[RobinL]

I see it more as a way for relatively well off people to do a little bit for the environment rather than any sort of solution of high energy prices for the poor. The nice thing, of course, is that the more people buy them, the cheaper electricity is for everyone else, so you're doing everyone else a small favour by having one.

I'll certainly be buying one, not because of the ROI/payback calculation, but just because it's fun to talk about with my kids and a nice thing to do.

Similarly, plug in batteries are on the way (see recently Octopus announcement). I'll probably buy one for the same reasons.

That said, the payback time also looks very favourable, especially relative to a full rooftop install, so you don't even need to be alturistic!

[varispeed]

Do you account environmental impact of manufacturing of this device, shipping and energy used to place it in the store, time spent on customer service, people transporting it to their homes etc? How hanging it off balcony will offset that? Isn't that just virtue signalling?

[rcxdude]

Solar is cheap in terms of environmental impact and embodied energy as well. The balcony and plug-in part just makes the install cheap, which is by far the largest cost of residential solar.

[crote]

Why would well-off people not go for rooftop solar?

[rcxdude]

rooftop solar installation costs are a bit higher, it's not as good a return though it does scale a bit better.

[jerlam]

Rooftop is also not an option for condos or apartments.