Frequently Asked Questions

We offer two purchase options to suit your needs. Full Purchase: Pay $1,849 and enjoy ownership of your system immediately. You can also apply for the 30% ITC credit. Monthly Payment Plan: Pay just $34.90 a month* over 6 years, after which the panels are fully yours. (*Limited availability) Both options come with a one-time installation fee of $349.

You use it or lose it. You’ll save the most on your energy bills if you use the electricity generated by the panels while the sun is shining. We recommend using energy-intensive appliances like laundry and dishwashers as well as charging electronics during the day when the sun is shining to maximize your savings.

We're a nonprofit on a mission to expand clean energy to the masses. Thanks to funding from donors and philanthropic loans, we're able to offer plug-in solar at a low monthly lease or affordable upfront purchase price. Our bigger mission is to jumpstart a "Solar-for-All" movement by bringing down prices and paving the way for others to enter the space. The more providers there are, the lower prices will get for everyone.

Currently, our panels can only be mounted on an easily accessible flat surface such as a yard, deck, or patio. In the future we will be able to mount them on a wall, fence, or balcony. If this is what you'd like, sign up for our waitlist to get notified when this becomes available!

You will need: -An easily accessible flat surface (yard, deck, patio, or other area) that receives sunlight most of the day where we can place 2 solar panels, each about 7 ft by 4 ft. -An outdoor electrical outlet on a dedicated circuit. During our initial consultation with you, we will confirm that there is a good spot to install the panels before we schedule an installation with the electrician.

After an initial consultation, we will get back to you to schedule a time for us to come to your residence or do a video walkthrough. If everything looks good, we will schedule another visit to help you install the panels. The first visit will take about 30 minutes and the installation will take about 2-3 hours.

That’s why we are here! In Europe, most people with balcony solar are renters who live in apartment buildings. We aim to replicate that boom.

You can still get a plug-in system because the panels don't have to go on your roof. We can mount them on the sides of buildings, on the ground, apartment balconies, anywhere the panels will face unobstructed sunlight. Our systems are a small fraction of the cost of rooftop systems and come with financing that costs less than the money you save on your electricity bill.

Sort of. The panels need sunlight so they won’t work if you live in a redwood forest or anywhere without direct sunlight. We will be installing our first few hundred units in the Bay Area in early 2025 but if you live outside the Bay Area, we encourage you to get on our waitlist and you’ll be first in line once we come to your area.

Our team is always available to address any issues. You can reach us via email at support@brightsaver.org or by phone at (408) 345-5768.

They are recyclable. You will own them after 6 years and they should last 20 years or more. We will provide information about how to dispose of them properly,

If you move and you cannot find a good place for your panels in your new home, you can cancel our subscription (please see above). If you want to take your panels with you, we will charge $300 for deinstallation at your old residence and re-installation at your new residence.

No, we currently do not offer a battery and our system is not designed for off-grid use.

Yes, they are tested and certified according to strict safety standards, such as UL 1703 for solar panels and UL 1741 for inverters.

Modern plug-in systems come with built-in overcurrent protection, overvoltage protection, and temperature monitoring systems to prevent overheating. We will also make sure that your panels are plugged in to a dedicated electrical circuit, which is typically the case with outdoor outlets. This eliminates the risk of overloading a circuit, which in theory can pose a fire hazard.

All inverters used in plug-in solar units are grid-tied. This means that if the system is unplugged or the grid goes down, the solar unit will shut off automatically within milliseconds. The prongs of the connection cable to your panel will never be energized when unplugged and are therefore touch-safe.

A licensed electrician from Bright Saver will support your installation and will make sure that the circuit where the panels get plugged in is safe for supporting the current they will produce.

We provide a Smart Power Meter that gets installed in your breaker panel and continuously measures the current flowing in from the grid. If your Bright Saver solar panels produce more electricity at any point than the loads in your home are consuming, the current turns negative. In that very instant, as backfeeding to the grid is about to happen, the Smart Power Meter wirelessly signals the inverter on your solar panel to throttle production. This way, we ensure that your panel will never produce more electricity than your home is using.

We will do our best to help you navigate the local regulations, but you are ultimately responsible for compliance. If you own or rent a single family home, placing panels in your yard does not require a permit in many municipalities. If you live in a condo or townhouse, you will want to check with your homeowners association or landlord for individual guidelines.

No. The plug-in systems distributed by Bright Saver come with a Smart Power Meter that gets installed in the breaker panel. It throttles the output of the solar panel as soon as it detects electricity starting to flow back to the grid. You will therefore not be exporting any energy to the grid and won't need a net metering agreement.