Colorado consumers are apparently clamoring for what Germans already have in droves, pushing legislators to clear the way for a “plug-in solar” revolution to take hold here by the end of the year.
One portable panel the size of a full-length mirror, also called “balcony solar” in Europe, can plug directly into home or apartment sockets or one of the increasingly popular home storage batteries. The panels can be bolted to a deck or patio or hung out a window, generating enough electricity to power crucial appliances like refrigerators or store up enough energy for an outage lasting a few hours.
Improved technology, regulatory reform and growing hordes of solar-educated consumers are powering legislatures across the country to pass laws requiring regulators and utilities to ease installation and acceptance of the panels. Homeowners who couldn’t afford a $30,000 rooftop system, or apartment dwellers who wanted in on solar savings, point to Utah’s recent passage of a bill and are demanding their Colorado representatives do the same, legislators said at a demonstration Wednesday in the Capitol rotunda.
“We were in Germany visiting our family, and we were walking in my sister-in-law’s neighborhood and I looked up at an apartment building and I saw several balconies with a solar panel. I said, ‘Oh my gosh, look at that.’” said Rep. Lesley Smith, D-Boulder. “So when I flew back, literally the next day, I got an email from a constituent telling me about a bill in Utah.”
By last June, according to Germany’s solar association, 1 million residents there had installed a European version of plug-in solar. At a time when tariff costs are rising and federal tax credits are disappearing for larger-scale solar, Namaste Solar co-owner Jason Sharpe said plug-in solar and home battery storage are the most exciting areas in clean energy.
A plug-in system with a storage battery should be available for about $2,000 when the Colorado market opens up after House Bill 1007’s expected passage, Sharpe said.
“You can, in some instances, purchase plug-in solar, but right now it is totally unregulated in the state of Colorado,” said Rep. Rebekah Stewart, D-Lakewood and Edgewater, cosponsor of the bill. “We want to make sure that we are removing barriers and red tape to actually being able to legally access plug-in solar.”
According to the bill, consumers would not need approval from retail or wholesale electric providers before installing the devices, and no one can impose “unreasonable” conditions on installing and using the panels.
“There are about 30 states across the United States that are running balcony solar bills,” said Sharpe, who was explaining a beta setup of a potential plug-in system to legislators and staff. “There are manufacturers very excited to start deploying the product.”
A second part of the bill would ease the way for so-called “meter collars,” a receptacle plug-in to a home’s existing electric meter that makes a safe two-way connection to the grid for a full rooftop solar array, with a large battery storage system. The collars can be installed for about $500 to $700, and preclude the need for a full electrical circuit panel upgrade that can run up to $10,000.
Word is getting around, said cosponsor Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, and there appears to be little opposition beyond utilities seeking language tweaks for safety.
“It passed in a Republican state, it passed in Utah with 100% of the vote, and all of our constituents started emailing us,” Kipp said.
The portable panels can run a few appliances at once or put storage into the battery, but even at peak generation could supply no more than a quarter of the average home’s electrical needs. It would be extremely rare for a balcony system to generate enough extra to send back out onto the grid and run a meter backward, Sharpe said.
The panels do, however, offer progress toward the goal of “distributed solar.” The plug-in panels can charge home batteries, and clearing the way for more meter collars allows the battery storage to run back onto the grid and ease peak demand. The easy-to-use panels also serve as a starter pack for people who want solar and may later move into a larger home that could support a full rooftop assembly, Sharpe said.
“It’s a gateway to rooftop solar,” Kipp said. “It’s an introductory thing for people who want to be part of the clean energy economy and don’t have another way to do it.”