As utility bills climb and contribute to broader cost-of-living challenges across the United States, legislators see the portable tech as an affordability tool. It literally empowers people, said New York Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a Democrat who in September introduced a bill to pave the way for small-scale solar.
“People are extremely enthusiastic about it,” noted Gallagher, a renter who longs for a plug-in system of her own.
An 800-watt unit that costs $1,099 is capable of powering a fridge or a few small appliances for a sunny fraction of the day. That’s enough power to reduce bills for a New York household by $279 per year on average, Gallagher said. Assuming utility costs continue to rise, those savings could increase to $327 per year by 2035.
Plug-in solar is already booming in Europe. As many as 4 million households in Germany have installed the systems, which people can order through Ikea.
But in the U.S., outside of Utah, the tech is stuck in regulatory limbo. While the systems aren’t illegal, utilities often require users to sign an interconnection agreement before plugging in solar — just as they would for a large rooftop array. And those agreements can require fees and take weeks to months to get.
Utah did away with that interconnection requirement, so long as a nationally recognized testing laboratory certifies the solar device is safe to use. All the other legislation introduced since would do the same.
“The technology has evolved, and the law hasn’t caught up yet,” Phillips said. Putting up her own system might be “an act of solar civil disobedience,” she mused.