The California Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee has unanimously voted 14-0 (and 3 abstentions) in favour of a bill for balcony solar.
The new legislation, Senate Bill 868 (SB 868) – also known as the Plug and Play Solar Act – would allow people in California to install small systems of up to 1,200 watts (AC) to a building’s electrical system and exempt them from requiring to interconnect the small systems to the electrical distribution system.
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Authored by California Senator Scott Wiener, the bill also sets clear safety standards and “clearing away unnecessary utility hurdles” by opening a new low-cost path for families to install solar panels. According to the bill’s analysis, there are around 14 million rental units – representing around 40% of households in the state – that could benefit from this bill and install a balcony solar.
The systems would be required to be certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or an equivalent recognised testing laboratory and automatically shut down in case of a power outage in the grid to avoid any electrical issue.
“Imagine plugging an appliance into a standard wall outlet and instantly lowering your electricity bill,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for California at Environmental Working Group.
“That’s exactly what balcony solar offers. You place a solar panel on a sunny balcony or patio, connect it to an inverter, plug it in, and start saving. No construction. No complicated installation. And if you move, you can take it with you,” she said.
Currently, only one US state has adopted legislation that authorises the use of plug-in solar without utility approval. Utah’s House Bill 340 was signed into law nearly a year ago and took effect in May 2025, while other states have pending legislation modelled after Utah’s law. However, some states, such as Washington and Arizona, have impeded the progress of similar legislation due to safety concerns.
In Europe, Germany has been the leading market for balcony solar installations since 2024 and had surpassed one million installations in June 2025, according to data from German trade body BSW Solar. Other European countries, such as France, Italy and the Netherlands, are also showing growing interest in these small systems.
More recently, the UK government has moved forward with the approval of plug-in solar for the domestic market and allowing these systems to be sold in supermarkets, as covered by our sister site Solar Power Portal.
More details on SB 868 and its progress can be found here.
