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There's been a wave of legislation[1] introduced in the US to legalize so-called "balcony solar," small grid-tied solar systems that plug into a regular househo

There's been a wave of legislation[1] introduced in the US to legalize so-called "balcony solar," small grid-tied solar systems that plug into a regular household outlet with zero permitting or interconnect requirements. This is already common in Europe, it's mildly complicated by our split-phase system but not much. The reason for the high burden today is people have developed an inflated sense of how much the kWh they generate is worth. They install massive systems on their roofs to try to "cancel out" their power bill by exporting their entire daily power consumption over the course of a few sunny hours, which (when all their neighbors do the same) ends up being a costly burden for grid operators who then pass the costs on to users without panels. Smaller systems focused on immediate, local consumption rather than export are much better for the grid which is why they have support. 1. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/balcony-solar-taking-state-legislatures-by-storm https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/balcony-solar-tak...

declan_roberts 6mo ago
"Costly burden" is an incredible statement. The utilities get what is effectively free electricity generation. Remember every solar customer still pays the grid connection fee, which goes to maintain the grid. They love to market a "green energy" plan where they pay you 3c for your exported power and charge somebody miles away 25c for it!
- hamdingers 6mo ago
  It's a true statement and a real problem. These wildcat megawatt-scale generation facilities built on top of suburban neighborhoods produce an un-curtail-able midday oversupply of electricity driving energy prices into the negative. The power has to go somewhere, SoCal grid operators have to pay real money to neighboring grids to accept the energy being generated while also paying the homeowner who generated it. No grid connection fee comes close to covering this, it's paid for by increasing rates for everyone else. Net metering was a stupid deal cooked up by politicians who are incapable of systems thinking, or simply decided appealing to suburban voters was more important than grid stability. It's getting better[1] but still a problem, and the solutions being pursued are: discourage export in favor of onsite storage (done by NEM 3.0) and encourage smaller solar installs (balcony solar). 1. https://www.caiso.com/content/monthly-market-performance/jan-2026/executive-summary.html#:~:text=The%20cumulative%20frequency%20of%20prices,2.59%20percent%20in%202026%20January. https://www.caiso.com/content/monthly-market-performance/jan...
  - declan_roberts 6mo ago
    I'll believe they're serious about this problem when they stop charging TOU customers PEAK DEMAND prices during the duck curve. They're soaking out of both sides of their mouth.
    - hamdingers 6mo ago
      The reason for that is explained in the comment you replied to, you just have to put the pieces together.

declan_roberts 6mo ago

"Costly burden" is an incredible statement. The utilities get what is effectively free electricity generation. Remember every solar customer still pays the grid connection fee, which goes to maintain the grid. They love to market a "green energy" plan where they pay you 3c for your exported power and charge somebody miles away 25c for it!

hamdingers 6mo ago
It's a true statement and a real problem. These wildcat megawatt-scale generation facilities built on top of suburban neighborhoods produce an un-curtail-able midday oversupply of electricity driving energy prices into the negative. The power has to go somewhere, SoCal grid operators have to pay real money to neighboring grids to accept the energy being generated while also paying the homeowner who generated it. No grid connection fee comes close to covering this, it's paid for by increasing rates for everyone else. Net metering was a stupid deal cooked up by politicians who are incapable of systems thinking, or simply decided appealing to suburban voters was more important than grid stability. It's getting better[1] but still a problem, and the solutions being pursued are: discourage export in favor of onsite storage (done by NEM 3.0) and encourage smaller solar installs (balcony solar). 1. https://www.caiso.com/content/monthly-market-performance/jan-2026/executive-summary.html#:~:text=The%20cumulative%20frequency%20of%20prices,2.59%20percent%20in%202026%20January. https://www.caiso.com/content/monthly-market-performance/jan...
- declan_roberts 6mo ago
  I'll believe they're serious about this problem when they stop charging TOU customers PEAK DEMAND prices during the duck curve. They're soaking out of both sides of their mouth.
  - hamdingers 6mo ago
    The reason for that is explained in the comment you replied to, you just have to put the pieces together.