this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2026
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Small, “balcony solar” units hold particular appeal for renters who cannot install rooftop panels and could take portable units with them should they move.

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[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

i'm mostly thinking of how it works when production is larger than demand in the local circuit. phase imbalances are a bigger deal when the phases are 180° out of sync.

[–] eleitl@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

When production is larger than local demand you're feeding in into the power grid. If your meter can ran backwards, then you're saving even more money.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

in a normal three-phase system, yes. you just slightly imbalance one phase. but in a split-phase system, backfeeding can move the neutral point.

[–] Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Just install one on each split phase!

But realistically I'm sure I read you guys have 220v hook ups of certain stuff

[–] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

i'm not american, but the way their 220v outlets work is by literally bridging two phases.

Most states are limiting balcony solar to 600-1200W, which is only 5-10A at 120V. Not enough to cause problems with imbalanced loads in a home, and most peoples homes aren't terribly well balanced anyways. It all more or less evens out by the time you have 10-20 (or however many - idk, I'm not a lineman) homes on a tranformer.