Is a 600 W balcony solar kit worth installing?

A plug and play solar kit is a great tool to lower your power bills, including on your balcony. How powerful your kit needs to be depends on your electricity consumption and local regulations. In most of Europe 800 W is the limit for plug & play solar kits that you can self install. But there are or were exceptions. For example the limit in Germany until recently was of just 600 W. With Germany being Europe’s biggest plug & play solar market, this means that there are a lot of 600 W balcony solar kits on the market also in other countries.

What is a 600 W balcony solar kit

A 600 W balcony solar kit is a small solar installation, likely composed of 2 solar panels, with a maximum output of 600 W. The maximum output is determined by the microinverter, and the combined power of the solar panels should not exceed it by more than 20% according to industry standards and manufacturer advice. Solar panel output is measured in Wp (Watt peak), or theoretical maximal production of a solar panel, that is only achieved in optimum conditions but in real life happens seldom. While the name “600 W balcony solar kit” suggests an installation on a balcony, in reality these kits are installed in a lot of places, and by now the balcony is no longer the main installation location.

A 600 W balcony solar kit can be classified as “plug & play”, or self installable without the need of an installer or electrician in almost all European countries. Our Robinsun Light 600 is a 600 W balcony solar kit, whose special features are its two ultralight and flexible solar panels of 310 Wp each, with eARC technology, and the Gen 3 microinverter with integrated WiFi connectivity. They deliver 70% of the output of a comparably sized conventional solar panel at 20% of the weight.

How much can I save with a 600 W balcony solar kit

Savings with a 600 W balcony solar kit depend on where you install it, in what angle and orientation. In Europe, the locations with the highest production levels are in southern Spain and Portugal as well as in Sicily. South facing at a 30 degree angle a kit like the Robinsun Light 600 can produce over 1.000 kWh/year. Since this power is self-consumed on the spot, you won’t need to buy it from your power company. The amount you save depends on your power price. For example, in Spain the average price was of €0,30/kWh incl VAT in 2022, bringing the potential savings of a 600 W solar kit to €300/year. Considering the €899 (incl. VAT and delivery) cost of such a kit, you can pay it back in as little as 3 years, and then enjoy the rest of the 25 year production warranty time with free power from your 600 W balcony solar kit.

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