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Twenty four US states are now considering legislation to allow small, plug-in solar power systems that connect directly into a wall socket. (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/energy@slrpnk.net

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I'm a little wary of plug-in solar in the US. Some of the bills propose allowing 1200 watt panels which can overload wiring depending on what else is on the circuit and how in the wall wiring is run. Limiting plug-in panel wattage to, say, 400 watts might be necessary

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[–] Cricket@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago

In Germany, where these "balcony solar" devices have been approved for years and seem to be the most popular out of any country, the panels have all kinds of safety mechanisms. One of them is a mechanism that shuts of the power coming from the panel if it detects that line power has been lost. It seems that this is what would prevent it from shocking electricians working on lines that they think are unpowered. This article goes into details about the various safety mechanisms on these: https://balkon.solar/news/2025/03/17/how-does-plug-in-pv-in-germany-work/