CONTRIBUTOR'S VIEW - L. Michelle Moore: Bring Your Own Plug-In Solar?

The concept is straightforward and simple, but using a plug-in appliance (a solar panel, in this case) to provide power instead of consuming it is a new application of an existing technology. So, as you might imagine, it has raised some reasonable questions about safety and standards to make sure people can be confident that they’re buying a product that will work. In response, UL Solutions (formerly Underwriters Laboratory) has developed a national testing and certification system.

The States of Utah and Virginia have already passed plug-in solar legislation that requires safety certification and makes these small residential systems exempt from the commercial permitting requirements that larger grid-connected solar installations complete. Nearly 30 states in total, including Georgia, have also introduced bipartisan plug-in solar bills, but legislation has been delayed by lingering questions about how it works and whether feeding power into a home through a plug-in appliance could create a safety hazard for utility workers.

While there are still important technical questions to answer before plug-in solar is available to households in Georgia and Alabama, kits may be coming to a DIY home improvement store near you if the million German families using plug-in solar is any measure. After all, the federal government and an increasing number of states are passing new laws that let big corporations “bring their own power,” and it’s only fair that our families should be able to do the same, too.