A finished research run on an example topic, shown in full — the findings, the sources behind them and the product versions are all the run's own output, except that a product name may have been changed where it matched an existing brand.

Back to the run overview Home power backup

Experimental Quick win

SafeSwap

A guided bill-of-materials generator that converts a homeowner's risky DIY plan (car batteries, alternator charging, spare Li-ion cells) into a safe, code-compliant wiring and inverter setup at a fraction of branded system cost.

01

What to build

  • MVP

    An input flow that asks what DIY parts a user already has or is considering, then outputs a specific inverter size, fuse/breaker specs, and a wiring diagram reviewed against basic electrical code, plus links to licensed electricians for the panel tie-in step.

  • Why it can be better

    Forum threads show people wiring car batteries to inverters with zero safety guidance; no existing tool stops at anything beyond a capacity number, leaving this exact DIY-hack population unserved.

  • Revenue model

    Paid tiered guides ($15-$40) for specific wiring configurations, plus referral commissions from licensed electricians who complete the panel tie-in.

  • Target user

    Budget-constrained DIYers already improvising backup power with car batteries or scavenged EV alternator setups.

02

Context

The opportunity this answers

Build a brand-agnostic backup-sizing and load-matching advisor that recommends the exact battery, inverter, and panel setup for a specific home.

Why now

Backup brands have just pivoted from single-purpose portable power stations to whole-home marketing, splitting the market into incompatible tiers right as low-upfront-cost entrants like Base Power change the economics of adoption, so buyers face more confusing choices exactly when volatile, storm-driven search spikes push them to decide fast without any neutral way to compare branded tiers against their actual home loads.

Existing solutions

9 findings20 sources

Back to the idea
  1. 01

    Open-source appliance-list sizing calculators (GreenInvest-Pakistan, Rasa Solar-Calculator, home-battery-calculator, solar-sizing-calculator, battery-calculator, hass_solar_and_battery_calculator, solbatterycalc, inverter-calculator)

    Small GitHub tools that take an appliance list or energy-usage export and output solar panel count, inverter size, and battery bank capacity for a home, often region-specific (Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria) or tied to a Home Assistant setup.

    Falls short

    Built as single-purpose, DIY scripts rather than products; none cross-reference real branded battery/inverter SKUs (EcoFlow, Anker SOLIX, BLUETTI, Enphase, Powerwall) to say which can or cannot cover a given load, none address EV chargers, HVAC or server-rack runtime specifically, and most have zero or near-zero adoption (0-2 stars) with no ongoing maintenance.

    Sources github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab) github.com (opens in a new tab)

  2. 02

    Generic web battery-sizing calculators (Unbound Solar, WattMath, EnergyScout, TheCalcs, LithiumBattery.online, BatteryCalculators.com, DIY Smart Home Hub, SolarChoice, AltE Store, Solar Insure, Paradise Energy, SolarCalculator.com.au)

    Free web calculators that convert daily kWh usage or a critical-load list into a recommended battery/inverter kWh capacity, some naming Powerwall vs. Enphase IQ Battery as reference points or estimating backup runtime and federal ITC eligibility.

    Falls short

    Each tool sizes capacity in isolation using generic assumptions (depth of discharge, inefficiency factors) but doesn't check compatibility against specific product tiers — none flag that a $1,500 plug-in battery can't run a Level 2 EV charger or heat-pump, none offer a bill-of-materials with wiring guidance for safe DIY setups, and none compare battery cost/reliability against a standby generator tailored to outage history.

    Sources unboundsolar.com (opens in a new tab) wattmath.com (opens in a new tab) energyscout.org (opens in a new tab) thecalcs.com (opens in a new tab) lithiumbattery.online (opens in a new tab) batterycalculators.com (opens in a new tab) diysmarthomehub.com (opens in a new tab) solarchoice.net.au (opens in a new tab)

  3. 03

    Manufacturer/installer-branded sizing tools (Sol-Ark, HomeGrid, Solar Insure)

    Vendor-hosted sizing tools that recommend battery bank size, hybrid inverter size, and solar panel count based on sunlight hours, appliance loads, or a single month of highest electricity usage, assuming pairing with that vendor's own solar/battery hardware.

    Falls short

    Sizing logic is tied to the vendor's own product line rather than being brand-agnostic, so it can't objectively compare EcoFlow, Anker SOLIX, BLUETTI, Base, Enphase and Powerwall tiers against each other, and it assumes an existing or planned solar array rather than addressing pure backup-only or server-rack-runtime scenarios.

    Sources homegridenergy.com (opens in a new tab) sol-ark.com (opens in a new tab) solarinsure.com (opens in a new tab)

  4. 04

    DIY/off-grid community discussion (Reddit r/SolarDIY)

    Forum threads where people ask for a trustworthy calculator to size a battery for an off-peak or backup-only system and share informal advice.

    Falls short

    No calculator or tool is actually delivered in these threads — just unanswered requests, confirming buyers still lack a neutral sizing resource and are left comparing anecdotal answers.

    Sources reddit.com (opens in a new tab)

Uncovered gaps

5 gaps

  1. 01

    No brand-vs-load compatibility check

    No tool cross-references a home's specific critical loads (EV charger, HVAC, server rack) against the real specs of named branded tiers like EcoFlow, Anker SOLIX, BLUETTI, Base, Enphase and Powerwall to flag which can or cannot cover them — every existing calculator just outputs a generic kWh number.

  2. 02

    Missing safe wiring guidance

    None of the sizing tools produce a safe bill-of-materials (inverter type, wiring, breaker/panel tie-in) to replace risky DIY car-battery or alternator-charging setups; they stop at a capacity number.

  3. 03

    Server-rack runtime unaddressed

    No calculator addresses the narrow always-on server-rack/NAS backup use case, which needs runtime for graceful shutdown rather than whole-home coverage.

  4. 04

    No generator cost comparison

    No neutral tool compares total cost and long-term reliability of battery backup versus a standby generator tailored to a household's actual outage frequency and budget.

  5. 05

    Not built for post-outage urgency

    Sizing tools are static one-time calculators rather than tools built for the moment demand actually spikes — right after an outage — when people need fast, trustworthy answers instead of a vendor's marketing page.