You want to reduce your electricity bill and help feed your home with an abundant renewable energy source: the sun?
Ok, it may not have a roof in which you can install solar panels worth $ 20,000 to 30,000, obtain permits and hire a crew to put them.
But there is a simple and affordable solution for people who have houses or condominiums, or rent an apartment.
The plug -in balcony solar panels are a cleaning power solution that not only helps appliances and devices in homes, but also reduce electricity costs at a time when the cost of energy, along with everything else, is increasing.
They have become popular in Germany and other parts of Europe, as well as in the United States, while these Plug-And-Play units are not easily available in Canada, and could face bureaucratic obstacles to approve, solar energy proponents say there will be consumer interest and requires Canada to rise on board.
“We are about to find out what that accumulated demand is,” said Phil McKay of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association (Canla).
The scientists set out to explore the impact of covering all roofs on Earth with solar panels. His research found that the exchange of traditional energy sources for solar energy on the roof could actually cool the planet, reducing global temperatures up to 0.13 ° C.
How do they work?
You may have seen portable solar panels of 100 watts in your local hardware store that you can carry with you camping or with a cabin to load your cell phone or other small devices.
The plug -in balcony solar kits are somewhat similar, says Kevin Chou, co -founder of San Francisco Bright Saver, whose goal is to bring this technology to a broader North American market.
The difference is that with the solar balcony, you can feed small appliances, lights and other domestic electrical items of a light panel that can install it on a balcony or next to your home.
A solar unit of plug -in balcony that can generate up to 800 watts can cost between $ 2,000 to $ 2,300 US, but a 200 watt kit is sold for only $ 400.
As Chou explains, the panels connect to an inverter, as well as typical photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, except that it is much smaller and connects directly to a standard power outlet.
“It simply pushes electricity to that plug at a slightly higher pressure than the rest of the electricity that comes out of the network, so that it first uses the electricity of its solar panels,” Chou said. Any unused power is absorbed in the electricity grid.
Some newer and expensive kits also have batteries that can store electricity for later use.
Chou says that the energy of these systems is not significant enough to address all domestic energy needs.
In Canada, the average separate home uses approximately 13,000 kilowatts hours of electricity per year, while an apartment or condominium in a high -level building could use around 5,900 kWh per year, according to Statistics Canada.
But depending on where he lives and his general energy costs, he says that the solar balcony can shave some money from his monthly bill.
In northern California, where Chou lives, it can operate at $ 30 to $ 50 US off per month.
What the devilSweet Solar Silence in the Land of Sun of midnight
Great in Germany
Chou says he was inspired to try to develop a market for plug -in balcony solar units in North America after his success in Germany in recent years.
BalkonkraftwerkAs is known in German (translation: balcony energy plant), it grew in popularity after the country began to move away from its dependence on Russian cheap oil after its invasion of Ukraine 2022, which increased the cost of power for residents.
Around 1.5 million German houses, many of them apartments are registered as using balcony solar panels, although many more could be registered.
McKay says they are not contributing a large amount of solar energy to the German network, “but what it is doing is affecting millions and millions of people of people” by saving up to 30 percent in energy invoices, according to some estimates.
The demand is now growing in Spain and in some other European countries, while the United Kingdom government announced last month that studies the potential to allow solar balcony panels for apartments.
A balcony of Balcony Greenlit Red State Solar. Why not Canada?
Germany Balkonkraftwerk The success story also caught the attention of the UTAH legislator, Raymond Ward, a Republican state representative who successfully approved legislation earlier this year to allow the use of plug -in solar panels, the first anywhere in the United States.
Given the political environment in the United States and the division on climate change, it could be a surprise that a red state like Utah leads the position. Ward says it was a matter of offering residents the opportunity to save money, and his legislation takes out “the government out of their way.”
He says that it was not that the Plug-And-Pay Solar Units were prohibited, but that the regulations only covered the solar panel systems on the roof, which was not allowed directly to be connected to an existing electrical system and had a contract with the local utility.
“That makes sense if you will cover your entire roof with them and expect the public services company to pay some money for that power,” Ward said. “But it makes no sense if you are only buying something small and ignites it and does not ask [the utility] For anything. ”
Public services went up on board, he says, once they realized that they would not have to compensate customers for the power they were generating.
Part of the challenge, he said, was the certification. The units, as a whole, do not have UL certification, the standard electronics certification in the United States, but the individual components are, which has given some companies the green light to sell their plug -in solar kits in Utah and some other parts of the country.
UL is also a recognized certification in Canada, but the Association of Canadian standards (CSA Group) certifies most electronic for use in this country.
CSA Group confirmed to CBC News that the solar balcony units “are not evaluated or certified as independent products” and that “the complete complement configuration is beyond the reach of our current certification frames.”
There is also the challenge of obtaining provinces, municipalities and public services on board.
CBC News communicated with several provincial and municipal governments, as well as public service providers, and discovered that many had not yet considered the potential use of solar panels of DIY plugs or considered that it is similar to the solar facilities on the roof that require permits and contractors with license to install.
Alberta, however, could provide an opportunity. A spokesman for the Ministry of Alfibility and Utilities of the Province says that plug -in solar balcony technology would be under the existing micro generation regulation, which allows generators capable of producing less than 150 kilowatts of electricity connect to the network.
Canada’s sun industry is growing rapidly, but as Canadians consider buying renewable solutions, complaints are increasing on high pressure tactics and unfair prices by some vendors.
Better integration
Liam O’Brien, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University in Ottawa, sees people give people a “tangible connection” with energy resources.
But Balcony Plug-In Solar is not necessarily the solution you would like to see.
It is more in favor that solar energy is integrated into buildings when they are built or renewed, something that has happened in some places in Canada, including an apartment building in Toronto and in a student residence at the University of Saint Mary of Halifax.
O’Brien says that the integration of solar panels into construction not only centralizes energy generation, but also addresses any security concern around people who place panels to their balconies.
It is also a better use of space, he says, and he could save the developers in other material costs while offering a cheaper energy source to residents.
The Loyola residence, the highest building integrated in Solar in North America, was recently honored at the Clean50 Taps Projects Awards. Molly Macnaughton has the story.
