Lawmakers hear testimony on S202 to allow plug-in balcony solar; safety, meters and tenant access raised

Wesley Shrock, representing Bright Saver, told the Environment & Energy Committee on March 17 that S202 would allow small plug-in solar systems that "plug into a standard outlet" and are typically capped at about 1,200 watts under many U.S. proposals.

Shrock said these units—often sold as modular panels plus a microinverter and sometimes a battery—are grid-interactive devices that feed power into a home's outlet, power loads in the home and, when a battery is full or loads are low, can export excess to the grid. "These systems feed power directly into the home through the outlet," he said, adding that with batteries households in Bright Saver pilots "were able to utilize pretty much 100% of the generation capacity."

The committee focused on two practical risks: electrical safety related to branch circuits and how utilities would detect installed units. Shrock described "breaker masking," a condition in which localized wiring could overheat without tripping a breaker, and recommended either dedicated circuits or branch-circuit overcurrent protection to prevent that outcome. He said the emerging UL 3700 safety standard and its certification program address overcurrent protection and other mitigations.

Members also raised metering and notification. Shrock said utilities favor registration so they can plan for potential local impacts, verify whether a household has a smart meter or an older analog meter, and flag exported energy without dispatching crews. He contrasted Vermont's current approach with Virginia's bill, which requires utility notification and includes limited tenant protections and consumer-protection authority for sellers.

On technical thresholds, Shrock recalled international and state variations: Germany uses 800 W for plug-and-play systems; some U.S. bills set 1,200 W as a limit; others reference 1,920 W tied to a 20-amp/120-volt 80% code guidance. He said Utah's HB340 (cited as the first enacted state law) used a conservative 1,200 W threshold after discussions with utilities and code bodies.

Shrock and committee members discussed installation models. He said the current UL 3700 outline requires professional installation, a proprietary plug/receptacle and bi-directional GFCI for higher-power systems to prevent unsafe self-install and "daisy-chaining." He noted Virginia created a carveout allowing self-install for systems 391 W and below to preserve simple plug-and-play retail access for small devices.

Committee members asked about renter access and how apartment dwellers would identify a dedicated circuit; Shrock said renters may need landlord permission or an electrician for larger systems, and the 391 W carveout is intended to keep very small systems safe for do-it-yourself installation. He also described market availability: a few vendors are shipping systems to U.S. buyers (EcoFlow, AP Systems, Crafttorm/Craft Strong among those mentioned) but major retailers were not yet widely carrying the products.

Shrock cited a modeling effort (commissioned with input from an NEC and UL technical committee participant) that found even a high-adoption scenario—1.2 kW systems adopted by 40% of households without batteries—would not make the residential sector a net exporter at any hour, framing these devices primarily as energy-conservation measures rather than drivers of large distribution upgrades.

The committee did not take any votes at the hearing. Members requested staff review of the Virginia bill language, the UL 3700 standard and practical guidance on how tenancy, meter types and installation requirements would be implemented if S202 is advanced.

The hearing ended with committee staff saying written testimony and materials would be posted on the committee website.