GUEST APPEARANCE: A 'sunny' proposal
Many conservation-minded New Yorkers have accused Gov. Hochul of going soft on environmental issues, mostly for political reasons. She now seems to have an easy avenue to at least partly repair that impression. It’s called the SUNNY Act and it recently passed both New York legislative chambers and is currently on her desk for consideration.
The substance of the Act is to enable people to purchase small solar panel systems that can be plugged into ordinary household electrical outlets. A small inverter transforms the DC current produced by the panels into AC current that then reduces the amount of electricity drawn from the utility grid. The electrical bill savings are modest (less so in New York — one of the most expensive states in terms of the cost of electricity) but could run up to $50 per month depending on factors such as the number and size of panels, and the amount of sunlight reaching the panels.
Such a solar set-up could be a game changer for people in apartments, condominiums, and other residences where a roof-top solar panel system is not viable. The panels can be hung over apartment balconies (hence, they are sometimes referred to as balcony solar) or placed in gardens or other locales where ample quantities of sunlight exist.
The solar packages are already for sale over the internet (Google “plug in solar”), and easily installed by the consumer. And importantly, the proposed New York law prohibits utility companies from interfering with customers implementing them.
The solar packages are already popular in Europe. In Germany, for instance, where packages are sold at stores such as Ikea, roughly 10% of the households have adopted them. In the U.S., states such as Virginia, Utah and Maine have already passed laws similar to the one proposed for New York.
The cost of plug-in or balcony solar is of course critical, and will vary depending on the size and quality of the package. Expect to pay somewhere between several hundreds of dollars to something over one thousand. For New Yorkers, again because of the high cost of electricity here, it is reasonable to expect a return on investment in two years or so. We might also suspect that as such solar kits become more popular, and the technology continues to improve, that the costs will go down.
There are some legitimate concerns about plug-in solar. Utility companies have cited safety issues for their linemen during a power outage — for instance, electricity from these solar set-ups might still flow back into the grid even during the outage. Another potential problem is that the plug-ins could possibly jeopardize ground fault interrupter devices. There may also be a danger of shocks to persons not realizing that the solar kit plug is still electrified when pulled from the electrical outlet.
To date plug-in solar has not been certified as safe by an independent testing laboratory, which is a requirement under the New York law. The states that have given a green light to plug-in solar have also conditioned their approval upon such certification. However, it has been reported that Underwriters Laboratories (UL) will shortly give approval to certain solar packages.
Not surprisingly, utility companies (ConEd being an exception) and other groups have mounted opposition to such laws, citing safety and fire issues. It does seem that the noted concerns can be adequately mitigated. Germany seems to have managed.
Interestingly, while the New York Senate passed the plug-in solar law unanimously, our local Assembly members, Gallahan, Manktelow, Palmesano and Bailey all voted against the measure. I tried to contact Mr. Gallahan by email and have him explain his reasoning but never received a response. Whether these nay votes were products of reasoned opposition or simply knee-jerk, MAGA-like aversions to anything solar, remain to be seen. We can all have our suspicions.
Hopefully, Gov. Hochul will give a significant segment of her constituency the option of taking some control over their energy usage, simultaneously acknowledging that solar power is becoming an increasingly important component of our future energy needs.
John Gilbert is a retired attorney, having practiced in Canandaigua, and is a frequent contributor to the Finger Lakes Times opinion page. He is married with two grown children and lives in the town of Middlesex.