Everything Solar Forum

Hello

The concept of what has been called 'balcony solar' has been catching on in US. I used to be skeptical and concerned about non-certified products being plugged into a home or apartment outlets and injected poor quality power and maybe lacking safety shut down features. No inspection or permits are needed so no one would know. But until this year they weren't much a thing in US. They are bigger in Asia and Europe. Ideal for apartment dwellers or those who don't 'own' their roof. Typically a 1-2 modules (600-1200 W) with a microinverter are plugged into the 120 V receptacle.  This year, Utah (not known for innovative clean energy plocy) passed legislation allowing it if it met certain standards (UL and NEC). Recently Vermont and New Hampshire and my own state of Delaware have proposed legislation allowing it subject to certain restrictions.  Given the low power very little is injected into the grid. Some say these systems are not eligible for net metering but who would know if you installed it?  

I did a 10 minute  interview last week with Living On Earth podcast that was picked up by several NPS affiliates. Here is the link. I discuss the two different kinds of motivation people might have to adopt this tech (independent-minded leave me alone to make my own energy choices vs I want to do something for the environment and I can afford this. Both can find a reason to drop 1000-1500 for a small easily-installed solar system.

I am curious what others here think about it. 

https://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=25-P13-00041&segmentID=2

Steve 

Great interview, covers all the bases. This is another in a long list of "No Brainer" ideas that should be encouraged and accelerated  into new construction. We hear of the grid falling behind energy demand--if enough of these 5 or 10% augmentations to household electrical systems were in place, perhaps it could take the strain off the grid. I have 6kw in 22 panels on my 10/12 pitch roof in Minneapolis, but we could easily mount another 10+ panels toward the top of our second floor equator-facing wall, which isn't blocked by our neighbor's house---and power our whole 2nd floor and more with it.

In my travels the past 6 years visiting solar thermal cooking fanatics, many are completely off-grid and even in areas with significant cloud cover they're comfortably electrified. This begs the question, if they can do it, why can't some of us actually just say goodbye to the grid altogether? I note that the nomads out there are buying significant power packs to live independently on the road, and the makers of those systems are marketing them as home power-backups as much as owning "wheel estate". The makers play to the "what if your power goes out?" fears, but easily could segue into "Why worry about your power at all? Take control with these systems, and the grid is now your backup..." 

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Luther Krueger
Curator Maximo
Museum of Solar Cooking, Minneapolis
Minneapolis MN
[EmailAddress]
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@Steven Hegedus Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

I add a single panel to my barn array every fall/winter when the sun is low in the sky and the barn roof overhang won't cast a shadow on it. It's a spare panel I bought when I installed one of the upper arrays, and I had a spare microinverter, so I just added it to the circuit with 14 existing roof panels.  Far less than $1000, the panel was around $200 and the microinverter even less than that.  A few odds and ends to make the connection and voila, balcony solar.  

Edit: Tried to attach a photo, no luck.
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Mike Curran
Retired EE
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Mike,

Great idea. You are ahead of the times. I'm wondering - since you are using microinverters, why not leave the module up all year? In summer when it is shaded it will still put out a little due to the diffuse light and won't reduce the output of the rest of the modules since they are independently MP tracked? Save you the trouble of removing and installing it.  Also, was the microinverter originally installed and registered with the company so it can communicate power readings, etc (since everything nowadays has to be linked to the mothership). If it is a rogue device, does the network recognize it? 

Steve 

Original Message:
Sent: 10-28-2025 06:26 PM
From: Mike Curran
Subject: balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

I add a single panel to my barn array every fall/winter when the sun is low in the sky and the barn roof overhang won't cast a shadow on it. It's a spare panel I bought when I installed one of the upper arrays, and I had a spare microinverter, so I just added it to the circuit with 14 existing roof panels.  Far less than $1000, the panel was around $200 and the microinverter even less than that.  A few odds and ends to make the connection and voila, balcony solar.  

Edit: Tried to attach a photo, no luck.
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Mike Curran
Retired EE
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2025 12:13 PM
From: Ella Nielsen
Subject: balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

@Steven Hegedus Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

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Ella Nielsen
Membership & Engagement Director
American Solar Energy Society
Boulder CO

Steve, I didn't think it would generate that much in the shade but I'll try it next year (leave it installed).  The attached microinverter (Enphase M215) is in their system and is included in reports, etc.  Or as you say, it's linked to the mothership:-)  - Mike

Original Message:
Sent: 10-29-2025 06:45 AM
From: Steven Hegedus
Subject: balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

Mike,

Great idea. You are ahead of the times. I'm wondering - since you are using microinverters, why not leave the module up all year? In summer when it is shaded it will still put out a little due to the diffuse light and won't reduce the output of the rest of the modules since they are independently MP tracked? Save you the trouble of removing and installing it.  Also, was the microinverter originally installed and registered with the company so it can communicate power readings, etc (since everything nowadays has to be linked to the mothership). If it is a rogue device, does the network recognize it? 

Steve 

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Steven Hegedus
Professor and Senior Scientist
University of Delaware
Newark Delaware
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-28-2025 06:26 PM
From: Mike Curran
Subject: balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

I add a single panel to my barn array every fall/winter when the sun is low in the sky and the barn roof overhang won't cast a shadow on it. It's a spare panel I bought when I installed one of the upper arrays, and I had a spare microinverter, so I just added it to the circuit with 14 existing roof panels.  Far less than $1000, the panel was around $200 and the microinverter even less than that.  A few odds and ends to make the connection and voila, balcony solar.  

Edit: Tried to attach a photo, no luck.
------------------------------
Mike Curran
Retired EE


Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2025 12:13 PM
From: Ella Nielsen
Subject: balcony solar (aka plug in solar) interview on Living on Earth

@Steven Hegedus Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

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Ella Nielsen
Membership & Engagement Director
American Solar Energy Society
Boulder CO

My first backup power scheme were 12V deep cycle batteries connected to a modified sine wave inverter putting out 120VAC only. All was manual. But it kept the fridges running, the well pump going and even the microwave oven as long as the well pump was not cycling. It all worked very well, something that the bureaucracy of the PV industry today would not like. They would quote you all this, "For the greater good" crap which is how freedom is eventually lost on mass over time. Its what I call the Totalitarianism/Fascist clock where pure freedom is at 12Noon, Fascism is at 6PM, the extreme left is at 9PM and the extreme right is a 3PM. The for the greater good (Left)is the 12==>9==>6 path while the extreme right is 12==>3==>6. They both wind up at 6 but using two different paths. They are furthest apart at 9 and 3, but if you keep pushing (The philosophies) they converge at 6.

Anyway, low tech can work well, but as noted, you have to have the knowledge, etc..

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william fitch
Owner
www.WeAreSolar.com
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