{"id":102592,"date":"2026-10-26T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T20:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=102592"},"modified":"2026-10-25T15:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T06:28:20","slug":"back-the-hell-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/back-the-hell-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Back The Hell Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"backup<\/p>\n

Last week two flaws in PHP went public. PHP is the programming language behind SolarQuotes and a big slice of the web, and these bugs had been sitting in its code for about 14 years. AI models found them. Within 45 minutes of the announcement, Cloudflare was seeing tens of thousands of attempts to exploit them. By that evening it was millions.<\/p>\n

PHP doesn’t run the grid. But AI has made finding and weaponising software bugs faster and cheaper, and almost everything between the power station and your toaster now runs on software: the network operator, your retailer, the market operator, and the cloud platform your inverter uses.<\/p>\n

Then there’s the weather. The Bureau declared an El Ni\u00f1o in June<\/a>, and its models have it potentially the strongest on record<\/a>. Heat, fire and the storms that follow are what take out power to homes for days.<\/p>\n

Put the two together, and I reckon the chance of a serious, multi-day disruption to Australian electricity has gone from fairly unlikely to reasonably likely. And it won’t get better as AI improves and CO2 keeps climbing.<\/p>\n

The Poms have been told to stock up<\/h2>\n

Last Thursday, the UK government\u00a0published guidance<\/a> asking every household to buy bottled water, non-perishable food, a torch and batteries, a radio, blankets, copies of important documents, and cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think that’s smart, and you don’t need to panic buy. Every time you go shopping, drop a few extra non-perishables into the trolley, get $50 cash out and put it under the mattress.<\/p>\n

None of that makes you a prepper.<\/p>\n

When did backup get uncool?<\/h2>\n

Now think about your electricity supply. Somewhere in Australia’s battery boom, worrying about backup became almost uncool. The conversation moved to bill savings, VPP payments and tariff tricks, and blackout protection got treated as an optional extra for nervous types.<\/p>\n

So plenty of people have ended up with a cheap and cheerful system that has no backup at all, or backup that was badly designed. And with the el-cheapo installers, it’s rarely tested before the van leaves the driveway.<\/p>\n

We hear too many stories where the backup’s first test is the first real blackout, and it fails. Some owners discover their “backup” needs someone to flick a manual switch<\/a> in the switchboard, in the dark. Others discover the battery won’t run the aircon after dark<\/a>. Either way, they find out at the worst possible moment.<\/p>\n

In this threat-heavy environment, I think you’re nuts to invest in solar and batteries and not have backup that’s robust, tested and well understood.<\/p>\n

“But I never get blackouts”<\/h2>\n

I can hear the comments already. “It’s not worth the extra cash. I never get blackouts.”<\/p>\n

Which reminds me of an idiot with a Tesla who’d never had a flat, so never bothered buying a spare tyre. You can guess what happened next. A flat in the Clare Valley, a night in a cheap motel, and a long wait for the local tyre place to open. Luckily, I had my bike in the car, so I could cycle to the nearest accomodation.<\/p>\n

Tesla’s so-called roadside assist was useless. “It’s a Sunday!” “You’re a long way from Adelaide!” Serves me right for waiting until I needed the backup to test it, I suppose.<\/p>\n

Years without a flat told me nothing about that particular trip. A decade of reliable grid supply tells you about the last decade’s weather and the last decade’s hackers, and this summer is shaping up with a nastier set of both.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What to do about it<\/h2>\n

Yet to buy a battery?<\/strong> Go with an installer who is competent enough to design and install backup properly, tests it before they leave, and can tell you what it will run and for how long.<\/p>\n

Already have a battery but never tested the backup?<\/strong> Now’s the time.<\/p>\n

Did your retailer talk you out of backup?<\/strong> I think that was terrible advice. They’re using a history of good luck as evidence that bad luck won’t happen. Get a quote to add backup.<\/p>\n

Partial backup? Have a plan for the dead circuits<\/h2>\n

Partial backup is common and perfectly fine, as long as you know which circuits go dark and have a cheap alternative for each one.<\/p>\n