO4 for a unit that lives by the wall. For something you will keep charged for years and cycle through outages, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) is the chemistry to want: often 3,000 to 4,000 cycles to 80% capacity and better heat tolerance than older NMC lithium. Every pick here uses it, and it is now standard on the units built for home backup.
How we picked
These picks are based on published specifications, battery chemistry, rated output, 240V capability, expandability, and broad owner feedback, not on paid placement. We have not bench-tested every unit, and a commission never changes a recommendation. Capacities, outlets, and model names reflect current versions at the time of writing; confirm the exact spec before buying.
Useful next
Best solar battery backup for home, Can a solar generator power a whole house?, Best solar generators (portable), Solar panel calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best big solar generator for a home?
For most homes the EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 is the best large unit: 4,096 Wh of storage, 4,000 W output, native 120V and 240V, and expansion to 12 kWh. If you specifically need to run 240V loads like a well pump or dryer, the Anker SOLIX F3800 puts out 6,000 W of split-phase power from a single unit and expands to about 26.9 kWh. Both are large, wheeled units meant to stay by your panel.
What is the best solar backup generator for a home?
The best backup unit is the one sized to your must-run loads. For essentials only (fridge, lights, internet, phones), a 2,000 Wh unit like the Bluetti AC200L is enough and costs far less. To keep those going for days and run a big 240V load, step up to a 4 kWh, 240V-capable unit like the EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 or Anker F3800 and add batteries or panels to extend the runtime.
Can a solar generator power a whole house?
It can run the essentials of a whole house, and a large 240V system can power most circuits, but running everything at once (central AC, electric range, dryer, water heater together) is usually beyond a single portable unit. That needs a big split-phase system of 5 to 15 kWh tied to a transfer switch. Our guide on whether a solar generator can power a whole house covers the sizing and the safe way to connect one.
How big a solar generator do I need for home backup?
Add up the watts of what you want on at once to set the output, then multiply each load's watts by the hours you need it to estimate watt-hours. Essentials backup (fridge, lights, internet, a furnace blower) points to 2,000 to 4,000 Wh with 2,400 W or more of output. To cover a multi-day outage or run 240V appliances, plan on 4 kWh and up, split-phase output, and solar panels to recharge each day.
Is a solar generator or a home battery better for backup?
A solar generator is a plug-in appliance you own outright and can move or take camping; a home battery like a Powerwall is permanently wired into your panel and switches on automatically. For essentials backup at a lower cost and no install, the solar generator wins. For seamless, hands-off, whole-home backup tied to rooftop solar, a permanent home battery is better. See our best solar battery backup for home guide to compare.
Are solar generators really worth it?
For quiet, fume-free backup you can run indoors, yes. They need no fuel, make no noise, and require almost no maintenance, unlike a gas generator. The trade is a higher upfront cost per watt-hour and a finite battery that has to recharge. If you mainly need to protect food and keep phones and medical devices going through outages, a solar generator earns its keep; for powering a large all-electric home nonstop, a standby generator or home battery may fit better.