Barriers to Balcony Solar and Plug-In Distributed Energy Resources in the United States

Daniel L. Gerber (), Achim Ginsberg-Klemmt, Lyn Stoler, Jordan Shackelford and Alan Meier
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Daniel L. Gerber: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Building Technologies Urban Systems Department, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Achim Ginsberg-Klemmt: GismoPower LLC, Sarasota, FL 34239, USA
Lyn Stoler: Impulse Labs, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
Jordan Shackelford: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Building Technologies Urban Systems Department, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Alan Meier: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Building Technologies Urban Systems Department, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Plug-in distributed energy resources (DERs), such as balcony solar, backfeed power to the home through a standard plug. These systems may represent the future of residential solar and storage, particularly as recent net metering policies have reduced the economic appeal of rooftop solar. While plug-in DERs have seen widespread success in Europe, their U.S. market is stagnant. This paper reviews the technical, interconnection, and regulatory barriers hindering the adoption of plug-in DERs. We first discuss the technical barriers, which include touch safety, breaker masking, and bidirectional ground-fault circuit interrupters. We then examine utility perspectives on plug-in DERs and strategies for navigating interconnection challenges. Finally, we discuss regulatory hurdles related to UL standards and the National Electrical Code.

Keywords: balcony solar; plug-in; distributed energy resources; battery storage; National Electrical Code; utility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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