In the United States, another problem is the absence of a compatible safety device called the land defect circuit switch or a GFCI. They are generally integrated into the sockets installed near water sources, such as a sink, a washing machine or a bathtub. They are designed to minimize the risk of electric shock by cutting power when, for example, a hairdryer falls into a sink. However, there is no GFCI points of sale certified in the United States designed for use with devices that consume power, such as a mixer, and those that generate it, such as a solar balcony configuration. The equivalent of Germany of a GFCI, called residual current device, can detect bidirectional power flows, said Andreas Schmitz, mechanical engineer and Youtuber in Germany who produces videos on balcony solar.
Some people have raised concerns about the risk of touching the metal teeth of a cap after disconnecting a solar device on the balcony. German regulators have explained this by demanding that micro -inverting – which converts the power of the power of electricity powered into the house – immediately rushed into a breakdown or when it is suddenly unplugged. Most of them already have this functionality, but any American standard will probably have to formalize this requirement.
Lack of A standard of subscribing laboratories (UL) is perhaps the largest obstacle to the adoption of solar balcony. The company certifies the safety of thousands of household electric products; according to Iowa State University“Each bulb, lamp or the plug bought in the United States generally has a UL symbol and says ultraded.” This guarantees customers that the product follows the directives recognized nationally and can be used without risk of fire or shock.
While some companies have sold plug-in solar devices in the United States without registration UL, the company's approval seal is generally a prerequisite for the sale of products on the larger market. Consumers may be wary of using something that does not have its approval. The new solar policy of the Utah balcony, for example, specifies that the law only applies to classified UL products.
Achim Ginsberg-Klemmt, vice-president of engineering at the Plug-in Solar Startup Endowinghas been working to create such a standard for over a year and a half. In 2023, the Ministry of Energy granted its company a subsidy to work with UL to develop a standard.
Gismopower sells a mobile car shelter with a roof of solar panels and an integrated electric vehicle charger. Unlike the solar energy on the roof, the system does not need to be mounted in place but can be rolled on an alley and connected, generating electricity for the car, the house and the grid. “We mainly pass solar on the roof to the upper level” by making it portable and accessible to tenants, said Ginsberg-Klemmt. The product is used at pilot sites Nationally, although a lack of standardized rules for plug -in solar has forced the company to negotiate interconnection agreements with local public services – a long and sometimes expensive process.
The product of Gismopower avoids one of the largest technical challenges with the solar balcony by plugging into a dedicated socket of 240 volts, the type generally used for dryers. Such a plug serves a single device and uses a dedicated circuit, avoiding the risk of overload. But it works headlong in the same obstacle to lack of an AUL standard compatible. Ginsberg-Klemmt works with researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, other entrepreneurs and Underwriters laboratories engineers to develop such a standard, but it was not easy. “We have found so many roadblocks,” he told Grist.
