By Margie Langston
This year, Virginia became only the second state in the country to pass legislation allowing plug-in solar panels (“balcony solar”) to be purchased and used by any residential customer, whether it is a homeowner or a renter. We asked in our April newsletter if anyone has used it or has plans to purchase one or more panels. I am one of those who have expressed interest because my roof is old and shaded by many trees, so it is not suitable for rooftop solar. But I found out several important things that I wanted to share with those considering plug-in solar panels by watching a very informative webinar given by the Sierra Club last month. The webinar, titled “Balcony Solar is Coming to Virginia” provided some great details – including advantages and potential drawbacks — on the panels, and what homeowners can do before the law goes into effect next January. I highly recommend watching the whole webinar if this is of interest to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQJ5Q-MwrWA&t=3194s
The first thing to note is that the law doesn’t take full effect until January 1, 2027. That’s because certain safety reviews of the products need to happen first, and the SCC still needs to publish a required notification form. That form will be available on September 1. While I was surprised that I would need to file something with the SCC, the panelists say it is a very simply form, at no cost, and shouldn’t be a big deal.
The balcony solar bill, as passed, allows Virginia residents to plug in a “small portable solar generation device” with a maximum power output of 1,200 watts at a single premise. A typical panel provides only 300 watts, so this means you can buy several panels, but you can’t plug in more than 400 watts to any one circuit because that could overload your electrical panel box. Otherwise, you’d have to add a dedicated circuit that could handle up to 1200 watts.
The solar panels need at least 6 hours of sunlight, ideally, and the power will go into your house current and then supply power to anything that is on, such as your lights, refrigerator or heating system. But it does not store excess energy, does not feed anything back to the grid, and if your power goes out during a storm, the system cuts off, so you will not be able to power anything during an outage, unfortunately. This is for safety reasons. The exception is if you purchase a battery storage device, which I personally would consider doing.
The panels are lightweight and easy to set up, move, and take with you if you relocate. However, because they will be outside, you will have to plug them in to a protected GFI outlet, such as on a covered porch or balcony. Extension cords are not recommended, although the panelists in the webinar seemed to think that a heavy-duty outside extension cord should not cause any problems. If this puts a constraint on the location of the panels, you might have to get an electrician to put in an outside outlet near the panels.
These pros and cons are worth considering, but I still firmly believe that if everyone got 15 to 20% of their energy from plug-in solar panels instead of the utility company, we’d all be better off. The good news is that the prices are going down rapidly for these panels, making the payback time that much less. A group called Bright Saver has a kit you can buy for $285.00 that provides two panels that total 390 watts (staying under the 400 watt max). They are a San Francisco-based nonprofit that has been the leading advocacy organization behind plug-in solar legislation, working with lawmakers in 28+ states and creating model legislation. To date, eight more states have approved balcony solar this year, and 35 more have introduced bills for next year.
Leaders in the plug-in solar movement say that Virginia’s passing of this reflects “a growing shift toward ‘permissionless’ customer-generated solar energy that benefits all ratepayers, particularly tenants,” and signals “yet another small step towards a broader transition in Virginia’s energy economy, from its historic reliance on fossil fuels toward solar and battery storage.”