Michael Dell's son Zach Dell wants a battery in every American home that can provide 36 hours of backup, survive Texas summers and Chicago winters

Zach Dell, son of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, wants to place a home battery in every American backyard that can survive extreme heat and cold and keep a home running for up to 36 hours during a power outage. His company, Base Power, has installed more than 23,000 batteries across Texas and the Chicago area and raised $1 billion this month, lifting its valuation to $13 billion, according The Wall Street Journal.

Base, based in Austin, Texas, was cofounded by Zach Dell and Justin Lopas three years ago. The company builds and installs home batteries that store electricity and provide backup power during outages, and it plans to expand into more states and international markets as demand for grid storage rises.

Also Read: Who is Noah Khamanllah? From prison and homelessness to $10 million venture fund

Base Batteries Built to Handle Extreme Weather

Base says its batteries are designed to work in a wide range of climates, from Texas summers to Chicago winters. The company has tested its systems for extreme temperatures and flooding.

Base said on its website that its technology has completed testing for "-22 to 122 Fahrenheit, flash flooding and submersion-rated to 3 feet," according to The Independent.

The company's home state of Texas has a history of grid failures during extreme weather. A winter storm in 2021 left millions of Texas homes without power in freezing conditions and led to more than 200 deaths, The Independent reported.

Zach Dell's Expansion From Texas to Chicago

Base entered the Chicago market this year, its second after Texas, offering backup power to customers of utility ComEd. The service launched with a discounted $95 installation fee for its first 2,000 Illinois customers, along with the promise of 25% savings on monthly electricity supply costs and up to 36 hours of whole-house backup power, according to a report by This Is Not Cool that cited the Chicago Tribune.

Base charges overnight, when electricity is cheaper, and discharges power back to the grid during peak demand hours, generating revenue for the company and savings for customers.

"We're basically making your home run on 4 a.m. power versus 6 p.m. power," Zach Dell told the Chicago Tribune.

Also Read:Techie quits Rs 33 lakh job without offer, accepts lower pay for better work-life balance

Dell said the model has worked well in Texas, where the company has been sold out months in advance.

Newer Batteries Store More Power

Base's battery hardware has changed across three product generations. Earlier units stored about 25 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The newest version, called Core, stores 39.2 kilowatt-hours, enough to provide roughly 36 hours of backup power for most homes, according to Electrek.

Base designs and builds Core at its own factory in Austin, partly to keep costs down and partly to meet federal rules that limit tax credits for batteries containing certain levels of Chinese-made components, Electrek reported. The battery installs in under an hour on a pre-wired, modular design.

Base's systems sit near a home's electric meter and are about the size of an air-conditioning compressor unit. The company has installed roughly 550 megawatt-hours of storage so far, a volume comparable to a large utility-scale storage project, according to TechSpot.

Funding and Growth Plans

The $1 billion Series D round brings Base's total funding to more than $2.5 billion. The round was led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners and JPMorgan Chase's Strategic Investment Group, The Independent reported. Michael Dell is not an investor in his son's company.

Base currently completes about 100 installations a day and expects to double that pace by the end of 2026, according to TechSpot and The Independent. US electricity demand hit record levels in 2025 and is expected to keep rising as AI data centers consume more power, increasing the need for grid storage.

Base works differently depending on the market. In deregulated markets, it owns and operates the batteries while acting as the customer's electricity provider. In regulated markets, it partners with utilities and electric cooperatives to ease local grid bottlenecks.

The company has entered partnerships with utilities including El Paso Electric, Austin Energy and CoServ, according to The Independent.