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Click here to download the 2025 Plug-In Solar Conference Report, featuring the Joint Declaration.
Imagine a major household appliance that, instead of consuming electricity, generates and feeds renewable solar electricity to the house, EV and grid using a 240V plug-in connection through a receptacle.
GismoPower® has developed the MEGA®, a Mobile Electricity Generating Appliance, a portable solar charging station on removable wheels integrating a high-power bifacial PV system and a powerful Class 2 EV-Charger, which also generates electricity for adjacent buildings and the connected grid. The MEGA fits neither the rooftop nor the ground-mounted solar PV categories.
This photovoltaic technology targets non-millionaire “energy prosumers,” including renters, utilizing previously untapped surface areas for solar power generation: Commercial, residential, and public driveways and parking areas. Our market focuses on small businesses, modest family homes and everyone else who needs to move.
Mobile MEGA racks will enable moderate income Americans to adopt renewable energy generation in their parking lots and driveways for a fraction of the cost of comparable systems where neither rooftop nor ground-mounted solar work.
Seven MEGA pilot sites are currently operating in the United States to provide renewable electricity and performance statistics:
PILOT SITE #0 (Prototype - 20X 375W) Private Residence - Sarasota/FL
PILOT SITE #1 (MEGA - 9X460W) FREEDM SYSTEMS CENTER - Raleigh/NC
PILOT SITE #2 (MEGA - 9X490W) MAXOUT RENEWABLES - Livermore/CA
PILOT SITE #3 (MEGA - 9X490W) Private Residence - Walnut Creek/CA
PILOT SITE #4 (MEGA - 9X540W) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory - Palo Alto/CA
PILOT SITE #5 (MEGA - 9X460W) Private Residence - Sarasota/FL (Off-grid, No online monitoring)
PILOT SITE #6 (MEGA - 9X540W) Private Residence - Las Vegas/NV
PILOT SITE #7 (MEGA - 9X540W) Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center - Pine Ridge/SD
In October 2024 Lakota Chief Henry Red Cloud introduced the first Utility approved Plug-In Solar appliance to the United States.
The MEGA system located at Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center has also received official approval by the Department of Energy (DOE) and can be found on their official GIS website for EV-Chargers.
Following Chief Red Cloud's grid interconnection approval by Lacreek Electric in South Dakota, NV-Energy followed suit in December 2024 by granting their Permission to Operate (PTO) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
NV-Energy's grid interconnection approval encompassed an electrical plan review, a physical safety inspection, the installation of a bi-directional meter, and enrollment in their net metering program.
The MEGA®, enables self-consumption and generation of renewable electricity at distributed sites.
Every kilowatt hour generated and consumed behind the electric meter at the same location does not need to be transported through the electric grid. Increasing self-consumption at distributed locations can effectively reduce the need to expand electric grid infrastructure. This is especially valuable for the ongoing transition to electric vehicles, which will significantly increase our reliance on distributed electricity.
Follow the link to NCSU's Grid Impact Analysis research report.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory validated NCSU's findings and included California specific areas with high EV acceptance rates in their scope of work.
The article titled "Barriers to Balcony Solar and Plug-In Distributed Energy Resources in the United States," published in Energies (Volume 18, Issue 8), explores the potential of plug-in distributed energy resources (DERs) like balcony solar systems in the U.S. energy landscape. These systems, which connect to homes via standard AC outlets, offer a portable and cost-effective alternative to traditional rooftop solar installations, particularly benefiting renters and those with limited access to conventional solar options.
Despite their success in Europe, the adoption of plug-in DERs in the U.S. faces several challenges. The authors identify technical issues such as touch safety concerns, breaker masking, and the need for bidirectional ground-fault circuit interrupters. Additionally, regulatory hurdles stemming from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards and the National Electrical Code (NEC) complicate their integration into the existing energy infrastructure. Utility perspectives and interconnection challenges further impede widespread deployment.
By addressing these barriers, the article suggests that plug-in DERs could play a significant role in democratizing access to renewable energy and enhancing grid resilience. The full article provides an in-depth analysis of these issues and potential pathways for overcoming them.
Tesla Roofs, which sell for $63K-$96K, certainly won’t get Power to the People. But even a standard rooftop solar system can be more expensive than a comparable MEGA system; When combined with backup batteries to prevent power outages, EV-charger and a canopy or carport, the cost advantage becomes significant.
Rooftop Solar Cost:
The average cost to install a 6.5 kW premium-quality residential rooftop solar system in the United States varies based on factors such as equipment selection, installation complexity, and geographic location. Premium systems, which utilize high-efficiency panels and top-tier inverters, generally cost more than standard installations.
Level II EV-Charger Cost: $350 - $700
Carport Cost:
The average cost to install a residential carport in the United States ranges between $3,089 and $9,450, with a national average of approximately $6,238. Angi
Factors Influencing Carport Installation Costs:
MEGA® :
Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) over a period of 25 years
1. MEGA (6.345KW) $24,000 Less 30% tax incentive: -$7,200 NET SYSTEM COST: $16,800
2. Total kWh Production: 10,049 kWh per year * 25 Years = 251,000 TOTAL kWh (Los Angeles/CA - https://pvwatts.nrel.gov)
3. $16,800 (net cost) / 251,000 (total kWh) = LCOE = $0.067 per kWh
Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) Online Calculator
NREL has developed an online tool that enables users to compare electricity costs across various generation sources using a unique algorithm. NREL
MEGA’s plug-in connection simplifies solar power integration, eliminating complex wiring and permitting processes and functions like an appliance—quick to install, expandable, and cost-effective. Unlike traditional solar systems, MEGA is engineered for quick deployment, extreme durability, and scalability, making it ideal for various applications.
Key Benefits:
MEGA includes a mobile racking system, PV modules, and UL-1741 compliant electronics conforming to the latest safety standards. This ensures high performance and compliance with distributed generation requirements.
Unlike conventional rooftop systems, MEGA allows easy access to PV modules, electronics, and wiring for cleaning, troubleshooting, and upgrades. This simplifies maintenance and reduces long-term costs.
This mobile racking system will open the solar PV market to renters and people on the move. No dedicated single-use real estate area is needed for the MEGA. Fitting in neither rooftop nor ground-mount category, MEGA racks can be wheeled into garages and barns during adverse weather conditions.
Solar installation companies can increase productivity by deploying several standardized GismoPower MEGA systems per day via flatbed trailer, instead of getting caught in unexpected complications during tricky customized rooftop installations which sometimes require dangerous, acrobatic efforts at elevated heights.
The secret sauce to GismoPower is its Solar On Wheels®. Heavy-duty caster wheels allow the individual racks to be elevated and wheeled around without major effort. Bad weather ahead? Simply lower the side panels and wheel it into the garage. The car still fits underneath.
The metal racks can optionally be anchored and bolted on asphalt or concrete surfaces. The solar panels pivot up when deployed, and are folded down when the units are wheeled into a garage or shelter. Florida is notorious for its hurricanes, but look at what just happened with hurricanes in New York & Connecticut and other high wind events in the rest of the nation.
GismoPower will give its owners a chance to “unplug and store” beforehand, instead of “install and pray” during storm events.
Electricity operates according to fundamental physical laws discovered by Ohm, Maxwell, and Kirchhoff. These principles, defined by mathematics, inherently support distributed electricity generation and dictate how energy flows through electrical systems—independent of any human oversight or corporate committee approvals
When an EV charges while a solar system generates electricity behind the same meter, the locally produced electricity directly supplies the EV battery first. Surplus energy powers the home, and any further surplus is fed into the grid. If solar generation is insufficient, the storage battery or the grid provides the shortfall.
With increasing EV adoption, grid demand will rise. However, GismoPower’s MEGAs—Mobile Electric Generating Appliances—enable direct solar-to-EV charging, reducing reliance on grid-supplied electricity and minimizing infrastructure strain.
By integrating smart EV charging with optimized solar generation timing, MEGA technology lowers peak loads and reduces the need for expensive grid upgrades.
A strong MEGA infrastructure, combined with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) bi-directional chargers, further stabilizes the grid. These battery-connected appliances act as distributed energy assets, decreasing dependence on fossil fuel-powered peaker plants. MEGA racks, paired with EV batteries, also provide off-grid emergency backup power, reducing the need for dedicated home battery systems.
Beyond grid benefits, MEGAs provide environmental advantages by shading pavement and parked cars, reducing heat island effects and improving air quality. GismoPower’s solar deployment technology turns driveways into decentralized power stations, empowering EV owners to be active participants in the clean energy revolution.
For Los Angeles, we estimated the annual electricity generation of a 6.345 kW MEGA system equipped with nine 705W PV modules using NREL’s PVWatts calculator.
Considering key factors—including solar radiation in Los Angeles, module power output, and efficiency—a single 6.345 kW MEGA system is projected to generate 10,049 kWh per year. This exceeds the average California household’s annual electricity consumption (8,100 kWh) by 1,949 kWh.
A typical household in Los Angeles can offset over 100% of its annual electricity needs with a single MEGA unit. The surplus 1,949 kWh can be used to charge an electric vehicle.
According to EPA eGRID2018, California's electricity grid has an emission factor of 422.0 lbs. CO₂e/MWh. This means:
Efficient EVs can travel 4–6 miles per kWh. With a 1,949 kWh surplus, a household could drive 7,796–11,694 miles per year on home made electricity generated in their own driveway.
Under ideal conditions, a single MEGA system enables average California households to achieve full energy independence.
Link to the ENERGY CHANGEMAKERS PODCAST
A 2016 study by NREL identified 8,130 million square meters of suitable rooftop area for PV installations in the continental U.S, amounting to 2,008,966 acres, which could potentially supply up to 14.8% of the entire U.S. electric power consumption.
According to the UC Berkeley's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, there are about 3.4 parking spaces in the USA for each car, and many well-cited and informed guesstimates say there may be as many as 8 outdoor parking spaces per car. With about 250,000,000 cars in the US, and the assumption that only 2 parking spaces with 180 sqft per car would be suitable for solar installations, one arrives at a photovoltaic parking area potential of ~ 2,066,115 acres.
Using different data sources, one arrives at similar metrics for parking-space solar potential. As of September 2020, there were 213,300,000 single-family dwellings in the United States and 38,000,000 multifamily units. If 2 outdoor parking spaces with 180 sqft per housing unit were covered with solar panels, one could cover approximately 2,076,859 acres with solar panels.
Both estimation methods would arrive at slightly larger solar potential than the solar rooftop potential determined by NREL in 2016.
Without counting any commercial or institutional parking areas, the above numbers lead to the conclusion that driveways and parking spaces offer an underexploited solar generation potential, combined with an underserved market potential of ~250,000,000 suitable private residences x $18000 = $ 4,500,000,000,000.
● Most solar PV installers do not serve renters.
● Community Solar with remote net-metering is against the applicable laws in Florida which exclusively favor the utility corporations.
● The sole solar choice for most renters in Florida is to participate in a utility owned solar project.
● If renters in Florida would be able to offset their real estate costs and the installation costs for their solar PV systems through guaranteed revenue, they would become owners and not remain renters.
Electric Utility Corporations like Florida Power & Light are legally entitled to offset real estate costs and all operating expenses for their utility scale solar farms through capacity charges with guaranteed revenue, while residential PV system operators do not benefit from such regulatory entitlements.
Residential PV systems therefore play an irrelevant, almost negligible role in solar power generation. The actual share of Florida's overall solar electricity generation capability reached 6.99% while residential and commercial solar PV stagnated around 1% in Q1 2024.
Florida Power & Light enforces unfavorable policies which limit privately owned solar system installations to 115% of PAST usage and requires an extraneous, unjustified liability insurance for all PV systems above 10KW.
In 2019, the Gismo team made an attempt to fix this issue by filing a petition with the Florida Public Service Commission against Florida Power and Light (FPL) who disincentivises powerful residential solar systems and appealed the FPSC's denial of the petition.
- May 13th 2020 - SC19-1873 Initial Brief of Merits
- July 4th 2020 - SC19-1873 Reply Brief
In 2020, we intervened before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in support of net-metering and just monetary compensation for generated solar electricity.
Florida Statute 163.04
Energy devices based on renewable resources.
F.S. 163.04 (2) A deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or similar binding agreement may not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices based on renewable resources from being installed on buildings erected on the lots or parcels covered by the deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or binding agreement. A property owner may not be denied permission to install solar collectors or other energy devices by any entity granted the power or right in any deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or similar binding agreement to approve, forbid, control, or direct alteration of property with respect to residential dwellings and within the boundaries of a condominium unit. [..]
For well over a decade, the Sarasota County Department of Planning & Development Services has been embroiled in corruption and misconduct scandals, involving former Building Officials Kathy Croteau and Greg Yantorno as well as a former code enforcement officer.
Disregarding the state-wide FSEC 203-17 certification by the Florida Solar Energy Center , the Sarasota County Building Official withheld our solar permit application.
- Nov 12th 2021 Electrical Review: APPROVED
- Jan 26th 2022 Zoning Review: NOT REQUIRED
- Jan 25th 2022 Building Review: FAILED
The Sarasota County Building Official neither approved nor denied the building permit application:
- STEVE BELL: DECISION February 9th 2022
Pursuant to Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act (“FLUEDRA”):
- Appeal against withholding the Solar Permit
- Sarasota County responds to the Appeal
Building Code Board of Adjustments upholds the decision:
- Theresa Toole WRITTEN ORDER Building Code Board of Adjustments & Appeals
- Special Magistrate recommends denial of Solar Permit
A TALE OF TWO CONTINENTS
North American Clean Energy Magazine
September/October 2024
GismoPower now popular in China
【图】随时充电 美学生发明便携式太阳能车棚_汽车之家
