California Legislature passes balcony solar bill

Californians could soon put solar panel kits on balconies and in backyards to lower their electric bills — without utility approval.

On Wednesday, state lawmakers passed the Plug and Play Solar Act (Senate Bill 868) to legalize balcony solar, a form of DIY clean energy that’s taken off in Germany. The bill, which garnered bipartisan support, now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. His office declined to say if he’ll sign or veto it within the 30-day deadline; if he does neither, it would still become law and take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

“Imagine being able to reduce your annual electric bill by $400, which is what is estimated here, simply by plugging in one of these devices and leaving it in the sun,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), who wrote the bill, said at a Monday press conference on the legislation. ​“This is a level of convenience in terms of installation and energy savings that we have not seen before.”

Balcony solar kits, already sold by a few businesses in the U.S., put home solar in the hands of millions of renters and homeowners who can’t have panels installed on their roofs. The portable panels push power into a standard 120-volt wall outlet; that electricity then flows to the nearest power-hungry devices, such as the fridge, computer, Wi-Fi router, lights, and air conditioner.

If enacted, California’s legislation would allow households to install plug-in solar systems sized up to 1,200 watts per residence without the costly and potentially time-consuming utility interconnection process that’s required for larger rooftop arrays. Even a 400-watt system can cover roughly 14% of an apartment’s energy use, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that advocated for the bill.

The Golden State’s embrace of balcony solar follows a tsunami of support nationwide. More than half of states have considered plug-in solar legislation in the last year, and so far, eight have adopted balcony solar laws: Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. New York passed a bill in June, but boosters are still on tenterhooks as to whether Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) will sign it.

“California is going to have a huge impact on this market,” said Cora Stryker, co-founder of plug-in solar nonprofit Bright Saver. The state’s economy is the largest and among the fastest growing in the nation. ​“Manufacturers are going to see this and seize upon the opportunity.”

The bad news: Households won’t be able to get plug-in solar that meets the bill’s requirements right away. The state would allow only balcony solar kits that have been certified safe to use by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. One of these organizations, safety company UL Solutions, began testing plug-in systems this year under its new standard, UL 3700, but no product has yet earned certification.

The rule is more restrictive than those adopted by some other states. For example, Utah and Maryland require that the individual kit components pass safety standards, rather than the entire system, according to Stryker.

Stryker said she’s worried that California’s stringent approach could put a damper on balcony solar’s growth in the state in the near term, especially for renters. In its current form, the UL 3700 standard still requires an electrician to get involved, the opposite of plug and play. Still, Bernadette Del Chiaro, the Environmental Working Group’s senior vice president for California, said she expects the standard to evolve to include DIY systems as soon as next year.

Another wrinkle: The legislation includes an expiration date, which the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, appears to have lobbied for. On Jan. 1, 2030, Californians will no longer be able to install plug-in solar without first getting their utility’s sign off.

“We would expect the Legislature to reconsider that sunset in 2028 and at the latest 2029,” Del Chiaro said.

Wiener believes, despite its challenges, the plug-in solar bill will be transformative for Californians. ​“Balcony solar is incredibly important,” Wiener told Canary Media. ​“This is a way to lower people’s cost of living when people need relief. … I’m glad that we’re finally making it happen.”