alt Hacker NewsWe have a similar approach here in Germany. Anyone has the right to install a small solar system on their balcony or similar and feed up to 800W into their local grid. You just mount it and plug it into your house/apartment grid. Technically you have to get it registered, too.
The sky is not falling, buildings are not crumbling and the grid is not burning.
It's not revolutionary either, but slowly picking up traction. You see more and more installations here in Berlin. On the country side where people have their own house and enough space it's a total no-brainer to set up one of those mini solar systems.
The typical systems you can buy off the shelf (800-1000W panels + inverter) amortize after a few years already, and are getting cheaper every year. I have the feeling the main limitation in the city is having a nice balcony with good mounting points.
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It's worth noting that the common complaint about systems like this, which is that they could cause dangerous conditions during power outages when people expect the power lines to be unpowered, is addressed by electronics that only feed power when they detect an active mains.
The sky is not falling in Germany, buildings are not crumbling and the grid is sometimes overpowered with solar electricity when the weather is sunny, there is not enough demand and grid operators can't remotely curtail small solar systems. Like during Easter Monday
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-07/germany-p...
Germany has to invest more in smart electric meters, which could project negative electricity prices to individual households.
And more investments in energy storage systems. (Even through I think that lithium batteries would better help decarbonization in EVs than in electric grid storage systems).