It’s a dream come true for the average homeowner. Walk into Walmart, Home Depot — any big box store — pick up a couple of solar panels, head home, plug them in, and you’re ready to go.
What seemed like a pipe dream just a few years ago is quickly becoming a reality across the country as balcony solar bills storm their way through U.S. state legislatures. But those bills will be ultimately meaningless if there are no products on the shelves.
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has already begun selling plug-in solar and storage systems in Germany, but the technology isn’t quite so ubiquitous in the U.S. yet. Still, there are a select few pioneer companies who have begun putting balcony solar products on American shelves.
A look at a balcony solar market leader
Doug Hewitt, U.S. director for APsystems, says that the DIY solar market is always going to have a soft spot in his heart. His firm’s EZ1 plug-in solar systems offers a new solution for that market in the U.S., he says.
“APsystems has been doing the EZ1, the plug-in solar, over in Europe for the last few years,” Hewitt says. “We were one of the first ones to have it available over here in the U.S., and we brought it in right around the time that Utah passed their bill. I would say it didn’t start off very quickly but then it started to gain some traction. Now, we have 33 states that have passed laws, or are looking at it.”
The company’s EZ1 system is “all people come and talk to me about now,” according to Hewitt. With the plug-in microinverter itself coming in at about $250, and full panel and mounting kits often showing for about $750, the plug-in market could become mainstream for America’s middle class very quickly, he says.
“A lot of people are a little bit unsure as far as plugging it in; they’re not used to having solar yet,” he says. “You have your DIYers, your renters. People just want to have a little bit of their own say as far as what they’re paying, when we continuously have rates going up all over the place.
“I think the fact that anybody can shave a little bit of money off their bill just makes them feel empowered.”
There is truth to Hewitt’s words, with the average American household seeing a 40% increase in utility bills since 2021, according to the Washington Post. He says the EZ1 not only offers a solution that will pay for itself relatively quickly, but it allows for new demographics like apartment renters to get into the solar market.
“I remember when I set mine up, I honestly couldn’t believe how intuitive and easy it was,” Hewitt says. “That’s when I was really sold on the product myself. Quite literally anybody can do this because it just plugs in, and then it’s done through wi-fi and Bluetooth. It’s crazy easy.”
Cora Stryker, co-founder of Californian solar non-profit Bright Saver, says her company works with APsystems — alongside several other manufacturers — to get their products out of the factory and into the market. While not a manufacturer itself, Bright Saver has become a crucial component of the plug-in system market.
“Bright Saver, as a nonprofit, we are committed to the vision of getting balcony solar systems into the hands of every American who wants them,” Stryker says. “There’s a huge group of Americans who want the power to purchase their own power. They are seeing their energy bills rise every month, and they feel completely powerless to stop it. … And paradoxically, energy has never been cheaper to produce.”
Solar power has become the cheapest energy that humanity has ever been able to produce, according to Stryker. Bright Saver currently has two different plug-in solar kits available for shipping within California, with the NEM Go listed at just under $2,000, and the NEM Pro at just under $1,500. Stryker estimates that once more states pass pro-balcony solar legislation, those prices will plummet even further.
“A lot of the real barriers we’ve discovered are regulatory,” she says. “Currently as of today, we have 35 states who have introduced this legislation, plus D.C. Legislators coast to coast, and in Hawaii and Alaska, all over the 50 states, recognize that their constituents need some way to lower their electricity bills. But they have no access to the cheap solar technology that would reduce those electricity bills.”
As the American electrical grid experiences further strain at peak times, plug-in solar could become potentially life-saving technology, Stryker says. Systems like the EZ1 or the Hoymiles HMS-1000 microinverter could be crucial for renters and homeowners who need to keep medicine cold, or those who rely on electrically-powered machinery in their daily lives.
In Germany, these plug-in systems pay for themselves within one to two years, according to Stryker. The goal for the U.S. should be to reach that level, and such a goal is becoming more realistic by the day, she says.
“(Success is when) we look like Germany,” she says. “Anyone can buy these for a few hundred dollars, bring them home, plug them in, and start reducing their energy bills and having more energy independence, in the case of an increasingly unreliable grid going down.”
Tags: APsystems, balcony solar, plug-in solar, policy
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