One Inverter for Your Solar, Batteries, and Generator
Strawberry Solar is a Silver Installer in the Sol-Ark Installer Corps Program. We design and install Sol-Ark hybrid inverter systems across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, for whole-home backup, off-grid properties, generator pairing, and adding storage to existing solar.
The inverter is the part of a solar and storage system that decides where power goes. A Sol-Ark manages your panels, your batteries, the grid, and a generator from one unit, which makes it a strong fit for farms, cabins, and homes where outages tend to run long.
Sol-Ark Silver Installer
Pearl Certified
Michigan Saves Authorized
BBB Accredited
Trusted Since 2010
Solar and batteries carry the house. The generator starts only if the batteries run low.
Illustration only. Generator auto start depends on your generator model and how the system is configured.
18 kWh
Continuous AC output on the Premium 18K-2P, with 36 kVA surge for 10 seconds
200A
Grid pass-through on the Whole Home 15K-2P and Premium 18K-2P
25+
Sol-Ark certified battery partners with closed-loop communication
10 years
Standard Sol-Ark warranty on the Premium 18K-2P and Limitless 12K-2P-LL
Sources: Sol-Ark Premium 18K-2P, Sol-Ark Whole Home 15K-2P, Sol-Ark certified battery partners
Why Choose Sol-Ark?
Sol-Ark puts the inverter at the center of the system, and the batteries, generator, and solar around it are chosen to fit the property. That flexibility is what makes it a strong fit for the harder Michigan projects.
Built for backup
When the grid drops, the Whole Home 15K-2P switches your home to battery and solar power automatically, with a 5 millisecond transfer time.
Your choice of battery
Sol-Ark runs on 48V batteries from more than 25 certified partners, all supporting closed-loop communication with the inverter and UL 9540.
Generator ready
A dedicated generator port and AutoStart capability bring a standby generator into the same system as your solar and batteries.
Off-grid capable
A Sol-Ark system can run a property with no utility service at all, which makes it a common choice for cabins, farms, and rural homes.
Room to grow
Up to 12 Limitless 12K-2P-LL inverters can run in parallel, so a system can add power and storage as needs change.
How a Sol-Ark System Works
A Sol-Ark system has two main parts, plus an optional third. The hybrid inverter manages every power source, the battery bank stores energy, and a generator covers the stretches when solar and batteries are not enough.
The hybrid inverter
The inverter converts solar power for your home, charges and discharges your batteries, and connects to the grid and a generator. “Hybrid” means it does all of this in one unit instead of separate solar and battery inverters. It also runs time-of-day settings, so you decide when stored energy gets used.
The battery bank
Sol-Ark’s residential inverters run on 48V batteries from Sol-Ark’s certified battery partners. Certified batteries talk to the inverter directly through closed-loop communication, so the inverter knows exactly how full the bank is and charges it accordingly.
A generator (optional)
A standby generator connects to the inverter’s dedicated generator port and becomes another source the inverter manages. If you already have one, we check during design whether it can join the new system.
Every source runs through the inverter, which is why the battery charges and discharges along the same pair of arrows. The dashed line at the top is how a retrofit works: solar you already own keeps its existing inverter and connects to the Sol-Ark on the AC side, a setup called AC coupling.
You see all of it in the MySolArk app: what your panels are producing, how full your batteries are, and what your home is using.
Pairing a Generator With Sol-Ark
Some Michigan outages outlast any battery. Ice storms take down lines crews cannot reach for days, and a run of gray winter weather limits what your panels put back. A generator alongside the batteries covers that gap, and Sol-Ark is built to bring one into the system rather than leave it on a separate transfer switch.
Sol-Ark’s residential inverters have a dedicated generator port and are AutoStart capable, according to Sol-Ark. On the new Limitless 12K-2P-LL, that port accepts up to 14 kW from a standby generator without an external transfer switch, per pv magazine.
- Solar and batteries carry the quiet hours, and the generator runs only when it is needed
- An AutoStart-capable generator can start on its own, without anyone walking out to it in a storm
- Less generator runtime means less fuel to keep on hand for a long outage
Whether your current generator can join the system depends on its size, its start controls, and how it is wired today. We check all three during design. For some homes a battery-only setup or a portable solar generator is enough, and we will tell you if yours is one of them.
Off-Grid and Rural Properties
Sol-Ark is one of the inverters we install on off-grid solar systems, for cabins, farms, and homes where a utility line extension would cost more than the system itself. The same inverter that backs up a grid-tied home can run a property with no utility service at all.
Off-grid design in Michigan comes down to winter. Short, gray December days produce a fraction of what a July day does, so the battery bank and generator have to be sized for the worst stretch of the year rather than the average one. Local zoning and building codes matter too, since living off-grid legally in Michigan depends on where the property sits.
What we size an off-grid Sol-Ark system around
Your daily energy use, including well pumps and heating equipment
How many days of battery reserve you want through a cloudy stretch
Generator size and fuel type for the longest winter gaps
Where the batteries live, since most need a space kept above freezing
Choosing a Sol-Ark Model
Sol-Ark makes several residential hybrid inverters. Three current models differ in how much power they deliver and how much they can take in from solar, batteries, and a generator. Your proposal names the exact model and why.
Limitless 12K-2P-LL
- New for 2026, built in Texas
- 12 kW continuous, with 24 kW off-grid surge for up to 10 seconds
- Generator port up to 14 kW, 100A AC pass-through
- Rated -40°F to 140°F, IP65/NEMA 3R enclosure
Whole Home 15K-2P
- 15 kW AC, with 12 kW from batteries
- 200A grid pass-through and 5 ms transfer
- 19 kW AC coupling for existing solar
- Single-circuit smart load control
Premium 18K-2P
- 18 kW continuous, with 36 kVA surge for 10 seconds
- 200A grid pass-through
- 350A battery charger
- Over 40 kW of solar with AC coupling
Sizing Your Sol-Ark System
Two questions decide the design: how much you need to run at once, which sets the inverter, and how long you need to run it, which sets the battery bank and whether a generator belongs in the plan.
Essentials backup
Refrigerator, furnace blower, sump pump, well pump, lights, and internet on a backed-up panel, with a smaller battery bank.
Whole-home backup
The house running close to normal through an outage, including central air, using a larger inverter and battery bank.
Off-grid or long outages
A battery bank sized for multiple days, plus a generator for winter, and parallel inverters where loads call for more power.
Icons are illustrative and do not represent a runtime or a recommended quantity.
We size every system from your actual electricity usage, pulled from your DTE Energy or Consumers Energy bills, or from an estimate of your loads on an off-grid property. Homes weighing backup across brands can compare the other solar battery storage systems we install.
Where Sol-Ark Fits
New solar plus whole-home backup
Designing the panels, inverter, and batteries together lets us size a home solar installation and its backup around how your household actually uses power.
Adding storage to existing solar
Through AC coupling, a Sol-Ark can add batteries and backup to a system you already own without replacing its inverter. We start by confirming the current system is performing well, the same review we run in our solar system diagnostics service.
Homes with a generator
If you already rely on a standby generator, a Sol-Ark system lets solar and batteries carry most of an outage. Your panels keep working during a power outage and the generator steps in only when it is needed.
Getting More From Your Solar Under Michigan Billing
DTE Energy and Consumers Energy customers with solar are billed under Michigan’s distributed generation program, which replaced net metering for new solar customers. Power you pull from the grid (inflow) is billed at your regular rate, and extra solar you send back to the grid (outflow) is credited at a lower rate than what you pay for power you buy.
On a grid-tied Sol-Ark system, the batteries hold midday solar for the evening instead of sending it out at the lower credit. Multi-season time-of-day settings let you shift stored energy toward the hours your power costs the most if you are on a time-of-use rate.
Inflow
Power you buy, at your regular rate
Outflow
Solar you export, credited lower
Stored
Solar you keep and use at night
Paying for a Sol-Ark System in 2026
The incentive picture for home solar and batteries changed at the start of 2026. Here is where things stand for Michigan homeowners today.
Federal residential tax credit
The Section 25D residential clean energy credit ended after 2025, so a homeowner-owned Powerwall installed in 2026 does not qualify for a federal tax credit.
Michigan Saves financing
Financing is available through Michigan Saves, and Strawberry Solar is an authorized Michigan Saves contractor. Michigan Saves lists whole-home battery storage among the improvements its residential financing covers.
State and utility programs
Programs change throughout the year. Current state and utility programs are listed on our solar incentives page, and your quote covers anything your project qualifies for.
Why Choose Strawberry Solar for Your Sol-Ark Installation?
We have been installing solar and battery systems for Michigan homes and properties since 2010, from our headquarters in Detroit.
We are a Silver Installer in the Sol-Ark Installer Corps Program. Sol-Ark awards its installer tiers to partners who complete Sol-Ark University certification and activate Sol-Ark systems every quarter, according to Sol-Ark.
Every project runs through our solar installation process, from system design through permitting and switching the system on.
We handle permitting. We manage the full permitting process on your behalf.
Two warranties, kept separate. Sol-Ark covers its inverters under its own warranty, 10 years standard on models like the Premium 18K-2P, and your batteries carry their own manufacturer warranty. Strawberry Solar backs the installation itself with our 10-year workmanship warranty.
Support after install. We offer ongoing monitoring, troubleshooting, and support once your system is running.
Financing through Michigan Saves. We are an authorized Michigan Saves contractor, and solar financing is available through Michigan Saves.
Sol-Ark FAQs
Sol-Ark’s residential inverters run on 48V batteries, and Sol-Ark certifies more than 25 battery partners whose batteries support closed-loop communication with the inverter and UL 9540, according to Sol-Ark. We choose the battery during design based on your capacity needs, where it will be installed, and its warranty, and your proposal names it.
Often, yes. Sol-Ark inverters have a dedicated generator port and are AutoStart capable, so a compatible standby generator can start on its own when it is needed. Whether yours qualifies depends on its size, its start controls, and how it is wired today, which we check before quoting.
In most cases, yes. Through AC coupling, your current panels keep their existing inverter and connect to the Sol-Ark on the AC side. The Whole Home 15K-2P supports 19 kW of AC coupling. We confirm compatibility with your equipment first.
The new Limitless 12K-2P-LL is rated to operate from -40°F to 140°F in an IP65/NEMA 3R enclosure. Batteries are usually the more sensitive part, so we plan their location around temperature, such as a basement or a heated garage. On off-grid systems, we size the battery bank and generator for December, not July.
Silver is a tier in Sol-Ark’s Installer Corps Program. Sol-Ark places installers into tiers after they complete Sol-Ark University certification and activate Sol-Ark systems consistently each quarter, according to Sol-Ark.
The federal Section 25D residential clean energy credit ended after 2025, so a homeowner-owned system installed in 2026 does not qualify for it. Financing is available through Michigan Saves, and Strawberry Solar is an authorized Michigan Saves contractor. Current state and utility programs are listed on our solar incentives page.
Ready to See What Sol-Ark Looks Like for Your Property?
Tell us about your home or property, your generator if you have one, and your backup goals, and we will design a Sol-Ark system around them.
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