Germans Combat Climate Change From Their Balconies: Plug-and-play solar panels are popping up in yards and on balcony railings across Germany, driven by bargain prices and looser regulations.

Not mentioned in the article is that these systems are still illegal in the US.

Not everything in the world should be revolving around your stupid default country
- This article is from the New York Times, a prominent US newspaper which writes primarily for a US audience. It's relevant for them to bring it up.
- As a person from Default Country, I love this statement and I want it on a shirt.
- I hate this stupid country as much as the next guy, but I still want to know if there's anything I'm allowed to do that might be good for the planet. Now I know I'm not allowed to do this because my stupid fucking country doesn't allow it, which is usable information.
do you know why they're illegal? is there some danger to them?
- FTA:
  The so-called plug-in systems involve routing the direct current generated by the panels to an inverter, which converts it to an alternating current. They can then be plugged into a conventional wall socket to feed power to a home.
  So, yeah, almost certainly illegal in pretty much any grid-powered home in the US.
  The basic problem is that if the grid power goes down the inverter can back-feed the grid enough to electrocute the people who are working to fix it.
  Utilities require an approved isolation system of some kind that prevents that happening. They are pretty strict about this for various other technical and political reasons too, but evidently it is mostly a safety concern.
  I've got some good locations at home for panels, and about 500W in panels that I use for camping, but the equipment I'd need to handle easily and safely consuming the power at home is kind of expensive (just running an inverter and a battery for an isolated system is easy enough, I've got all that, but it's not cheap to seamlessly connect it to my home power system). Would love to have a safe and approved system like what is described in the article.
- Individuals owning their own means of energy production is obviously unamerican.
- They are VERY DANGEROUS to conservatives and the flawed ideological rafts they're still clinging to.
- Are they Chinese solar panels or good ol' American products?
Because fuck us apparently.
- No, because you can kill a lineman working on the downed line, who mistakenly thinks the line is dead and has no idea that you're feeding power into it from your solar panel.
Largely illegal by way of import. The Americans don't want cheap foreign panels dominating their still-nascent domestic solar industry.
- Removed, civility.

These plugin systems are quite interesting, they allow renters for example to get some benefits of Solar without having to make permanent installs. The systems a lot cheaper than a full setup but obviously don't produce the same amount of power. I first saw them appearing in France and then since Germany changed the law to allow them its good to see it flourishing there too. This isn't going to save the planet but its a little step of improvement.

400 Euro isn't bad for all the fittings and inverter and the big benefit of these DIY systems is you just put them together and connect them to a standard wall socket. Constantly just saves you money on your bills when there is sunshine. Its also not enough power that its worth dealing with export tariffs but in countries where smart meters already exist it could be part of the mix.

You just plug them into an outlet? Is there no safety concern about backfeeding power, especially if someone turns off the breaker and expects a circuit to be de-energized?
- They're not supposed to be grid-forming and should turn off if there's no grid voltage. And if you turn off a breaker you should always check that there's no voltage, you might've turned off the wrong breaker.
- Yeah that would worry me, plugging a power source into a wall socket.
  I would much rather build an independent little cart with panels and a battery and a charge controller and an inverter and use it the way you would a generator. I would rather pay the power company full price to run my refrigerator and nothing at all to recharge my lawnmower than 98.3% for both.
How does that work with the fuse box? Like mine has a 100A fuse for the whole house, but a bunch of smaller fuses for e.g. downstairs, upstairs, lights, etc. Does it only work on the circuit it's connected to or what?
- It can power across the circuits its all technically the same electrical connection within a house. These systems are relatively small due to the constraints of a typical standard plug and the amps it can support so they tend to be limited to less than half of the total power on a loop.

I put a small flexible light weight one up last year. Secured with steel washcloth line (it doesn't have glass or anything, just a plastic sheet with cells on it), the city replaced the meter to account for feeding in (not needed, I work home office and use up all of it in my apartment) cost me 600 or so last year, plugs into regular wall socket and has already lowered consumption by about 1/10th which is a solid chunk of money with current prices. I am very happy I get to do something as a renter, even if it will take years to pay for itself.

Anyone know if anything like this is allowed in the UK?

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My dude did you even read the article?
299€ for a complete 840 Wp setup at Lidl the other day.
Wtf? Read the article. It's about 400 Euro full set ups
Bro the article headline even says balcony railings. We're talking single solar panel + plug in micro inverter type setups. That's like $200 if you shop around.
And not sure if you're aware, but after the "usable age" the system produces at like 80% capacity, so unless you disconnected from the grid and really really need that last 20%, you don't need to change a thing and can keep using it way past the warranty period. Or you can add a couple extra panels. Why replace the whole thing lol.
You can get a 800Wp (max allowed Wp for a balcony solar) kit in austria for around 500€, germany is currently limited to 600Wp so it should be about the same price or cheaper. And you just need to plug them into a schuko outlet, so most people should be able to do it themselve.
Edit: Fixed units
- I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if thousands of physics teachers suddenly cringed and started yelling "Get your units right!".
- New VDE recommendations say 800W on Schuko is tolerated. Wieland is of course better. That's btw not solar panel capacity but inverter capacity, you can have 2kW on your balcony as long as you're not feeding more than 800W into the net you don't need any permits no need to contact your utility no nothing.
  What you should pay attention to as a renter without already existing balcony outlet though is your landlord: They generally don't like it when you drill holes through exterior walls, window frames, whatnot. Use window feed-through cables (for the PV connections, not the 220V), or dish out (quite a bit) of money to have it done properly (after talking to the landlord). At which point yes you want a Wieland outlet they're maybe 20 bucks, what's going to cost money is the electrician.
My dude did you even read the article?
In Germany, individual plug-in panels sell for as low as 200 euros, or about $217, at big box stores. Complete sets, including mountings, an inverter and cables, are about twice that cost.