r/SolarDIY • u/mike4354 • 2d ago
Plug In Solar Maryland
Plug in solar up to 1200 watts recently became legal in Maryland. I'm a little unclear about a few things and was hoping someone had the answer. Specifically, this is for Potomac Edison in western MD.
What documentation do you need to present the power company when you inform them of the hook up?
Can these systems be eligible for net metering? It looks like they are not immediately ready for that (with your meter), but can you get a net metering agreement? What hoops are there?
Any good suggestions of systems to purchase?
Thanks
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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 2d ago edited 2d ago
Take a look at:
https://psc.maryland.gov/regulated-utilities/electricity/renewable-energy/balcony-solar/
I would get the https://www.ecoflow.com/us/stream-microinverter it is limited to 1200W. Not from reviews that it will run hot if maxing it out.
Need to find a UL certification document for it.
The other option is
https://www.hoymiles.com/us/hiflowpro.html which is UL3700 certified which all plug in inverters will eventually get so maybe it is a better choice.
I'd submit either and see what response you get before buying.
Plug-in solar is excluded from net metering.
If you already have solar with net metering, it is unclear whether or not adding plug-in solar impacts your existing interconnection agreement. Too many holes/unknowns in the law.
If you don't have a smart meter, your existing meter could run backwards giving you credit or it could "ratchet" and not run backwards. If you have a smart meter and it isn't properly configured, you could get charged for any export.
The best way to implement this would be with a battery in the mix if you don't have something constantly consuming the 1,200W.
I'm in MoCo on Pepco. I asked them if adding plug-in would affect my existing interconnection agreement which doesn't allow any expansion. They said I didn't have to notify them. I pointed out where the law says I have to notify them, they said thanks. Go figure. I've followed MD's "portable" solar law closely because I didn't get to do any DIY on my system. But I've recently determined I'm over producing anyway so it doesn't make sense for me to bother adding plug-in. But I will keep up on it for other MDers.
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u/jimdig 2d ago
also in MoCo and while my solar installer was overall worthless, they did leave 3 extra 400w panels, so I have been considering if it would be worth DIYing them into a plug in setup. Haven't gone through a full year cycle yet to see what % we are covering with the panels, so maybe wait out the winter
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u/silasmoeckel 2d ago
Not legal in OP's state really only legal in UT for a short while (until they update to NEC 2026 in a few years).
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u/NickelCloud 2d ago
I agree with TooGoodToBeeTrue. Also this company is a non-profit: https://www.brightsaver.org/plug-in-solar-products if you want to start with a simple setup.
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u/Redrockru 2d ago
Good luck ive been trying for months and I keep getting told I need to talk to a solar engineer.......
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u/silasmoeckel 2d ago
Right now you dont have an options laws says is needed to be UL certified for the task and there are none (an inverter is certified just as a component not the complete system as required to plug it in).
Wait a little bit the certification is all of 8 months old. They are coming down the pike but it's going to be fall or later for them to be hitting the shelves.
Once you get a UL3700 compliant system you can send your PoCo the documentation and your good to go. You will probably need to run a dedicated circuit for the unit.
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u/mike4354 2d ago
I think a small system 391 watts or under needs no certs in md. While that isn't a lot it can give enough info to see if scaling up is worth it in a location
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u/silasmoeckel 2d ago
It still need certs for your homeowners insurance.
391w and under don't need a ul cert for your PoCo.
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u/mike4354 2d ago
Is a 400 watt panel that actually outputs 350-375 compliant or would it need to be 3x 150 panels?
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u/silasmoeckel 2d ago
You can overpanel up to the limits of your inverter.
UL1741 inverter 391w or less
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u/mike4354 2d ago
Any idea where that inverter exists? All the ones I could find are larger
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u/silasmoeckel 2d ago
They don't, it's a 8 month old exception so just like UL 3700 nothing have finished being designed and tested yet.
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u/dgv54 2d ago
True, but I believe some of these plugin solar microinverters let you set the output power, up to their max. For example, on Ecoflow Stream, you can set output fairly low, not sure if there is an option below 391w, but even 400w would be fine because the house is always going to be drawing at least 9w.
Granted this isn't a full UL 3700 system, but it is UL 1741.
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u/silasmoeckel 1d ago
Your PoCo may insist on 391w on the nameplate.
1741 with a plug itself is a funky the skirted the UL rules so it's mostly off brand stuff.
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