While Vermonters look for ways to lower their energy costs, access to plug-in and portable solar panels could lower bills and carbon emissions, according to a new campaign recently launched in Montpelier.

Balcony solar, or miniature panels that can be set up on a patio or lawn, have gained popularity across Europe, and now Vermont is angling to become the second state to duplicate such a program. Sen. Anne Watson, D/P-Washington, chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, plans to introduce a bill during the 2026 legislative session to make plug-in solar panels available to Vermonters who can’t install a traditional net metering system, she said at a news conference.

“My goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to purchase and plug in one of these devices and start saving money, while also getting the electric utilities the information that they need to meet their own requirements,” Watson said.

The bill would propose removing current requirements like interconnection agreements with utilities and registration, as is currently required with solar installations 10 times as large, Watson said. Residents would only need to notify their electric companies that they had such a system under her bill, Watson said.

“Seeing Utah pass a bill like this unanimously, and in a bipartisan way, that support underscored how doable I think this bill is going to be,” Watson said. “It’s time for us to get out of the way, cut that red tape, and make it easy for Vermonters to access affordable solar.”

Such a project could make renewable energy more available to all Vermonters, according to Ben Edgerly Walsh, a lobbyist for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, a state-based environmental advocacy group. While 20,000 Vermont families have benefitted from household solar through the state’s net metering program, Walsh said, hundreds of thousands have been left out, including those who rent or live in condos or mobile homes.

“One part of the solar market hardest to open up is renters, and people who can’t afford to have solar on their property,” Walsh said.

But these smaller units, capped at 1.2 kilowatts under the proposed legislation, can be plugged into a normal wall outlet where electrons can start flowing into the house, helping to power appliances and energize light switches. They can also be connected to a battery that can save the energy for when it’s needed. Walsh estimated it could power about a fifth of a typical household, or save about $20 on a $100 electric bill.

The small systems are also more affordable because they don’t require the same installation costs and the logistics of connecting to the grid. One unit could cost Vermonters $1,500 to $2,000, Walsh estimated, which could be paid back in about three years before adding free power to a household for the life of the system.

In Germany, these systems now help power at least 1 million households, but those estimates could be three times as high, according to reporting by The New York Times. Rupert Mayer, a co-founder of Bright Saver, a California-based nonprofit partner that helps states and individuals set up plug-in solar systems, indicated at Wednesday’s news conference that there are 4 million portable solar units.

The portable solar panels also enabled freedom and independence in one’s backyard without government interference, Mayer said. He said Bright Saver was talking to lawmakers across blue and red states to advance portable solar and help consumers experience its benefits.

“It should be fairly non-controversial,” Walsh said of the initiative. “It just requires cutting a little red tape in a few places to make it possible.”

While such a move isn’t as precedent-setting as Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act or its attempt at a Clean Heat Standard, the state could be among the first to support balcony solar.

In Utah, a bipartisan bill passed unanimously this year to reduce restrictions and expand access to this small-scale, affordable solar option. Utah Republican Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed the bill into law in March. In August, Pennsylvania legislators also began considering such a bill to facilitate widespread deployment of balcony solar.

But while Utah’s bill became a success story, Vermont could see pushback.

“The Trump administration, they’ve doubled down on fossil fuels and they’re really doing all they can to upend the clean energy job sector,” said Johanna Miller, the energy and climate program director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. But Miller said the 2020 Global Warming Solutions Act says the state has an obligation and an opportunity to help Vermonters move away from the burning of fossil fuels, the largest contributor to climate change.

“The sad truth is that climate and energy policy is one of the most polarized areas in a very polarized political environment,” Walsh said. But he added there are no subsidies for this program — the legislation only asked to make it easier to install these systems without requiring net metering or grid connection.

“For all the climate policies you can imagine us working on, this one is certainly the best set up for bipartisan support,” Walsh said.

Vermont recently lost a major solar investment when the federal government slashed $62.5 million the state was promised by the Solar For All program, following President Donald Trump signing his One Big Beautiful Bill in July.

While such a small-scale program can’t replace the massive funding package, Walsh said it’s another good way for Vermonters who have had trouble accessing solar to get a piece of the clean energy transition for themselves.

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.