Keep the power on. Use every kWh you make.

During the day, your solar charges the battery. When the sun goes down, the house pulls from the battery instead of importing at retail. When the grid drops, the system islands automatically: kitchen, well pump, internet, primary HVAC zone, all stay on. The same hardware does both jobs without anyone flipping a switch. The math compounds quietly every day the system runs, and pays out in full the next time the lights flicker.

Utilities have a few hours every summer when their demand peaks past what the grid can handle cleanly. Instead of firing up an expensive peaker plant, they pay you to discharge your battery during those windows. In Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, that runs about $225 per kW per summer through ConnectedSolutions, roughly $1,125 a year on a 5 kW Powerwall, locked for 5 years at enrollment. In Vermont, GMP leases you the Powerwall outright for $55 a month and handles the dispatch automatically. Every state runs this differently. Your battery does the work either way.