Quote Originally Posted by Walleye Hunter View Post
If you are knowledgeable, I have some questions for you. I have a large array on my garage roof and would like to get setup for a quick diversion of generated power to a battery bank of some sort in the event of a long term power outage. I am pretty sure that a full bank to power my house would be cost prohibitive and inefficient but I would like enough to keep my stuff charged and maybe run the TV and some LED lights, if possible. Is there an easy, cost effective way to do this?
Sure... there are devices that have both a solar charge controller for a battery bank, and an inverter for supplying AC current, all built in. You can also get a pretty inexpensive transfer switch that can supply power only to circuits in your house you select.

Is the array that is currently on your roof active and being used for anything? Do you know what the PV system voltage is?

Here are some examples of devices:

Solar inverter:
https://smile.amazon.com/Charger-Inv.../dp/B0969YRPKF

Transfer switch (this is the one I have in my house for running the fridge, internet, one of the split AC units, and my office on generator):
https://smile.amazon.com/Reliance-Co.../dp/B000BQN4T2

Good Lithium batteries are about $750-1000 per kWh these days, so how many of them you need just depends on what you have to run, how long you want to run it, and what your battery system voltage needs to be.

If this is in the "cost prohibitive" area, you can do something more simple like a standalone solar controller and inverter with household plugs and probably spend half as much. It just depends on what voltage your PV array is putting out.