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Twenty four US states are now considering legislation to allow small, plug-in solar power systems that connect directly into a wall socket. (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/energy@slrpnk.net

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I'm a little wary of plug-in solar in the US. Some of the bills propose allowing 1200 watt panels which can overload wiring depending on what else is on the circuit and how in the wall wiring is run. Limiting plug-in panel wattage to, say, 400 watts might be necessary

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[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 34 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Any wiring can handle 10 amps. I don't understand why you think that's too much. We have really old wiring and it wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for posting, this is awesome. Now do small wind too.

[–] Skyrmir@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Small wind is horrible, the efficiency of wind is entirely based on the swept area of the blades. At scale it's great, but at household sizes it's just not worth the cost. Turbines and windmills are a 'Go big, or go home' situation as far as being cost effective. Solar, even with batteries, is more cost effective for household or mobile sizes.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

There are some interesting new technologies hitting the market. They use vibration to extract energy, rather than rotation. This is a lot more efficient at small scales. While they are extremely situation specific, they can outperform solar for some areas, particularly in winter.

[–] discocactus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It's important to note that Europe has 220/240v by default so most household wiring is robust to higher wattages at lower amps.

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

The top amperage is typically about the same as in the US, actually, at least where I am: 15-16 amps. So we get 3000 watt kettles instead of 1500, and such.

[–] officermike@lemmy.world -3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

See my other comment in reply to OP as to why this might be a bad idea.

[–] MinorLaceration@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

That's a lot of down votes for someone who is right.