I learned about plug-in solar (or "balcony" solar) a few months ago when I read about a lawmaker who, while traveling in Germany observed solar panels hanging from the balconies of apartment buildings. When they asked if this is something that the landlords do, their host explained that this is something the tenants themselves can do in Germany and that it's very common and affordable. This lawmaker returned to the U.S. and went to work to see if they could make this legal back at home and the reason I was reading an article about it was because they were successful in doing so in their home state.
Plug-in solar is a form of grid-tie solar where the panels feed power into a regular household outlet and provide regular 120VAC power to standard appliances. The result is that less power is needed from the grid, reducing the monthly bill. This replaces power from the grid with power from the sun, and in most places this means less pollution and more energy independence. They don't require installation so they can be used by renters and home owner's alike and they cost less than a large television.
I've experimented with and used solar energy myself for a long time, but I've never really considered grid-tie systems because normally they involve a lot of coordination with the power company which means a lack of flexibility. I don't have the money to deploy a large, permanent solar array so the types of things I use are small panels that I move seasonally or otherwise experiment with. Since a grid-tie system needs to be documented and there's paperwork with the power company involved you can't just change it whenever you want to, and as far as I know, the same thing is true if you want to start small and expand it over time. The other reason I haven't considered grid-tied systems is that most of them provide no "standby" capability: when the grid goes down, you still have no power even if the sun is out, and there's no batteries to provide power harvested from your panels as well.
However, when I heard about plug-in solar I was intrigued because it side-steps the need to involve the power company. In countries like Germany, you simply buy a panel from a regular store, plug it into the wall and begin enjoying the benefits of making your own electricity at home!
This doesn't address the "standby power" question, but as I've written about before I have an answer to that question already so the idea of simple, inexpensive, dynamic grid-tie system that doesn't involve the power company is very attractive to me.
But what's most exciting to me about plug-in solar is what it means for people other than me. I'm comfortable experimenting with the hodge-podge of solar panels, charge controllers, inverters and batteries that I can scrape-up on a budget but I understand that this isn't a luxury everyone has at their disposal. Plug-in solar puts harvesting solar energy at home within reach of exponentially more people than existing off-the-shelf options or DIY hacks. This has the immediate benefit of reducing electric bills and demand from the grid for almost everyone; but I think there's secondary effects that are to me even more exciting than the most obvious ones.
First of all, it's just fun to make your own electricity at home. For example, the plug-in solar systems I've seen provide graphs and data that allow you to visualize the energy you are capturing from the sun, see it flow into your home's electrical system and observe how the power you make reduces your dependence on the grid. When I first started experimenting with solar power this feeling of becoming less dependent on a system I have no control over (or really much say in) was invigorating! It also makes it easier to understand how the electricity you depend on works and you start to think more about how you use it. "Saving energy" by reducing your use of electricity becomes less of a bummer and more of a game: once you start paying attention to how your electricity is made you can see when it is made, how much of it you can make and what you can do to get the most out of the energy you're harvesting at home. This might sound crazy if you haven't done it, but I promise once you try it you'll be surprised at how fun and interesting it becomes, and plug-in solar makes this experience accessible to almost anyone.
While plug-in solar systems don't currently (har har) generate enough power to replace the grid entirely, the combination of what they can provide along with a heightened awareness of how you use electricity works together to reduce your dependency on grid power. When I've experimented with solar myself, it's this combination more so than any new panel or battery technology that makes starting a "solar garden" at home viable. Once you get a taste of this you will likely want more, and plug-in solar makes growing such a garden possible in a way that isn't currently practical with other grid-tie systems.
I can easily imagine a future where home solar panels are as common as WiFi (yes, there was a time when nobody had a wireless network at home!), where you can go to the big-box store and buy a panel and plug it in like you would plug in an inflatable lawn decoration. Each one of these panels chipping-away at our national energy dependence and saving everyone a few bucks at the same time. Each one turning new people on to how they use electricity and shaping that use to further reduce costs and environmental impacts.
And that's just the beginning. Once plug-in solar becomes commonplace, the capabilities of it can expand to provide greater savings and benefits. For example, Bright Saver offers an inexpensive plug-in solar product today that offsets a small amount of grid use, but they are already working on systems to support larger loads like heating and air conditioning. In cold climates making electric heat less expensive means reducing the need for gas heat, which adds an entirely new dimension to the energy independence plug-in solar can facilitate.
The only thing holding this future back is the legal status of plug-in solar in the U.S. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Germany, along with several other countries, have had plug-in solar for years. The technology is well tested, safe and reliable, but it needs legal support before it can be made available to everyone in the U.S. Several states have already passed laws to make it legal, but so far where I live in Wisconsin has not.
So I went digging for ways I could help change that and found a few Quality resources. The first was Bright Saver who tracks the legality of plug-in solar nationwide. They are a member-supported organization that provides both an at-cost plug-in solar product and a citizen playbook for legalization.
The second is Renew Wisconsin , who are in the process of launching a plug-in solar legalization effort here in the Dairy State. I'm hoping to work directly with them to help make plug-in solar legal here as soon as possible because I can see the need for this not only across the state but especially in my own rural community.
As you can tell I'm super excited about this. It's not very often that something I'm working on sync's-up with both the need and demand of a wide audience. I wish there was more I could do to usher this in but it's not a technical problem so what needs to be done is outside of my typical skill-set. That said, I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone to make this happen because I think it's that important, and honestly I think in the end this will not only improve lives and increase autonomy but genuinely make people happy as well.
Jason J. Gullickson, 2026