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A bill in the California Legislature, colloquially known as the Plug And Play Solar Act, that would pave the way for consumers to hook up portable installations on places like patios and balconies is heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
Senate Bill 868, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, sailed through the Assembly in Sacramento earlier this week after previously passing through the Senate.
“Plug-in solar allows renters (who usually don’t benefit from rooftop solar) and homeowners (who may not be able to afford rooftop solar up-front costs) to plug in a low cost solar panel and quickly lower their electric bills,” Wiener said on X, calling it a “big win for affordability.”
The bill would allow consumers to buy small-scale, portable solar panels from retail stores such as Home Depot or Costco and plug them into a wall socket in their homes without having to fill out paperwork for an interconnection agreement with their local utility.
By making “balcony solar” as simple as plugging in household appliances, SB 868 aims to help consumers reduce their electricity costs. The bill applies to solar generation devices as large as 1,200 watts.
Will Newsom sign it into law? As of Thursday afternoon, the governor’s press office had not responded to an email from the Union-Tribune asking about Newsom’s intentions.
If signed, SB 868 would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Kits for plug-in solar range in cost from $300 to more than $2,500, depending on size. Each panel connects to a small microinverter, which converts the direct current (DC) electricity from the panels into the alternating current (AC) that homes use.
According to EnergySage, a company that offers comparison pricing for clean energy products, portable solar can save customers money. In states such as California with high electricity prices, EnergySage estimates that customers using 600 kilowatt-hours can reduce $40 to $50 on their monthly bills, depending on the system they buy.
To meet safety standards, the solar systems under SB 868 must be certified by Underwriters Laboratories or an equivalent national testing lab. To prevent electrical hazards and protect utility workers, the systems must automatically shut off within seconds if the electric grid goes down.
“With this bill, California is poised to fling its doors wide open to a real, tangible affordability solution for everyday consumers,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for the Environmental Working Group, which lobbied to pass the legislation.
While going through Sacramento’s often torturous legislative process, an amendment was added to SB 868 that sunsets the interconnection exemption on Jan. 1, 2030. It’s believed that it was added at the behest of power companies, but the Environmental Working Group said in a news release that the bill still gives “the market four years to take off and the Legislature has the opportunity to remove the sunset in the future.”
According to the bill’s fiscal analysis, the proposal would cost the California Public Utilities Commission between $200,000 to $500,000 each year to fund.
San Diego Gas & Electric and Pacific Gas & Electric came out against SB 868. The state’s other large investor-owned utility, Southern California Edison, did not take a stance in the most recent iteration of the bill.
A pair of groups representing publicly funded power companies — including Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District — also criticized the plug-in solar legislation.
Opponents highlighted safety concerns.
“Without appropriate oversight, devices that feed electricity into a building’s electrical system may inadvertently backfeed into the distribution grid,” the California Municipal Utilities Association said. “This creates potential hazards for line workers performing maintenance or responding to outages, who rely on established interconnection standards to ensure circuits are properly isolated and safe to work on.”
Responding to an email Thursday from the Union-Tribune, SDG&E spokesperson Roland Franklin said, “Our priority is ensuring that any technology operating on or near the electric system meets strong safety standards that protect customers, line workers and the public.”
Balcony solar has become very popular in Germany, with more than 4 million small-scale systems installed.
Utah became the first state in the U.S. to make way for plug-in systems when it passed a law in March 2025, and others have quickly followed. Eight states now have laws on the books. Like California, New York and New Jersey have bills awaiting governors’ signatures.
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