Challenge
- Unreliable grid power, severe storms, and nearby development threatened Chad’s daily work and family income.
- HOA rules required a discreet, safe, quiet, and visually clean installation of home equipment.
Solution
- Chad installed a FranklinWH System with two aPower 2 batteries, providing 30 kWh of capacity and enabling whole-home backup.
- The system was placed away from street view with clean wiring.
Result
- Chad’s property can store and manage local solar energy, lowering grid dependence and increasing self-reliance.
- His home and shop can keep running through outages while maintaining a clean, HOA-friendly installation.
Chad, a homeowner and creator in North Texas, has a goal to make his backyard dream shop, the Moetta Garage, and eventually his entire property completely self-sustained. For Chad, the shop is more than just a hobby space. It accommodates his daily work, vehicle builds, video production, conference calls, and other projects that require reliable power seven days a week.
However, Chad’s finicky local grid was a major hurdle in making his goal a reality. His area is served by a single power provider and the grid had proven unstable. With thousands of new homes being built nearby and North Texas storms regularly causing prolonged outages, Chad craved a solution that could help keep him working regardless of what happened to the grid.
Unreliable Grid Power and No Room for Downtime
In North Texas, severe storms can bring extended power outages. For a homeowner who depends on his shop for both work and family income, losing power means losing invaluable productive time. "I can't afford any down days," Chad explains. "It's my responsibility to provide for my family, and I take that seriously."
The grid challenges are compounded by rapid development. "There is only one company that supplies power to my area, and it's been a cluster already to say the least," Chad recounts. "But then the city decided to convert this beautiful farmland next to us to 4,000 tract homes that are going on the exact same power grid." This added strain makes future power reliability even more uncertain.
Chad therefore wanted his property to eventually generate, store, manage, and use its own energy locally, achieving 100% self-reliance. Solar would provide the power generation, but he also needed a way to store energy and intelligently distribute it across the property.
Restrictive HOA Regulations
Living in an HOA community added another layer of complexity to Chad's energy freedom goal. "I want to limit the amount of things that my HOA can complain about," he states plainly. The installation needed to deliver whole-home backup while remaining clean, discreet, and aligned with neighborhood rules.
Whole-Home Power Support with FranklinWH System
To make the property self-sustained, Chad installed a FranklinWH System with an aGate and two aPower 2 batteries. Each aPower 2 provides 15 kWh of storage, giving the property 30 kWh of total battery capacity. The aGate serves as the central control unit, managing power from the grid, the solar system, and the aPower 2 batteries.
During the day, solar energy can power the property while charging the batteries when production exceeds immediate demand. When solar generation drops, electricity rates rise, or the grid goes down, the stored energy can be used to keep the home and shop running.
The system was connected to power the entire main service panel, allowing every breaker in the home to access backup power when needed. "These FranklinWH aPowers are powerful enough to turn on a 5-ton A/C," the installer explains. "Anything you could possibly want to turn on; these things have the juice to be able to do it.” With two aPower 2 batteries, the system is powerful enough to start and run not only essentials, but large household loads, giving Chad whole-home backup capability for both daily comfort and demanding shop operations.
The system maintains power when an outage occurs. For Chad, that means computers, clocks, lighting, tools, and daily operations can continue without interruptions. "Your oven timer, your microwave clock will not reset," the installer says.
Greater Energy Freedom and Reliable Daily Operation
With the FranklinWH System installed, the property relies more on locally generated electricity instead of drawing from the utility. With 30 kWh of battery storage and whole-home backup, the property can keep operating through the outages when North Texas storms strike.
The FranklinWH App also gives Chad real-time visibility into energy use. He can monitor how much power the property is consuming, how different tools and appliances affect demand, how much energy the solar system is producing, and how much backup time remains in the batteries. This makes the property easier to manage and helps Chad make smarter decisions about energy consumption.
How the FranklinWH System Addressed HOA Requirements
Because Chad lives in an HOA community, the installation had to meet both performance and appearance expectations. The FranklinWH System was designed and installed with these concerns in mind.
To enable aesthetic compliance, the installation team placed the aGate in a tucked-away inset area rather than a highly visible front-facing location. The batteries were mounted on the back side of the garage, away from the street view. Wiring was routed carefully through the soffit, attic, and conduit to keep the exterior appearance clean and minimal. This allowed the system to deliver whole-home energy support without becoming visually intrusive.
Placement was another important consideration. HOA communities often restrict exterior equipment, especially when it can be seen from the street. By locating the system toward the back or side of the property and using the garage structure to screen it from public view, the installation aligned with typical HOA expectations for backyard, side-yard, or screened equipment placement.
Safety was a paramount consideration, especially given the proximity of the batteries to valuable property. "When people, including myself, hear lithium battery we immediately think of those videos of batteries bursting into flame in garages and burning the house down," Chad admits.
The aPower 2 uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry, which is known for strong thermal stability and is widely used in residential energy storage. The system is UL 9540 certified and designed with an IP67 battery weatherproof rating, making it ideal for residential installation in demanding outdoor environments.
Noise was another HOA concern. With natural cooling technology and whisper-quiet operation at around 30 dBA, the FranklinWH System avoids the unwanted neighborhood noise.
Building Toward 100% Self-Reliance
By integrating solar generation, 30 kWh of battery storage, intelligent energy management, and an HOA-conscious installation, the FranklinWH System helped Chad move closer to his goal of a fully self-reliant Texas property. His home and shop can now keep working, creating, and living with far less grid dependence, and without compromising on aesthetics and neighborhood harmony.