More on possibility of ‘balcony solar’ in NH

I had solar panels put on my roof six years ago, facing south to maximize production.

Some trees have grown since then, as trees are wont to do, and I should really put panels on other parts of the roof to avoid the shade. But it’s not worth the cost of getting installers up there for the added output, so I’ve never done anything about it.

However, if legislators add New Hampshire to the list of places approving “balcony solar,” then maybe I will!

“It fits the notion of freedom. If you can do this, why shouldn’t you be able to?” said Sen. David Watters.

Watters, a Democrat from Dover, is prime sponsor of a proposed bill that would clear the way for what is also known as plug-in solar or balcony solar.

The idea is to remove certain technical and regulatory obstacles against connecting solar power so that anybody can install a smallish panel with built-in tech that keeps it from causing problems on the grid. “We can’t have the utilities and the [Public Utilities Commission] mucking this up” is how Watters put it.

With a balcony panel, you plug it into the wall like you would with a refrigerator and hang it on your balcony, where it will turn photons into electrons and reduce your electric bill, no permission needed. In particular, you don’t need to worry about net-metering rules.

Above and beyond the specifics, this tech demonstrates one of the greatest strengths of solar power: flexibility. No other energy system would let a fumble-fingered schlub like me generate some of my own electricity so quickly and easily. Even gas-powered generators are more complicated, as well as having the whole don’t-accidentally-asphyxiate-the-family aspect to worry about.

Another big selling point is the panels’ ability to let people who rent enjoy some advantages of solar power. Landlords get no benefit from putting solar panels on their buildings since apartment dwellers usually pay their own electric bill; balcony solar bypasses that bottleneck.

They can also be useful to homeowners like me who want to add a panel or two without spending a lot, since the panels cost a few hundred bucks. I have a west-facing porch that would handle them just fine if they became legal.

“I think it does give people some control over energy costs, the potential to save money,” said Watters.

He sees two other advantages: “If you have 1,000 or 2,000 people doing this, it’s going to reduce load [on the power grid]. And it might normalize and get people used to the idea of solar — ‘Gee this works’ — so when they buy a house, they’ll want to put it on the roof.”

This bill would put New Hampshire among places intrigued by this technology. Utah is the nation’s leader but Vermont isn’t far behind, and those two don’t agree on much. Germany is the world’s poster child with more than 700,000 such panels installed, making them a small but non-zero part of the country’s power production.

The bill is still being tweaked and there are some technical hurdles that it must include, such as having manufacturers meet Underwriter Lab or IEEE standards. Watters said it won’t mandate the panels, leaving it up to individual homeowner associations or apartment buildings to block the panels if they wish.

Why would they do that? “We’re still in early stages of acceptance of solar,” Watters pointed out.

Considering that solar power is the dominant source of new electrical generation all over the world, that’s kind of sad.

This is the 21st century, and we need 21st century power. This bill might help, at least a bit.