Cables

In short: yes it has to.

A balcony railing must be designed to hold the weight of a person, preventing it from falling off a balcony. That’s what all building codes in Europe mandate in one way or the other. A plugin solar kit weighs between 15 kg (City 800) and 60 kg (Performance 800). In any case this is less than the weight of an adult person, and your balcony railing must be able to hold it.

If you have doubts about the solidity of your balcony railing, consider replacing it. Your building code might require you to do so anyway.

See how easy it is to install a Performance Balcony or a City 800 plugin solar kit.

In short: yes, we wouldn’t be selling them otherwise.

Plugin solar kits are absolutely safe and comply with all safety norms and regulations. We’re not aware of a single incident with a plugin solar kit anywhere in Europe. Key advantages of plugin solar kits are:

• Installation can be done easily by one or two people.
• Kits include all necessary accessories to install them safely. All you need are normal tools like a wrench or screwdriver.
• All components of our kits are approved for use in European markets, made by top quality manufacturers and have passed all certification requirements.
• Our solar panels are extremely sturdy and can resist extreme temperatures and severe weather conditions.

In short: yes.

You need a “plug” to “plugin” your solar kit. Your kit must be connected to your household’s power network to feed its power into it. This requires a cable to connect the micro inverter to your home. Robinsun kits include the appropriate cable for your kit with a Schuko plug, the de facto standard in Europe.

Please make sure that you use a safe outdoor plug to connect your kit. We recommend connecting the solar kit directly to a socket, without the use of other extension cables. Most kits offer various lengths of cables should you need a longer one.

Should you not have a power socket available, any electrician or handyman can install one for you easily and quickly.

In short: south facing, with a 30 degrees inclination.

Plugin solar kits generate electricity by exposing solar panels to solar radiation. The longer you expose the panel to direct sunshine, the more electricity it produces. A panel's orientation (or azimuth) directly affects the amount of sun exposure the panel receives. In the northern hemisphere:

• A southern orientation will give you the longest sunshine exposure during the day, making your kit produce the most amount of electricity.
• An eastern orientation will generate power earlier in the mornings, but stop around lunchtime.
• A western orientation will not start until lunchtime, but will last until the very end of the day.

Other factors influencing the amount of electricity your plugin solar kit produces are:

• The inclination (or slope) of the panels. In Europe a 30-35 degree inclination is generally best.
• An operating temperature of 25° degrees Celsius is the ideal production temperature for solar panels, although the panels can operate even at extreme temperatures between -40 and +85 degrees Celsius, just producing less efficiently.
• The amount of sunshine hours is also key. The presence of clouds or shade can reduce electricity production, but do not eliminate it. Even on a cloudy day your solar kit will produce for you.

With our Savings Calculator you can check how much a solar kit can save on your power bill, setting all of the above variables according to your home’s situation.

In short: enough space to install the kit.

Some of our customers that want to install a kit on their balcony have limited space available. The panel’s dimensions are the delimiting factor. Depending on the kit you choose, check the panel dimensions and the space you have available for your installation.

Should you have several smaller spaces available, you can also install 2 kits of one panel each. Make sure your railing is in good conditions and robust enough to hold your kit safely.