You may have noticed your electricity bill is rising. The Pennsylvania Utility Commission alerted consumers that the price of electric generation is increasing this month, just as it’s getting hotter outside, and people are using more electricity for air conditioning.
Solar advocates say there’s one affordable option that could help: solar panels that you can plug into an outlet.
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An idea that’s catching on
When Cora Stryker heard about the rising popularity of plug-in solar panels in Germany, she was excited by the idea that solar can be easily installed by anyone.
“It’s primarily driven by renters in urban areas, and there you have those beautiful multi-story buildings with balconies,” she said.
As a climate advocate, she saw a vision of the future in what’s also called “balcony solar.” Instead of a rooftop installation, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, plug-in solar panels are cheaper and easier to set up.
Stryker co-founded a non-profit called Bright Saver last year with two ideas in mind.
“First of all, energy affordability. People can’t meet their energy bills; it’s cutting into other expenses, such as putting food on the table,” she said. “The second mission or the parallel mission is climate action, clean energy.”
What is balcony solar?
Bright Saver is trying to bring balcony solar to the United States. Their website sells a $500 kit that includes a solar panel and a microconverter that plugs into a standard 120-volt outlet in the house. Kits are also available at retailers like Amazon and Ikea.
Stryker says a Bright Saver panel, which weighs 11 pounds and looks like a flat-screen TV, can be set up on a balcony, in the yard or anywhere that gets at least six hours of sun per day and can be plugged in.
“Electricity is like water; it flows in both directions,” she said. “You will plug these into your house wiring and anything you’re running off of that house wiring — your refrigerator, your TV, your router — will consume that energy on the spot.”
One Brightsaver panel produces about 180 watts of power, reducing the amount of electricity a home pulls from the electric grid. Some experts say they can pay for themselves in three to five years.
States consider regulation of balcony solar
Many states haven’t approved of their use yet. According to a website that tracks plug-in solar legislation, five states have approved laws enabling consumers to use plug-in solar panels.
Thirteen others are in different stages of considering it, including Pennsylvania.
“What we’re trying to do is to keep utility bills down,” said State Representative Chris Pielli, a Democrat from Chester County. He cosponsored a bill introduced last summer into the House Energy Committee because he said demand for power continues to rise.
“We should encourage every safe source of local power generation, including these small consumer-owned solar systems,” Pielli said. “Every kilowatt helps in meeting rising demands.”
Utility company concerns
Since plug-in solar adds energy to the system, groups representing electrical workers and utility companies in different states have brought up safety concerns. For example, in a power outage, they fear the devices could add electricity to back to the grid and potentially electrocute workers.
“The legislation does not include provisions to ensure systems are designed to automatically disconnect during power outages,” according to an email from Duquesne Light, an electricity provider in southwestern Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh. “Without these safeguards, there is a risk that electricity could flow back onto de-energized buildings and even distribution lines, creating potential hazards for crews working to restore service and for the public.”
Experts say these concerns have been solved for years.
“The fact that Germany has one million solar panels and no incidents of fire or of major deaths tells you that it’s a technical issue that can be resolved,” said Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, a professor of economics and the energy transition at the University of Pittsburgh.
Earlier this year, UL Solutions, which is behind the familiar UL label on the back of electronics, debuted a certification program for plug-in solar manufacturers to address safety concerns.
Utilities have other issues with balcony solar. The bill in the Pennsylvania House states that these plug-in solar panels do not require interconnection agreements with utilities, as do residential rooftop installations. This raises concerns for Duquesne Light about how plug-in systems would “safely interact with the grid and the utility’s ability to know where and how they are operating,” according to the company.
But solar advocates say people with plug-in solar panels should not be required to get these agreements and other permits, because they generate far less electricity than rooftop arrays. With rooftop solar, homeowners can get credit on their electric bill for excess power they supply to the grid, called net metering.
“So there are a lot of permits that happen along the way. Those take a lot of time. They add a lot of cost,” said Henry McKay of the non-profit Solar United Neighbors.
At the lower end, the average residential rooftop solar installation in Pennsylvania generates more than 7 kilowatts of electricity, which is six times the 1.2-kilowatt limit set by the Pennsylvania bill for a balcony solar array.
“It’s very unlikely even for the electricity you create to backfeed out onto the grid, like what happens a lot with rooftop solar,” McKay said. “Because this is so much smaller scale, your fridge is going to eat up most of that power or whatever you’re doing at home.”
Neither the Public Utility Commission nor PJM, the regional grid operator that includes Pennsylvania, wanted to comment on the legislation.
In the House, it’s getting bipartisan support. “I’m trying to make sure that we have as many options as possible to help keep the burden of increased electricity costs for Pennsylvanians as low as possible,” said Representative Gary Day of Lehigh County, who is one of three Republican co-sponsors of the bill.
Even though House Republicans have opposed solar programs in the past, he said they support an “all of the above” energy strategy. The bill’s Democratic sponsors say if the plug-in solar bill doesn’t pass this time around, they will keep reintroducing it.
