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By Canary Media
By Canary Media
Canary Media
The Socket Full of Sunshine Act would require state utility regulators to consider clearing the way for plug-in solar and would offer rebates for low-income households.
(Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, introduced the first federal bill aimed at legalizing solar panels that simply plug into an outlet. The legislation would require all state public utility commissions to consider rules that would enable Americans to access this DIY clean energy tech, and would create a program to help lower-income households afford the systems.
“Families are getting squeezed by electric bills that keep going up,” Menendez said in a statement. “Plug-in solar is a simple, affordable way to cut those bills, but outdated rules and unnecessary fees are standing in the way. The Socket Full of Sunshine Act clears those barriers so more families, including renters, can start saving.”
Balcony solar, which has been attracting increasing interest around the U.S. this year, typically consists of one to four solar panels that plug into a normal 120-volt wall outlet. When the sun is shining, these tiny home power plants can produce enough energy to supply a laptop, a fridge, an air conditioner, or a few small appliances.
While that’s not a lot of electricity, a balcony or backyard setup can have a payback period of as little as 2.5 years instead of the 10-plus years typical for a more powerful rooftop array. Depending on local electricity rates, plug-in solar can save households hundreds of dollars a year on utility bills thereafter.
However, in the U.S., no single standard allowing the safe use of the technology exists. Instead, the country has a patchwork of state-level regulation.
Deep-red Utah passed the nation’s first law to legalize plug-in solar last year. This year, 10 more states followed suit — including California, Colorado, Maryland, and Virginia — and now await plug-in solar kits certified safe by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as UL Solutions. Lawmakers in more than 20 other states introduced balcony-solar bills this year but didn’t manage to get them across the finish line.
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If passed, the Menendez bill would be “an incredible accelerant,” said Cora Stryker, cofounder of Bright Saver, a nonprofit that advocates for plug-in solar. “It’s going to make [balcony solar] an issue that has to be addressed in all 50 states.”
The bill would require state utility regulators to start proceedings on plug-in solar within one year of the legislation’s passage and wrap up within two years. It would also create a federal rebate program for low- and moderate-income households to get up to $1,000 off the cost of a system, and require states to protect renters’ rights to use balcony solar to get the funding. A 1,200-watt kit, the max size allowed under the bill, can cost more than $2,000.
Only devices with more than 55% American-made components by cost would qualify for rebates, in a bid to support the development of American manufacturing capacity for balcony solar kits. Currently no such kits are made in the U.S., Stryker said.
The bill is unlikely to move forward in the waning days of this Congress. But it could be reintroduced after the new Congress is seated in January.
Menendez will likely have company at that point. Bright Saver is working with three other U.S. representatives and one U.S. senator “from a red state” on their own forthcoming balcony-solar bills, Stryker said. These bills could take a different tack instead of requiring state utility regulators to consider balcony solar, though Stryker declined to disclose further details.
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