The days of planning for a nuclear winter are thankfully long behind us, but disaster planning still plays a small part in our lives. With freak weather becoming an increasing phenomenon, it’s prudent to prepare for difficult situations. Even if that’s just having a solar backup generator and some canned food.

Nobody is saying we need to go back to the days of survivalism, but with the tornado in Joplin, frequent storms in Florida, Katrina, earthquakes in Japan and the volcano in Iceland, the planet seems quite restless.

Having solar backup generators around is a great way of being prepared for the worst while using it to benefit today. Many people spent a lot of money on food and equipment that ended up going to waste. The trick with preparing for the worst, is only buying things you can use in everyday life. Like solar backup generators.

Anyone who has a cabin in the woods, or lives somewhere away from the grid will tell you that having a reliable source of power is invaluable for everyday living. It makes it easier to predict power availability, to enjoy basic amenities like refrigerators, freezers and things that many of us take for granted.

Having a reliable power source that is ready to take over if the grid goes down is worth more than money in my book. That’s where solar backup generators come in. They harvest energy during the day and store it in on-board batteries, ready for when it’s needed. If it isn’t required, it will retain the charge until it is.

Then, if the worst does happen and there’s a storm, or the local power grid goes down, you still have that reliable power source to depend on. Contrary to popular belief, solar panels don’t need blazing sunshine to work. Sure, they work more efficiently in direct sunlight, but they can still harvest a decent amount of power from diffuse daylight, like on a cloudy day.

For anyone who uses a gas-powered generator to keep the lights on should look at solar backup generators when it comes to having their generator serviced or replaced. They don’t need fuel, they don’t need much maintenance, they don’t smell, or make noise. If fact, you don’t even know they’re there most of the time. They work silently and simply provide power when you need it.

We are way beyond fallout shelters, nuclear bunkers and the unpleasantness of the 80s, but when nature flexes her muscles, it’s good to be prepared. Solar backup generators are a way of being prepared while also getting benefit during everyday life.

The sad news of the tornado that killed 30 people in Joplin, Missouri reminded me of how subject we are to the elements. It prompted me to go out first thing this morning and check my solar backup generators, array, water pump, and secure everything on my property in case the winds came here.

Many people, including myself at times, take our way of life for granted. It’s situations like this that make me realize how small we really are. This isn’t the first tornado that has claimed lives this year. We have had this, other winds, the flooding in New Orleans and plenty of other reminders of Mother Nature’s might.

The town is going to be without power for a while. It’s always the same after a devastating situation. The power companies work hard to restore it, but there is often a huge amount of damage to the grid. While we still get out power from overheads, this will always be the same.

So now would be a good time to invest in solar backup generators. I’m not evangelizing, I want people to be prepared to survive these kinds of situations in the best way possible. If you have a family, being without electricity can be a serious problem. Sure, if you’ve lost your home, you have much more to worry about, but if you’re on the periphery, but power is out, it’s a pain.

That’s where solar backup generators come in. Having one in the garage or back yard for when you need it is an ideal safety net for when nature decides to remind us who’s boss. It’s noiseless, maintenance-free, and will work as long as there is daylight.

It won’t provide all the power you need, but it will be perfectly capable of running the necessities long enough for the grid to be restored. They do cost money, but the effect they will have in situations like the tornado in Joplin is worth more than they could possibly cost.

Solar backup generators have all the benefits of their gasoline or diesel powered counterparts, but without the downsides. They don’t make noise, they don’t need fuelling, they don’t need as much maintenance and they don’t stink for fumes while they are running.

The only maintenance they need is keeping the panels clean, and to be regularly drained and charged to keep everything in working order. While solar backup generators are a great idea, they don’t solve all the problems. Even the most recent models cannot produce enough power to keep an entire house going as if it were on the grid.

You would have to be sensible with power use while it was working, but it could keep freezers, refrigerators and lights working while power was out. It isn’t ideal to use a disaster to make a point, but in this case I think the point it too important to ignore. Solar backup generators make sense, so if you live somewhere that gets hit by tornadoes, get one.

You don’t need me to tell you that living without electricity is a real pain nowadays. We are almost struck dumb is we experience a blackout, or there is an outage on the grid for some reason. We have become so dependent on electricity for almost everything we do, it’s difficult to function without it.

It’s also something we take for granted. We don’t even think about it when it’s there, yet miss it terribly when it’s not. Unless you have a solar backup generator, or even a gas-powered one, being without power isn’t nice at all.

In 2003, I was living as far away from civilization as I could get. Naturally it was at the end of a grid distribution line, but power was constant. Then a tropical storm hit and we lost power. Nothing new there, except it didn’t come back an hour later like it usually did.

The next morning when we went to survey the damage we saw why. My power lines were sitting on the dirt track that led to my house. Three poles in a row had been taken down. At the time we didn’t have a backup generator, but we did have a log burner. We had heat, and somewhere to boil water for coffee, but that was about it.

This was before I had gotten too far into solar power, and before I had a solar PV system of my own. I had begun researching the subject, but was still using conventional grid power and had no plan b.

The farmer who owned the land next to mine showed me his setup after the storm. He had a wind turbine and solar panels on his barn roof. The wind turbine powered the water pump for the animals and the panels were the backup. They fed what was a rudimentary solar backup generator made of old SUV batteries.

The batteries were agricultural type ones used for working vehicles that used winches, trailers and other things. The batteries were deep-cycle ones that could cope with the constant draining and charging that the solar backup generator required. On the days where he had enough wind, the excess power was fed into his house. When it was needed most, it was used to pump the water for his animals.

Seeing this solar setup in action is probably what got me into the industry full-time. I had dabbled, I had played around with small setups, but never thrown myself into it with the enthusiasm it demands.

It all changed after that, I built myself a solar backup generator and wired it up. We weathered storms, lost power, and the generator was there when I needed it most. To power the refrigerator, the lights and the radio for a while if I was lucky. It was one of those things I always though a waste of money. I learned from experience that Mother Nature still rules this world, and we need to plan for when she wants to remind us.