Easy-to-install solar panels that plug into a regular outlet are getting attention just as Americans are worried about rising energy costs. That’s because these plug-in or balcony solar panels start shaving off part of a homeowner’s or renter’s utility bill right away.

“A year ago, nobody was talking about this,” says Cora Stryker, co-founder of Bright Saver, a California nonprofit group that advocates for plug-in solar. The panels are already popular in Germany, where more than 1.2 million of the small plug-in systems are registered with the German government.

For the panels to become more widely available in the U.S., state lawmakers are proposing bills that eliminate complicated utility connection agreements, which are required for larger rooftop solar installations and, most utilities say, should apply to plug-in solar too. Those agreements, along with permitting and other installation costs, can double the price of solar panels.

  • gdog05@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 hours ago

    My understanding is that it’s a safety issue. Currently, substations have source power shutoffs so any lead-in power source can be easily cut off to replace equipment. But, they’re not set to handle other power inputs in the substation grid. I’ve never fully understood this reasoning as once power is handed off from one substation to the other (to prevent outages) it should be completely dead to do maintenance. It might be my ignorance on it but I can’t see how this is a problem and is likely a method by power companies to reduce solar usage by forcing expensive equipment between the grid and household.