Distributed Plug & Play Consumer Solar Panels - Add Capacity, Shed Carbon by InSite Energy, LLC.

The proposal has a very interesting basic idea: Plug&Play PV systems, installed autonomously by the residential end user client but it is lacking business model approach, key implementation steps, and needs clarity on what the innovation is or if this is just funding for scale up. “Some potential concerns/areas to strengthen are: - There is little information on the basic product: how does it differ from a stand alone PV panel and a microinverter? What is the final total cost for a consumer (only the PV panel is mentioned not the full PV system). “ Microinverters are a relatively new component for use in solar panel systems. 95% of the microinverters used today are designed to be used by professionals on roof installations; they are also intended to connect to the supply side of a breaker panel, which means that they are designed to interact with 240VAC Split phase systems. We are taking advantage and deploying a different kind of microinverter that is equipped with a single electrical plug that allows it to interconnect with typical 120VAC single phase. This means that a user can readily connect solar panels in parallel with the electric utility without any technical training much like any other appliance already found in your home. You don’t have to hire an electrician to replace a stove, a microwave, a washer, or a dryer, so why is there a double standard for solar panels? - The business model is not clear: Is it through BtC retailers as written in "Get plug & play solar panels into big stores and retailers" or through Utilities as written in "Utilities can also buy DIY solar panels at wholesale and then lease them to their customers so Utilities don't have to lose profits and lay off their workforce"? I should clarify that in both scenarios we would function in a business to business operation. We would like to focus strictly on producing our products for sale to other businesses, but we are a startup currently in the process of scaling up. Because of the coming regulations from the EPA on carbon and greenhouse emissions on power companies they are now seeking clean energy alternatives that they can incorporate into their electrical grids, however for a utility company to produce the energy needed to offset carbon produced by their power plants they must produce clean energy at a large scale which requires purchasing acres of land, clearing the land of trees, and brush, and then installing vast fields of solar arrays, in total a 15mW solar farm may use 50 acres of land. We believe such utility scale implementations of solar power undermine many of their carbon reducing benefits, which is why we recommend installing solar power on site where people use electricity. However there are still currently varying regulations by state and city regarding solar power which means longer installation times, and varying costs regarding permits and installation. Currently permits are required for any permanent wiring done to a building. However anything installed by a plug, into a wall receptacle is defined as non-permanent field wiring as per the National Electric Code. This would mean that a solar panel with an electrical plug could be readily installed by a consumer to a permanently wired receptacle without the need for an electrical permit. Unfortunately different building authorities still require an electrical permit for a new Net meter, and an AC disconnect switch to be installed on a building. We believe that this provision is unnecessary and cumbersome to the future of distributed renewables. (A dedicated AC disconnect switch is unnecessary because microinverters have anti-islanding circuitry that disable them from energizing the electrical grid when power lines are down. If a home needed to be isolated for safety concerns the utility has the remote ability to disconnect the house from the electrical grid until all power is restored. For systems such as ours something as simple as registration of the PV system with the electrical company may suffice. “- Is this the advertisement of a specific brand or of "Plug&Play PV systems" in general? “ Our company has patents pending on a couple of building integrated solar panel systems, the technology already exists, but it’s hard to access. Our company assembles all the necessary hardware into a complete kit that is capable of being installed by consumers and laymen. “- What are the "channel to market" approaches? Any breakdown of the prospective buyers in terms of markets, channels, other? “ This concerns what we discussed previously. We are seeking Business to Business relationships with big box retailers like HomeDepot, and Lowe’s, as well as partnerships with local utility power companies. “- Installation: For the PV system to produce properly, it does need a state of the art installation with the correct orientation, no shading, properly connected, ... While it is conceivable that this could be made reasonably easy, it is unclear which initiatives are taken into account (and once again it is mentioned that Utilities may install them). “ We ensure that laymen will be capable of installing solar panels like any other appliance with the inclusion of simplified instructions, installation and maintenance are straightforward. We have mentioned our initiative in having a partnership with Utility companies but what should also be addressed is the permitting process. I would also like to encourage the government on a federal level to have a unified process, and set of definitions for electrical practices that would facilitate easier practice of solar power and more streamlined permitting for faster inclusion of solar power into the electrical grid. For example, in Jacksonville Florida, if I’m going to install solar panels on my home, it doesn’t matter if the solar panels that I install add up to 100 watts, or 2,000 watts of power, the local utility company requires that all solar panels here have a permanently installed AC disconnect switch. This is required even though the power company can still turn off power to the house on their side, and isolate it from the electrical grid if necessary during an emergency. A plug and play solar panel is connected by non-permanent field wiring to an outdoor, permanently wired receptacle. We believe that their requirement for a separate AC disconnect switch is redundant and unnecessary, but to comply with their provisions we have to A) Own the home, and B) Get the necessary electrical permits for the Electrical disconnect switch (and outdoor receptacle if there is not one) this is entirely arbitrary though, and varies by city, county, and state as to what they require. What I would propose is a national code, that might even have provisions for different tiers of electrical production (for instance: <2,000Watts can be autonomously plugged in as an appliance by home users without electrical disconnects, >2,000Watts must have a professional installer or contractor inspect the wiring for safe installation) having a really simple change like this would open the doors for consumer solar products like our own for mass integration into the electrical grid. “- It is clear we are talking about raising awareness and thus adoption of plug-and-play solar panels, but it is not clear how the proposal recommends achieving this. What are the proposed actions? “ There’s a lot of ignorance on the part of consumers as to what solar power is, and how to use it. Many people actually confuse photovoltaic solar panels with solar hot water heaters. More people also don’t understand that I can actually plug a solar panel into a power receptacle and have it supplement the house, they only see a power receptacle as the place to plug something into when you want to run an appliance, but they can’t conceive of plugging in another appliance (a solar panel) and being able to supplement their home from the electricity generated. (People understand power comes out of a power receptacle, but it’s hard for them to understand that you can actually put electricity back into it, or push power back and supplement electricity usage.) Our aim is to educate people on the benefits of solar power, explain how easy it really is to use it, produce and distribute easy to use solar power products, and to hopefully amend regulations to facilitate rapid deployment of distributed renewable energy sources. “- Proposal mentions spreading via word of mouth, for example, but how do you encourage that?o Does the proposal aim to spread awareness of plug-and-play solar generally, or of this product specifically? If this product, what makes it different from other plug-and-play products?” Specifically what makes our products unique is their ease of use, some of the parts you could conceivably pick up off the shelf, you could buy a solar panel today, but you would also have to source a microinverter that’s compatible with your electric system, wires, and mounting hardware. We include everything necessary in a single kit. Also for simplicity we package a complete solar panel system completely; typically a customer would have to ship a solar panel by freight which only makes sense for bulk orders, which would mean a bulk order of 10+ solar panels, 10+ microinverters, wires, etc. This drops the net cost needed to get started with solar power. "- The “proposal’s costs” section just says how much these solar panels cost. Unclear what the activities associated with the proposal actually are -- because the cost of a solar panel are not the same as the costs of the proposal." The proposal has been updated to address the comments "- Need to address payment models. The assumption is that plug-and-play models have moved solar out of the luxury market and now appeal to middle-income households, but if that is the case then we need a middle-income financing model. We can’t assume that $650 is an affordable out-of-pocket upfront expense.o Similarly, need to provide a cost per kWh for comparability with other electricity options." We've updated the proposal to address the comments. - Need more robustness around why lack of awareness is the barrier to be overcome. For example maintenance of the system may be a barrier to adoption. What is the support for lack of awareness being the problem?" lack of awareness of the benefits of solar and the possible of easier solar options remain absent from common knowledge we've updated the proposal to address these comments. "- Projections need more support:o In estimated impact, why are we assuming 1 million people? Why is this a reasonable assumption?o Why are Mars and Moon on the timeline? Is this a real projection/business goal?" We've updated the proposal with an example of another consumer product for comparison to rationalize our estimate of 1 Million units. Paragraphs in our proposal that are preceded with an asterisk (*) have been updated or added to address comments.