California-based nonprofit now accepting pre-orders for plug-in solar kits
Bright Saver, a California-based nonprofit dedicated to spreading balcony solar across the U.S., has announced a new plan to sell plug-in solar kits at the roughly cost it pays its suppliers to customers in nearly all U.S. states.
Concurrent with that plan, the group is introducing a membership program that it says will help to drive its mission long into the future.
“We’re building more than a customer base,” said Bright Saver co-founder Kevin Chou in a statement. “We’re building a constituency. When you feel like your vote barely registers, joining a movement that’s actually winning is its own kind of power. Every Bright Saver member makes the case for saving money and fighting climate change a little harder for lawmakers to ignore, and that’s exactly how the rules have started to change in 35 states.”
Basic membership costs $29 per year, and earns participants the right to purchase the at-cost solar kits, as well as access to a members-only community and future offers from the nonprofit.
Each balcony solar kit consists of one or two 180-watt solar panels, which measure 46 by 34 inches and weigh 11 pounds, alongside a 120V microinverter with a 15-foot, three-prong power cord and instructions for DIY installation on a balcony using zip-ties or screws. The panels include metal grommets to make them easy to attach to a railing or fence.
Bright Saver’s kits target a maximum output of 360 watts to maintain safety. On its website, the nonprofit explains: “The National Electrical Code requires that continuous loads use no more than 80% of a circuit’s rated capacity, leaving a deliberate 20% buffer. On a standard 15 amp circuit, that buffer is exactly 3 amps, which at 120 volts is 360 watts. The Bright Saver Flex is designed precisely to that limit, meaning the breaker protects the circuit exactly as designed.”
Member pricing for the kits is set at $285.30 for a 180-watt kit and $414.17 for a 360-watt kit. Non-member pricing is set at $499 and $699, respectively. The nonprofit says pre-orders placed now will ship in late August.
A table on the Bright Saver website breaks the pricing down into line items. For the 180-watt kit, it shows $188.50 for the equipment, $75.06 for fulfillment and shipping, $8.56 for payment processing and $13.18 reserved to handle returns and refunds.
At $29, the cost of a basic Bright Saver membership is significantly less than the difference between the member and non-member prices for the kits. Bright Saver is counting on that being a major selling point of both the membership and the kits..
“Our goal from the beginning has been simple: make solar accessible to all Americans so everyone has a way to reduce their electricity bills and fight climate change at the same time,” said Bright saver co-founder Rupert Mayer. “By offering our kit below $300 and building a membership that has the power to reshape climate policy nationwide, we are doing just that.”
Bright Saver co-founder Cora Stryker says the nonprofit’s vision is to become a force of advocacy for smart energy policy in the UInited States. In comments to pv magazine USA, Stryker described the membership as “a flywheel.”
“With this huge membership, you drive policy change that shapes clean energy policies and you also drive the consumer market,” Stryker explained adding.“We really do think 65 million Americans are going to have these (balcony solar systems). We’re going to get to one out of 10 Americans way sooner than 10 years from now, and the thing that’s going to determine how quickly it happens is honestly people power. We think that the power of our movement as Brightaver is entirely dependent on the number of people who join us as members.”
Stryker says the nonprofit plans to use its growing membership to further its buying power and continue delivering at-cost kits to as many homeowners as it can serve. “We’re going to keep negotiating with the lowest price, highest quality products by manufacturers,” she explained. “We have no allegiance to any particular manufacturer. The more people sign up, the more people pre-order, the more we can expand our team and the faster we can get them into people’s hands.”
Expanding opportunities
The movement to pass state-level plug-in solar legislation in the U.S. has been remarkably effective. Following the 2025 passage of Utah’s HB 340, legislators in 33 other states took up similar bills.
Nine state legislatures passed the bills during their 2026 session, and while work in many of the other states has been put on hold until next year, bills advancing in Massachusetts and California could represent the movement’s next major victories.
But Bright Saver is done waiting for state action in places where laws haven’t yet passed. The nonprofit, which has traditionally sold plug-in solar products only to California residents, has announced it will now sell its kits nearly nationwide — everywhere except Maine, New York and Vermont, due to nuances in those states’ plug-in solar laws.
“We really believe in this (movement) and we think that all of the momentum we have generated this year in coalition with some other really powerful stakeholders is an augur of the incredible enthusiasm and awareness among Americans,” said Stryker. “This is our moment.”
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