The energy-saving solar panels atop Zofia Metzger’s South Setauket home couldn’t shield her from the catastrophic power outage Thursday that swept across the Northeast. Without a bank of backup batteries, Metzger and other solar power adherents sat helplessly in the dark just like the average Long Island homeowner. When area power plants shut down to protect themselves during the massive power swing, homes equipped with solar panels did the same to stop the power they generate from back-washing into power lines and causing injury to anyone working on them. Each solar-powered home is, in essence, a mini-power plant that receives and returns energy to Long Island Power Authority stations.

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