FranklinWH battery installation in Santa Cruz County
The most flexible of the three systems we install — it works with solar of any brand you already own, and it's the one that coordinates with a standby generator. We're certified FranklinWH installers.
FranklinWH splits the job into two parts: the battery itself, and a separate controller — the aGate — that manages the whole house. That separation is the reason to care about it. The controller handles the switching, the load management, and the coordination between everything that can supply power, rather than that intelligence living inside the battery.
Two things follow from that, and they're the reasons we recommend it. First, it works with solar you already own, whatever brand the inverter is — you aren't paying for an integrated inverter you can't use. Second, it coordinates with a standby generator, which matters a great deal in this county: it can manage battery and generator as one backup system rather than two things that happen to be at the same house.
That second point is the strongest argument for FranklinWH in the San Lorenzo Valley and on the ridge roads. A battery covers the outages that last hours; a generator covers the PSPS shutoffs that last days. Having them coordinate — battery first, generator when the battery runs low — gets you both without running the generator every time a tree takes out a line for an afternoon.
New to batteries? Start at home battery backup for the fundamentals. This page assumes them.
Exactly what we handle — and the two things you handle.
Sunrise provides
- FranklinWH aPower battery unit or units, plus the aGate controller
- Integration with your existing solar — any inverter brand — or with new solar if we're doing both
- Generator coordination where you have one or plan to, configured so battery and generator work as a single backup strategy
- All interconnection between the battery, the controller, your main panel, and the utility service
- Critical-loads subpanel where that's the better answer, including moving the circuits that matter
- Any panel or service work the interconnection turns up, quoted before we start
- Building permit, inspection, PG&E interconnection application and permission-to-operate
- Commissioning with a real outage test — including a generator handover test where one is fitted — app set up, warranty registered
You provide
- Access to the panel, the meter, and the intended equipment location on the work day
- A clear list of what has to keep running — this is what sizing is built from
- Wi-Fi at the equipment location, so monitoring works from day one
- HOA or architectural approval where applicable
Start to finish, with real times.
Free home inspection and sizing
A tech looks at your panel, your service, and where the equipment could physically go, then works through what you actually want running when the power is out. That list is the whole design — it decides how many units you need and whether you're backing up the whole house or a critical-loads subpanel. You get a written report and a real number.
Permit and utility interconnection
We pull the building permit and file the interconnection application with PG&E. The paperwork is usually the long pole, not the labour — timelines vary across the county, and we tell you the realistic date rather than the optimistic one.
Install day
aPower and aGate mounted and interconnected, existing solar tied in, generator coordination configured where applicable, any subpanel work done. Your power is off for part of the day while we work at the service — we tell you which part in advance.
Inspection, commissioning, and handover
Building-department inspection, then permission to operate from PG&E, then commissioning. We run a real outage test — cut the feed, watch it transfer, confirm it carries what you asked for — set up your monitoring app, register the equipment warranty, and walk you through what happens automatically and what doesn't.
Every quote is free. The range depends too much on your home to fake it.
We give you a real number at the free inspection rather than a range on a web page. Battery projects vary more than most electrical work — what you want backed up, where the equipment can physically go, how far it is from your panel, and whether your service can take it as-is are each large enough to move the total on their own. One thing to get straight before you budget: there is no federal tax credit on home battery storage for 2026 installs. Section 25D — the 30% residential credit that covered owned solar and standalone storage — terminated on 31 December 2025. If a quote or an article you're reading still assumes it, that assumption is out of date, and we'd rather you hear it from us than at tax time.
6 questions. Real answers.
Pulled from what we actually hear on quotes and on-site. If yours isn't here, ask us — we'll answer in plain English.
Will it work with the solar I already have?
Can it work with a generator?
What is the aGate, in plain terms?
How many units do I need?
Is there a federal tax credit?
How does it compare to the others you install?
Here’s the honest path — wherever it leads.
We'd rather you get the right outcome than the Sunrise outcome. Some of this points away from us on purpose.
Outside Santa Cruz County?
Look for a CSLB-licensed C-10 contractor who is a certified installer for the system you're considering — certification is what governs warranty registration and parts access. Verify the licence at cslb.ca.gov, and check the quote includes the permit, the utility interconnection, and any panel work rather than adding them later.
Browse our field guidesThinking about a generator too?
We install standby generators too. If you want a generator alongside your FranklinWH battery, we can handle the generator installation and integrate the two as one backup system.
Our standby generator installationsNot sure a battery is the answer?
A free whole-home inspection tells you what your service can actually support and what backing up your house would really involve. You keep the written report either way, and about a third of these end with no work scheduled.
Schedule a free inspectionWe do this work everywhere in Santa Cruz County.
From Davenport to Pajaro Dunes, San Lorenzo Valley to Pleasure Point. Same crew, same warranty, same pricing.
Want a real number on a FranklinWH system?
Free on-site inspection, honest sizing, and a written quote — including how it would work alongside a generator if you have one.