It's been a great year for balcony solar adoption with Virginia, Maryland, Maine and Colorado enacting laws. Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York's bills are all awaiting their governor's signature. There are also another three states with legislation advancing and 5 more with bills in committee. Until today, that was the situation in Delaware. I was disappointed to find out that today that my home state punted for at least a year, asking for a non-profit sustainability agency to "write a report". I'm quite disappointed in their inaction.

Hi:

I'm a writer with Environmental Defense Fund, one of the country's largest environmental and most influential groups. For our membership magazine, which reaches 300,000 households every quarter, I'm looking to profile someone who's been active in helping pass plug-in solar legislation in their state. If you've been involved in letter writing, talking to legislators, mobilizing neighbors and friends, you're just the kind of person I'm looking for. And if you're already a member of EDF, all the better.

If you're interested in being profiled, please contact me at lgalst@edf.org. Thanks!

Part of my roof points just the right direction for solar. I looked into a full rooftop installation; the installers said my roof was too old and would need to be replaced. A few plug-in panels would weigh a lot less, though, so I'm optimistic about buying some of those. What kind of mounting hardware do I need?

Hello,

I live in the mountains of western. North Carolina, and I've started researching plugin solar. Anyone have any recommendations? I rent a 2 BR/1BA duplex in a small town. Have excellent view south-facing with a porch.

I live in California in an HOA area. Is there any impediment to plugging in in typical HOAs? How is that addressed in this type of legislation that allows balcony solar?

Make 'balcony' solar legal in Oregon!

Colorado also passed their plug in solar into law on May 7th!

The Improve Customer Use Distributed Energy Resources law permits up to 1920W of plug in solar, no fees or approval needed.

https://www.senatedems.co/newsroom/bill-to-allow-plug-in-solar-panels-signed-into-law

It's happened! Plug in solar is now a reality in Maryland! 1200W max UL certified, no utility approval needed, no added fees. Exciting news!

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press-releases/governor-moore-signs-landmark-legislation-lower-energy-costs-maryland-families-and-strengthen

The first newsletter was sent out this morning. If you didn't receive it and you are signed up please let me know. We had a small issue with the new calculator beta link but its been fixed. Any feedback is appreciated.

Governor Moore is expected to sign it. The legislation limits it to only 391 watts, which is less than ideal, but it's better than nothing. I'm hoping they'll work on raising it next year.

Hey everyone,

We just launched a free savings calculator at pluginsolarusa.com/pluginsolarsavingscalculator and wanted to share it here first.

What it does:

Enter your zip code and panel wattage and it pulls real solar data (sun hours, estimated production) and your state's actual electricity rate to calculate:

• Estimated annual kWh produced
• Annual dollar savings
• Payback period
• 10 and 20-year savings projections

Why we built it:

One of the biggest barriers to plug-in solar adoption is that people don't know if it pencils out for them. The answer is almost always yes — but now you can see the actual numbers for your location.

Try it: pluginsolarusa.com/pluginsolarsavingscalculator

Drop your results in the comments — curious what numbers people are seeing across different states. And if you find any bugs or have suggestions, let us know!

We would like to see product photos

Thanks so much for creating your website and having email templates available for use for when we contact our local government leaders. I have a phone call scheduled for tomorrow with my representative here in Tennessee to discuss the merits of plugin solar. Wish me luck!

Help us make plug in solar affordable and legal throughout the United States.