The piece of equipment that makes backup power legal, safe, and automatic. Whatever you're backing up with — generator, battery, or a portable you already own — this is the part that connects it to your house without endangering anyone.
A transfer switch does one job: it makes sure your house draws power from exactly one source at a time. When the grid fails, it disconnects your home from the utility before your backup source energises anything.
That disconnection is not a technicality — it is the entire safety case. Without it, a generator connected to your house can push power back out through your service and onto the utility lines outside. Those lines are what a PG&E crew will be working on, believing them dead. This is the reason a transfer switch is required rather than recommended, and the reason it is the part of a backup project that gets inspected.
It's also the piece that decides what your backup actually feels like. An automatic switch means an outage is something you notice from the lights flickering. A manual switch means going outside and throwing a lever. Both are legitimate; they cost differently and they suit different households.
This is straightforward C-10 electrical work, and it's the part of a backup system a solar or generator salesperson usually can't speak to in detail. It's also where we most often find that a panel needs attention first.
A tech looks at your panel, your service, and your backup source, then works through what you want running during an outage. That list decides whole-home versus critical-loads, and automatic versus manual. You get a written report and a real number.
We pull the building permit. If the work is part of a generator or battery install, this rides along with that project's paperwork rather than being a separate wait.
Switch mounted and wired at the service, any critical-loads subpanel built and circuits moved across, everything labelled. Your power is off for a chunk of the day — we tell you how long in advance so you can plan around it.
The inspector comes out, then a real test — we cut the utility feed and watch the switch do its job under load, rather than assuming it will. Then a walkthrough so you know exactly what happens next time the power goes out.
We give you a real number at the free inspection rather than a range on a web page. The spread on this work is genuinely wide: a manual switch beside an accessible modern panel and an automatic whole-home switch on a service that needs upgrading first are different jobs with different budgets. The factor that most often moves the number isn't the switch — it's whether your existing panel and service can take it as they stand. We check that first and put it in writing either way, because finding it mid-job is how backup projects end up costing more than the quote. If you already own a portable generator, say so early. An interlock kit is a fraction of the work of a transfer switch and is often the correct answer — we'd rather fit the cheaper thing that suits you than the more expensive thing that doesn't.
“We were having serious problems with our Tesla, solar system, and Carlos came out to evaluate the problems. He was right on target with what the problems were, and he called his boss just to confirm which I appreciated the second opinion. They will be installing the solar system correctly and I’m so relieved. Carlos was wonderful. He is so personable and so intelligent, and I admire him. Can’t wait to get this whole system fixed”
“We've had an exceptional experience with Sunrise Electrical Contracting. In the middle of winter with a 5 week old baby - we found ourselves without power once again in the Santa cruz Mountains. We had already purchased a solar system but hadn't set it up. My husband called Sunrise Electrical Contracting and connected with Branden who came on an emergency call on short notice. He was able to set up our solar system in a few hours and took a lot of time to explain things to my husband who asks a lot of questions and give him advice on the system. Branden was professional and friendly, as well as extremely knowledgeable and friendly while he met at our home. He got us out of a bind and now we can keep our house warm. The rate was great and out of the companies we called, they were the most responsive. We definitely trust this company with our electrical needs moving forward and recommend them to anyone who needs work.”
Pulled from what we actually hear on quotes and on-site. If yours isn't here, ask us — we'll answer in plain English.
We'd rather you get the right outcome than the Sunrise outcome. Some of this points away from us on purpose.
Whoever you use, the work should be permitted and inspected — a transfer switch is exactly the kind of thing an unpermitted install gets wrong invisibly. Verify a licence at cslb.ca.gov and ask specifically how they'll prevent backfeed onto the utility side.
Browse our field guidesThe switch depends on what it's switching to. Generators run for days on fuel; batteries run very quietly for hours and pair with solar. Worth settling that first — the switching follows from it.
Batteries and generators comparedThen an interlock kit is probably your answer rather than a full transfer switch — legal, inspected, and a fraction of the cost. Book an inspection and we'll confirm it suits your panel.
Schedule a free inspectionFrom Davenport to Pajaro Dunes, San Lorenzo Valley to Pleasure Point. Same crew, same warranty, same pricing.
Free on-site inspection, a straight recommendation between a switch and an interlock, and a written quote with the permit in it.