Here in the U.S., though, there is no market for balcony solar. Ward, a Republican state representative in Utah who learned about the tech last year, wants that to change. The way he sees it, this is an obvious solution to surging power demand<\/a>. \u201cYou look over there and say, \u2018Well, that\u2019s working,\u2019\u201d he told Grist. \u201cSo what is it that stops us from having it here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n His colleagues agree. Last month, the Legislature unanimously passed a bill he sponsored to boost the tech, and Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed it. H.B. 340<\/a> exempts portable solar devices from state regulations that require owners of rooftop solar arrays<\/a> and other power-generating systems to sign an interconnection agreement with their local utility. These deals, and other \u201csoft costs\u201d like permits, can nearly double<\/a> the price of going solar.<\/p>\n Utah\u2019s law marks the nation\u2019s first significant step to remove barriers to balcony solar \u2014 but bigger obstacles remain. Regulations and standards governing electrical devices haven\u2019t kept pace with development of the technology, and it lacks essential approvals required for adoption \u2014 including compliance with the National Electrical Code and a product safety standard from Underwriters Laboratories. Nothing about the bill Ward wrote changes that: Utahans still can\u2019t install balcony solar because none of the systems have been nationally certified.<\/p>\n These challenges will take time and effort to overcome, but they\u2019re not insurmountable, advocates of the technology said. Even now, a team of entrepreneurs and research scientists, backed by federal funding, are creating these standards. Their work mirrors what happened in Germany nearly a decade ago, when clean energy advocates and companies began lobbying the country\u2019s electrical certification body to amend safety regulations to legalize balcony solar.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2017, Verband der Elektrotechnik, or VDE, a German certification body that issues product and safety standards for electrical products, released the first guideline that allowed for balcony solar systems. While such systems existed before VDE took this step, the benchmark it established allowed manufacturers to sell them widely, creating a booming industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRelentless individuals\u201d were key to making that happen, said Christian Ofenheusle, the founder of EmpowerSource, a Berlin-based company that promotes balcony solar. Members of a German solar industry association spent years advocating for the technology and worked with VDE to carve a path toward standardizing balcony solar systems. The initial standard was followed by revised versions in 2018 and 2019 that further outlined technical requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n The regulatory structure has continued to evolve. Ofenheusle has worked with other advocates to amend grid safety standards, create simple online registration for plug-in devices, and enshrine renters\u2019 right to balcony solar<\/a>. Politicians supported such efforts because they see the tech easing the nation\u2019s reliance on Russian natural gas. Cities like Berlin<\/a> and Munich<\/a> have provided millions of euros in subsidies to help households buy these systems, and the country is creating a safety standard for batteries that can store the energy for later use.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the United States has yet to take the first step of creating a safety standard for the technology. U.S. electrical guidelines don\u2019t account for the possibility of plugging a power-generating device into a household outlet. The nation also operates on a different system that precludes simply copying and pasting Germany\u2019s rules. The U.S. grid, for example, operates at 120 volts, while that country\u2019s grid operates at 230 volts.<\/p>\n Without proper standards, a balcony solar system could pose several hazards.\u00a0<\/p>\n One concern is a phenomenon called breaker masking. Within a home, a single circuit can provide power to several outlets. Each circuit is equipped with a circuit breaker, a safety device within the electrical panel that shuts off power if that circuit is overloaded, which happens when too many appliances try to draw too much electricity at the same time. That prevents overheating or a fire. When a balcony solar device sends power into a circuit while other appliances are drawing power from the circuit, the breaker can\u2019t detect that added power supply. If the circuit becomes overloaded \u2014 imagine turning on your TV while a space heater is running and you\u2019re charging your laptop, all in the same room \u2014 the circuit breaker might fail to activate.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was a concern in Germany, so it developed standards that limit balcony solar units to just 800 watts, about half the amount used by a hairdryer<\/a>. That threshold is considered low enough that even in the country\u2019s oldest homes, the wiring can withstand the heating that occurs in even the worst of worst-case scenarios, said Sebastian M\u00fcller, chair of the German Balcony Solar Association, a consumer education and advocacy group. As a result, Ofenheusle said there haven\u2019t been any cases of breaker masking causing harm. In fact, with millions of the devices installed nationwide, Germany has yet to see any safety issues beyond a few cases where someone tampered with the devices to add a car battery or other unsuitable hardware, he said.<\/p>\n Another issue in the U.S. is the lack of a compatible safety device called a ground fault circuit interrupter, or a GFCI. They are typically built into outlets installed near water sources, like a sink, washing machine, or bathtub. They\u2019re designed to minimize the risk of electric shock by cutting off power when, for example, a hairdryer falls into a sink. Yet there are no certified GFCI outlets in the U.S. designed for use with devices that consume power, like a blender, and those that generate it, like a balcony solar setup. Germany\u2019s equivalent of a GFCI, called a residual current device, can detect bidirectional power flows, said Andreas Schmitz, a mechanical engineer and YouTuber in Germany who makes videos about balcony solar.<\/p>\n Some people have raised concerns about the shock risk of touching the metal prongs of a plug after unplugging a balcony solar device. German regulators accounted for that by requiring the microinverter \u2014 which converts currents from the panel into electricity fed into the home \u2014 shut down immediately in an outage or when it is suddenly unplugged. Most of them already have this feature, but any U.S. standard will likely need to formalize that requirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lack of an Underwriters Laboratories, or UL, standard is perhaps the biggest obstacle to the adoption of balcony solar. The company certifies the safety of thousands of household electrical products; according to Iowa State University<\/a>, \u201cevery light bulb, lamp, or outlet purchased in the U.S. usually has a UL symbol and says UL Listed.\u201d This assures customers that the product follows nationally recognized guidelines and can be used without the risk of a fire or shock<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While some companies have sold plug-in solar devices in the U.S. without a UL listing, the company\u2019s seal of approval typically is a prerequisite for selling products on the wider market. Consumers might be wary of using something that lacks its approval. Utah\u2019s new balcony solar policy, for example, specifies that the law applies only to UL-listed products.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read Next<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels<\/a><\/p>\n Achim Ginsberg-Klemmt, vice president of engineering at the plug-in solar startup GismoPower<\/a>, has been working on creating such a standard for more than a year and a half. In 2023, the Department of Energy awarded his company a grant to work with UL to develop a standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/balcony-solar-system-germany-united-states-us-regulation-safety.jpeg\")
Balcony solar systems feature one or two small photovoltaic panels and a microinverter and generate enough power to charge a laptop or power a small fridge.
\n Tobias Schwarz \/ AFP via Getty<\/p>\n![\"Solar](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/home-balcony-solar-germany-renewable-clean-energy.jpeg\")
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