Why the Lion Sanctuary™
The Lion Sanctuary is a rechargeable home battery system designed to maximize your home's energy independence. It provides seamless backup, a smaller carbon footprint for your home, and potential savings on your electricity bill. The Sanctuary uses our proprietary LionESS technology (Energy Storage Solutions) that can be customized to your energy needs with the ability to serve as a backup power source or for everyday demands. Our Sanctuary system can bring critical energy to your home in times of need. Some of the main benefits are:
Seamless Backup
When the grid goes down, energy from the Sanctuary will continue to power the selected loads of your home. If you add solar, the Sanctuary can run independently from the grid.
Self-Powered Home
At night, the Sanctuary can provide your home with clean energy generated from solar panels throughout the day, if you choose to pair the Sanctuary with solar packages.
Please note that Lion Energy does not do solar installations. See a list of trained and authorized solar installers here:
https://lionenergy.com/pages/installers.
Time Shifting
If your utility company uses Time-of-Use rates, you can pull in cheaper priced energy and store it in your battery, and then use that power during more expensive rate periods.
Combine that with solar packages and you can store solar energy that is free and use it during peak times to save money.
Monitoring
Each Lion Sanctuary installation includes a complete energy monitoring solution for your home. You can see how much energy your home both produces and uses at any given time.
How does the Lion Sanctuary work?
The Sanctuary gives you the ability to store energy for later use in case of an emergency. When combined with a solar solution, it can give a user long-term energy independence.
Each Sanctuary system is equipped with energy monitoring, metering, and controls for owner customization using the Lion Energy app.
The Lion Sanctuary is a rechargeable home battery system combined with a built-in custom inverter that maximizes the performance because they were intentionally made to work together.
This gives the Sanctuary an amazing advantage when compared to other home battery systems. Our Sanctuary system is composed of 1 inverter and up to 3 batteries. 1 inverter and 1 battery
is referred to as a 1:1, 1 inverter and 2 batteries is referred to as a 1:2, and 1 inverter with 3 batteries is referred to 1:3. You can also link Sanctuary systems together as necessary
for your energy needs.
Integrated software and applications help you to accurately monitor your energy production and consumption for precise insight into your home energy. The Lion Sanctuary can intelligently
handle your energy requirements to make sure you are saving money, prepared for an unforeseen emergency, and when combined with a solar solution helps you obtain a long-term power independence solution.
|
LION SANTUARY |
| Battery Chemistry |
LiFePO4 |
| Energy Capacity |
13.5 kWh |
| Max Load Peak |
15 kW (10 sec) |
| Max Load Continuous |
8 kW |
| Round-Trip Efficiency |
86% |
| UL 9540 Certificate |
Pending |
| Life Cycle |
6,000 @ 60% |
| Backup Load Start Capability |
15kW |
| Solar Integration |
DC-coupled only |
| Communication |
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth |
| Monitoring |
Lion Energy app for mobile and desktop |
| Grid Disconnect |
Not available |
With Solar
When the sun rises, the solar panels begin powering the home. When more power is needed for the home, it can be pulled from the utility grid.
The Lion Sanctuary is charged by solar during the day, when solar panels are producing more electricity than the home is consuming. The Sanctuary then stores that
energy until the home needs it, such as during the night when the solar panels are no longer producing energy or when the utility grid is offline during a power outage.
When the sun comes out the next day, the solar panels recharge the Sanctuary, so you have a cycle of clean, renewable energy.
Please note that Lion Energy does not do solar installations. See a list of trained and authorized solar installers here:
https://lionenergy.com/pages/installers.
Without Solar
If your electricity rates vary throughout the day, the Lion Sanctuary™ can charge when your utility’s electric costs are low and discharge when electric costs are high,
generating automatic savings. The Sanctuary will also provide seamless backup power by detecting grid outages and automatically become the home’s main power source.
What can the Sanctuary back up?
The Lion Sanctuary is configured case by case to backup essential loads, or whole-home backup. In either case, during an outage, the backed-up loads include 120V loads such as
lights, plugs, and small appliances as well as 240V heavy loads like air conditioners, electric cooking ranges, well pumps, electric dryers, electric water heaters, and pool pumps.
The Sanctuary system can be considered much like your own personal power plant. Whether you are covering essential loads or setting up a whole home backup, the sizing of the Sanctuary
is key for the system to function properly. Before sizing, you must review the Sanctuary technical specifications.
To size the system, you need to first consider the loads you would like the Sanctuary to cover. Typical essential loads are refrigeration, furnace, lights, internet, and garage door.
Review your existing load centers. Find the breaker size for each of the loads you would like to cover. Any load larger than a 30-amp breaker typically requires multiple inverters to cover it.
After choosing the loads you would like covered by the Sanctuary, measure the Startup Amps and the Continuous Amps of the larger breakers.
When a device is initially energized, you will see a spike of alternating current. This is “startup amps”. Once the device is running at a steady current, this is “continuous amps”.
Using an amp clamp, you will need to measure the startup amps and continuous amps of your larger breakers to figure out the number of inverters you will need. Each inverter must
have at least one battery connected to it. The smallest recommended amount of solar for each battery (if you are choosing to use solar energy as part of your home system) is 3kW.
The number of batteries dictates the amount of stored energy that you will have available.
Services Greater than 200 A
For larger systems than essential loads, please speak with a certified installer or Lion Energy.
Please note that our standard installation fee does not cover complex system setup – please make sure you check with your Lion Energy project manager to talk about your
specific needs and set up prior to installation day.
System design
System components
Sanctuary: The Lion Sanctuary™ is a large smart energy storage system that can take power and be recharged from various power sources such as the grid, gas-powered generators, wind turbines, or solar panels.
Every Sanctuary system comes with at least 1 integrated Inverter and a system controller. Each Invertor can handle up to 3 battery storage units. The inverter converts energy from power sources to be used by the home. The battery assembly stores the energy for future use.
Inverter: Inverter converts energy from the grid, the home’s solar panels, or other power sources to be used by the home. Our inverter has a built-in backup gateway that controls system operation, detects grid outages, disconnects the solar system from the grid to enable backup power from the battery, and functions as a site meter.
Additional Electrical Hardware: Any additional electrical hardware, including electrical panels, conduits or raceways, is installed based on-site needs and local electrical code by the certified installer.
What Sanctuary Provides
The Sanctuary can be used as a whole home backup or to cover essential loads only:
Whole-Home Backup: With whole-home backup, your Lion Sanctuary™ system will be able to support all of the appliances in your home during a power outage. Whole-home backup is
decided by the number of batteries and invertors you have. The number of inverters and batteries you need are determined by the loads you would like to cover during an outage.
Essentials Backup: Essentials backup allows you to back up only the essential loads, such as lights and outlets, and leave out larger loads, such as air conditioners and washing machines.
This means that when the grid is operational, you will be able to use and monitor all appliances. When the grid is down, only the loads you consider essential will be usable. Typically, we suggest setting
up refrigerators, lights, outlets, furnaces, and WI-FI as part of an essential load backup.
Typical System Configurations
Although configurations will vary on a house-by-house basis, a 1:1 Lion Sanctuary™ system is generally able to manage refrigeration, a furnace, lights, and a circuit with your Internet router.
Incentives
Many factors should be considered when looking at Incentive programs. For example, is the Lion Sanctuary being installed onto an existing solar system or a new solar system?
Will the system be charged with only solar energy, or will some energy be coming from your local grid system? What size of system are you installing? Other factors include
your annual power usage, your geographical area, and your state tax laws. Always consult your energy provider as well as any state and federal resources for your situation.
Order Process
Installation through Lion Energy
How to Order a Lion Sanctuary™ system via Lion Energy with no solar installation in a servable area
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Step 1: Enter your zip code at at sanctuary.lionenergy.com to see if a Lion Energy installation team is in your area.
If so, you can order a Lion Sanctuary system directly from our website. Professional installers are used in areas where Lion Energy teams are not located or where home solar installation is needed.
Please note that Lion Energy does not do solar installations—but many of our trained and authorized installers do. See a list of
preferred solar installers here: https://lionenergy.com/pages/installers.)
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Step 2: To see if you qualify for a direct purchase from Lion Energy under our program requirements.
If requirements are met, either pay online and start working with a Lion Energy project advisor, or if you need financing follow the provided link to our quick and easy financing partner.
If you have questions you can reach out to a Lion Energy advisor.
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Step 3: In-home installation assessment
After you place your order, a Lion Energy project advisor will reach out to you within one business day to schedule an in-home, pre-installation assessment. This assessment will review installation
requirements and help you decide which five critical loads (circuits) are to be continually supported by the Sanctuary system. Permits are required for most installations. We will
oversee the permit process for you.
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Step 4: Schedule Installation
Within 48 hours of the in-home assessment, your project manager will contact you to schedule an installation date that is convenient for you.
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Step 5: Installation
Most installations take most of one day to complete. During this time, the power will be off for several hours. However, when completed, this should be one of the last times you have a power outage.
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Step 6: Download the Lion Energy App
Once the Sanctuary system is installed, download the Lion Energy mobile app to monitor your Sanctuary and home energy use anywhere and in real-time. Your installer should help you in setting up
access (like creating a username/assigning you an account) through the Lion Energy app.
Installation through a third-party, certified installer
Order Sanctuary through a certified Lion Energy Installer with or without solar installation outside our servable area
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Step 1: Start online at sanctuary.lionenergy.com to see if you are in one of our local installion areas.
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Step 2: If outside of Lion Energy's direct installation area, you will be redirected to a form that will gather your basic contact information and send it to a certified installer in your area.
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Step 3: Within two business days, you should have been contacted by the installer. They will provide you with an estimate and installation cost.
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Step 4: After five days Lion Energy will reach back out to you for feedback on your installer process to make sure your Sanctuary process is going as planned.
Or you can reach out to an installer in your area directly by picking one from our list of certified installers:
https://lionenergy.com/pages/installers
Payment Options
We understand the investment in becoming Energy Independence can be expensive depending on the setup you chose. We offer a wide variety of methods to help finance your decision.
Once you have your system configuration set up, you can work with your project manager to help set up the best options for you.
Outside of financing, we see great success come from contacting your existing back and adding to or opening a HELOC account.
Installation process
Sanctuary Pre-Installation
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Sanctuary Home Assessment
A home energy assessment will need to be completed with your project advisor to gather the necessary information for the installation.
Based on your home assessment, the Lion Energy design team will include any electrical upgrades needed in your proposal. At this time,
they will also figure out the number of batteries you may need based on your home usage. Before moving forward, you will review and approve the design.
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Pre-Installation: Prepare Your Home
To ensure quick and efficient installation, clear the ground, wall space and any key access points for installers to work. Some installers may use a small dolly to move the Sanctuary components within your home.
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Pre-Installation: Internet Access
Sanctuary requires an active wireless Internet connection (2.4ghz only). Depending on the location of the installation, you may need a Wi-Fi booster or repeater to provide a sufficient signal to the Sanctuary.
This will allow you to check your Sanctuary system with the Lion Energy app. Find where your home router is located and have login information available.
Once you’ve prepared your home, see what to expect on your installation day of your Sanctuary.
Installation Day
You will need to be at home and available throughout the day of your installation. A Sanctuary installation team typically made up of two to three installers will arrive in the morning.
Installation time will depend on the size of your system and the complexity of the electrical work needed. A typical Sanctuary installation will take a full day to complete.
Plan for the power to be out for roughly several hours. If more electrical work is needed, the power could be out for up to 8 hours or more. This includes refrigerators, heating and cooling systems,
and your home Internet connection.
If loss of power for a sustained period will be an issue, contact your installation team in advance to discuss options.
Note: This guide provides general steps for when Lion Energy directly installs Sanctuary. These steps may differ if your Sanctuary is being installed by a certified installer.
Permits and Inspections
Your Lion Energy project advisor will work with you in your local area to get the permits needed and your final inspection completed so you are assured your system is completely safe and ready to use.
Best Practices During Power Outage
The Lion Sanctuary will bring you energy independence and security so that life in your home can carry on uninterrupted during a grid outage. When a power outage occurs,
the Sanctuary discharges its stored energy to provide power to your home. However, if your Sanctuary is off grid for what could be an extended period of time, you should
familiarize yourself with the following best practices to extend the backup duration of your system during an outage.
How Sanctuary Provides Backup Power
When a utility power outage happens, your Sanctuary will instantly disconnect from the grid and provide backup power to your home in a fraction of a second—over one hundred times
faster than typical standby generators. This means your appliances will keep running without interruption. You may not even notice when an outage occurs.
If you have solar panels, your Sanctuary system can recharge from your solar system to run your home from solar energy even when the power grid is down.
A traditional solar system without a Sanctuary will not function during a grid outage when the sun is not accessible.
Preparing for an Outage
Before a potential outage, consider doing activities that require a lot of energy, including charging an electric car, running your air conditioner, dishwasher, washer, dryer, or other major appliances.
Power During a Grid Outage
Be sure to understand your specific configuration capabilities. You can back up any number of appliances, so long as their combined power usage does not exceed the total power rating of your Sanctuary system.
Starting some loads with a high inrush current during a power outage, like air conditioners and motors, may overload the Sanctuary and cause it to stop supplying power to your home.
If this occurs, turn off these loads, and Sanctuary will try to restart within a minute. Being mindful of your energy usage is especially important during a power outage.
Energy Management During a Grid Outage
Weather events that cause power outages can last for days, not hours, with lower solar energy production. The best way to extend the use of your Lion Sanctuary system during a grid outage is
to reduce the use of energy-intensive appliances like air conditioners, electric car charging, electric heaters, and dishwashers.
Support and Warranty
Requesting Service
Call Lion Energy directly at 385-375-8191 or reach out to your Lion Energy project manager for further help with requesting and scheduling service.
Warranty
All Lion Sanctuary units come with a standard 10-year warranty with an optional 25-year warranty upgrade available.