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.

  • sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world
    111·
    2 days ago

    So I work with public utilities / co-ops (different from private utilities). One of the challenges I consistently see is the utilities are handed a bunch of regulations without the funding to adequately support them. This strikes me as similar. Lineman safety is a real concern. I suspect it could be mitigated, but those mitigations probably come with a cost. The easiest fix is to fund lineman safety measures in the bill.

    • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
      3·
      2 days ago

      Laws without enforcement are just suggestions. You can lump regulations in there too.

    • rainwall@piefed.socialEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      All of these systems are designed to prevent backflow when they have no utility input voltage. Its baked into them.

      There should be zero extra danger to lineman unless people are DIYing these systems, which they can do now with or without a law.