Questions about plug-in solar

The panel turns sunlight into direct-current electricity, or DC.

• ◈Certified to CSA C61215 (mechanical + electrical durability) and CSA C61730 (safety qualification), the same standards governing rooftop solar.
• ▲Open-circuit DC voltage stays below 60V on a typical 400W balcony module, well under the threshold that requires licensed-electrician handling.
• ▲No moving parts, no consumables. Manufacturer warranties run 25 to 30 years for ≥80% of original output.
• ◈Output dies the instant the cable is unplugged from the inverter, there is no current to backfeed.

The microinverter converts the panels’ direct current into alternating current, or AC, for use in your home. It also contains safety controls.

• ◈Anti-islanding per UL 1741 / CSA C22.2 No. 107.1: detects grid loss in milliseconds and disconnects within 2 seconds, a worker on a downed line cannot be backfed.
• ◈Voltage + frequency ride-through: shuts off if the grid sags or surges outside ANSI/IEEE 1547 bounds.
• ◈Over-temperature, over-current, and DC-isolation protection built into the unit; nothing relies on the homeowner installing the right hardware.
• ◈UL 3700 (published December 2025) certifies the entire plug-in inverter assembly as a system, the first North American standard purpose-built for this form factor.
• ■Output capped to ≤1200W AC by firmware on the kits this campaign asks Canada to unlock.

It plugs into a standard household outlet, the same receptacle you'd use for any appliance, instead of being hardwired into your electrical panel by an electrician.

• ▲It uses the same kind of wall outlet you’d plug a kettle or lamp into, with no new receptacle and no changes to your home’s wiring.
• ▲1200W stays well under a 15A / 120V circuit’s 1800W ceiling, even with other loads on the same circuit, the breaker is sized to handle it.
• ◈Compatible with existing GFCI / AFCI protection on outdoor or kitchen circuits, no wiring changes needed.
• ◈The cable is dead when unplugged: no exposed prongs carrying voltage, because the inverter behind it has already shut down (anti-islanding triggers on disconnect).

Generated power flows backwards from the outlet into your home’s wiring and is consumed by whatever appliance is running, fridge, modem, lights. It never leaves the building.

• ■On-site use only. The campaign’s ask explicitly excludes net-metering, surplus power is not exported, not credited, not measured.
• ●Self-consumption is typically 80 to 95%, a balcony system is small enough that almost everything it generates is used on-site as it’s produced. (Rooftop arrays often see only 30 to 60% because the surplus exports.)
• ■No utility paperwork, no interconnection agreement required under the proposed CEC amendment, the system is electrically equivalent to running one fewer appliance.
• ▲Surplus generation simply spins the inverter’s output down (it follows the load), there is no battery and no grid export to manage.