[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":297},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fkits":3,"author-mike":161,"ssc-status":199,"ssc-kits":212},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bare":7,"body":8,"dateModified":133,"datePublished":133,"description":134,"extension":135,"howToSteps":136,"kits":136,"layout":137,"meta":138,"navigation":139,"path":140,"schemaType":141,"seo":142,"sources":143,"stem":153,"targetKeywords":154,"titleTag":159,"translationOf":136,"__hash__":160},"content\u002Fkits\u002Findex.md","Compare plug-in solar kits for California","mike",false,{"type":9,"value":10},"minimark",[11,16,19,23,26,33,39,44,48,55,61,67,73,79,86,90,93,96,100,106,112,118,124,130],[12,13],"hero",{":actions":14,"lede":15},"[{\"label\":\"Which one for your place?\",\"href\":\"\u002Fwizard\",\"primary\":true},{\"label\":\"Check a kit you've found\",\"href\":\"\u002Ftools\u002Fcompliance-checker\"}]","As of 1 September 2026 there are roughly five kits worth considering in California, and none of them is a complete system carrying full UL 3700 certification — the standard SB 868 will require. Several use microinverters that are individually certified, which is the closest thing available.",[17,18],"status-strip",{},[20,21],"stat-grid",{":stats":22},"[{\"value\":\"$285\",\"label\":\"Cheapest sensible start\",\"note\":\"Bright Saver's 180W kit. A nonprofit, at cost, paying us nothing.\"},{\"value\":\"$700–1,000\",\"label\":\"Where the maths works\",\"note\":\"Two panels and a certified microinverter.\"},{\"value\":\"2\",\"label\":\"Microinverters certified to UL 3700\",\"note\":\"APsystems and Hoymiles. No complete kit has cleared it.\"},{\"value\":\"1,200 W\",\"label\":\"The ceiling, per dwelling unit\",\"note\":\"Everything at one address, added together.\"}]",[24,25],"affiliate-disclosure",{},[27,28,30],"page-section",{"title":29},"The table",[31,32],"kit-table",{},[34,35],"illustration",{"brief":36,"caption":37,"ratio":38},"Macro shot of a certification label on a microinverter, close enough to read the standard number and the laboratory mark.","This label is the whole column. Ask for it before you buy.","photo",[40,41,43],"h2",{"id":42},"how-to-read-the-certification-column","How to read the certification column",[45,46,47],"p",{},"This is the single most important column and the one most sites gloss over.",[45,49,50,54],{},[51,52,53],"strong",{},"UL 3700"," is the new standard written specifically for plug-in photovoltaic equipment. UL Solutions launched it in January 2026. SB 868 requires devices to be certified as plug-in PV by UL or an equivalent testing laboratory, which in practice means UL 3700.",[45,56,57,60],{},[51,58,59],{},"UL 1741"," is the older standard for grid-interactive inverters. Plenty of products advertise it. It's a genuine safety listing and it's not nothing, but it isn't the plug-in standard, and it may not be enough on its own come January 2027.",[45,62,63,66],{},[51,64,65],{},"ETL"," is a listing from Intertek, another nationally recognised testing laboratory. ETL to UL 1741 means the product was tested against UL's standard by a different lab. That's legitimate.",[45,68,69,72],{},[51,70,71],{},"\"Components listed\""," means individual parts carry listings but nobody has certified the assembled system. This is where most of the market sits right now.",[45,74,75,78],{},[51,76,77],{},"What we'd do:"," buy a kit whose microinverter is certified to UL 3700 specifically. That's the component the law is really about, and it's the part that would be obsolete if you bought the wrong thing.",[45,80,81],{},[82,83,85],"a",{"href":84},"\u002Ftools\u002Fcompliance-checker","Run a product you're considering through the checker →",[40,87,89],{"id":88},"why-the-catalogue-is-this-thin","Why the catalogue is this thin",[45,91,92],{},"The Assembly's own committee analysis in June 2026 found that no commercially available balcony solar system had achieved UL 3700 certification, and noted the law would effectively hold back adoption until manufacturers responded.",[45,94,95],{},"That's still broadly true. Certification takes months and costs money, and manufacturers were waiting to see whether California would pass anything before spending it. Now that the bill has cleared the Legislature, expect the catalogue to fill out through 2027. If you want the widest choice, waiting a year gets it.",[40,97,99],{"id":98},"what-wed-buy-in-three-sentences","What we'd buy, in three sentences",[45,101,102,105],{},[51,103,104],{},"Under $400 and just curious:"," Bright Saver's 180-watt kit. It's a nonprofit selling at cost, it pays us nothing, and it's the cheapest honest way to find out whether your balcony is any good.",[45,107,108,111],{},[51,109,110],{},"$700–$1,100 and doing this properly:"," a two-panel kit built on an APsystems EZ1-LV, because that inverter is certified to the standard the law will actually require.",[45,113,114,117],{},[51,115,116],{},"Home in the evenings, big bill, and you don't mind a longer payback:"," an EcoFlow STREAM Ultra once it's properly available in California, for the battery.",[45,119,120],{},[82,121,123],{"href":122},"\u002Fwizard","Which one for your place? →",[125,126],"newsletter-capture",{"body":127,"button":128,"heading":129},"One email when a kit gets certified, a price moves, or something genuinely new ships to California.","Keep me posted","We'll tell you when the catalogue changes",[131,132],"sources-block",{},"2026-09-01","Every plug-in solar kit shipping to California, with prices, certification status, and who each one suits. Updated as the catalogue changes.","md",null,"index",{},true,"\u002Fkits","Article",{"title":5,"description":134},[144,147,150],{"title":145,"url":146,"accessed":133},"UL Solutions, UL 3700 plug-in photovoltaic certification","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ul.com\u002Fservices\u002Ful-3700-plug-in-photovoltaic-systems",{"title":148,"url":149,"accessed":133},"Hoymiles, 'HiFlow Pro, first UL 3700 compliant plug-in microinverter in the US', 15 July 2026","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.prnewswire.com\u002Fnews-releases\u002Fhoymiles-introduces-hiflow-pro-the-first-ul-3700-compliant-plug-in-microinverter-in-the-us-to-boost-diy-solar-302826258.html",{"title":151,"url":152,"accessed":133},"Bright Saver balcony solar kits","https:\u002F\u002Fbrightsaver.org","kits\u002Findex",[155,156,157,158],"best balcony solar kit California","plug in solar kit California","balcony solar kit comparison","UL 3700 kit","Best Balcony Solar Kits in California 2026 | Compared","HikPYebO_hFAznQPQ4pdKxhlQoSP_KiuvAFwDTDxwBE",{"id":162,"title":163,"body":164,"description":190,"email":188,"extension":135,"location":191,"meta":192,"name":170,"navigation":139,"path":193,"photo":194,"role":195,"sameAs":136,"seo":196,"stem":197,"__hash__":198},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.md","Mike",{"type":9,"value":165},[166,172,175,179,182],[45,167,168,171],{},[51,169,170],{},"Mike Yu"," started SmallSolarCo after working out that a plug-in panel was the only kind of solar available to him — he rents in Irvine with a west-facing balcony and no roof of his own. He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer, and the site says so wherever it matters. He has a background building web products, and built the savings model here himself, using NREL irradiance data and Southern California Edison's published rates.",[45,173,174],{},"Since September 2026 he has been running a plug-in kit on that balcony and logging what it actually produces. Every measured figure on this site comes from that kit. Everything else is labelled as an estimate.",[40,176,178],{"id":177},"editorial-independence","Editorial independence",[45,180,181],{},"We don't accept review units on terms that involve anyone approving the review first. If a manufacturer sends us a kit, we say so on the review, and we keep the right to publish a bad one.",[45,183,184,185,189],{},"Reach him at ",[82,186,188],{"href":187},"mailto:hello@smallsolarco.com","hello@smallsolarco.com",".","Mike Yu started SmallSolarCo after working out that a plug-in panel was the only kind of solar available to him — he rents in Irvine with a west-facing balcony and no roof of his own. He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer, and the site says so wherever it matters. He has a background building web products, and built the savings model here himself, using NREL irradiance data and Southern California Edison's published rates.","Irvine, California",{},"\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike","\u002Fimages\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.jpg","Founder",{"description":190},"authors\u002Fmike","kb0uodhMlGk_YV3nMOIXdr6bpZgtB5zNoRxdGxsXMQ8",{"id":200,"asOf":133,"deadline":201,"effectiveIfSigned":202,"extension":203,"linkHref":204,"linkText":205,"long":206,"meta":207,"short":208,"stage":209,"stem":210,"__hash__":211},"status\u002Fstatus.yml","2026-09-30","2027-01-01","yml","\u002Fis-it-legal","Follow the bill","As of 1 September 2026, SB 868 has passed both houses of the California Legislature and was enrolled on 28 August 2026. Governor Newsom has until 30 September 2026 to sign or veto it. If he signs, it takes effect 1 January 2027.",{},"Not yet law. Passed the Legislature, waiting on the Governor.","awaiting-governor","status","y1EcgNvLaSQD00RchAw3MGw06s9kMOhBN4NDIrjgUSs",[213,229,248,262,285],{"path":214,"title":215,"kits":216},"\u002Fkits\u002Fapsystems-ez1-kit","APsystems EZ1-LV kits",[217],{"name":218,"brand":219,"size":220,"price":221,"priceFrom":222,"battery":223,"cert":224,"certNote":225,"shipsToCa":226,"suits":227,"order":228},"APsystems EZ1-LV based kits","APsystems","up to 900W","~$325 (inverter) \u002F $969–$1,100 complete",325,"No","certified","UL 3700 listed (inverter, via CSA)","Yes","Anyone who wants to be certain it's compliant in January",30,{"path":230,"title":231,"kits":232},"\u002Fkits\u002Fbright-saver-180w","Bright Saver 180W",[233,241],{"name":231,"brand":234,"size":235,"price":236,"priceFrom":237,"battery":223,"cert":238,"shipsToCa":226,"suits":239,"order":240},"Bright Saver","1 panel, 180W","$285 (member) \u002F $499",285,"listed","Trying it out cheaply",10,{"name":242,"brand":234,"size":243,"price":244,"priceFrom":245,"battery":223,"cert":238,"shipsToCa":226,"suits":246,"order":247},"Bright Saver 360W","1 panel, 360W","$414 (member) \u002F $699",414,"A small apartment, done properly",20,{"path":249,"title":250,"kits":251},"\u002Fkits\u002Fcraftstrom","CraftStrom",[252],{"name":253,"brand":250,"size":254,"price":255,"priceFrom":256,"battery":257,"cert":258,"certNote":259,"shipsToCa":226,"suits":260,"order":261},"CraftStrom 800W","800W","~$2,031",2031,"Optional","etl","ETL to UL 1741 \u002F IEEE 1547, zero-export meter","Businesses and anyone wanting zero-export certainty",70,{"path":263,"title":264,"kits":265},"\u002Fkits\u002Fecoflow-stream","EcoFlow STREAM",[266,276],{"name":267,"brand":268,"size":269,"price":270,"priceFrom":271,"battery":223,"cert":272,"shipsToCa":273,"suits":274,"order":275},"EcoFlow STREAM Microinverter","EcoFlow","up to 1,200W","$299 early-bird \u002F $599",299,"ul1741","Utah first, CA expanding","People who want an app and a battery path",50,{"name":277,"brand":268,"size":278,"price":279,"priceFrom":280,"battery":281,"cert":272,"shipsToCa":282,"suits":283,"order":284},"EcoFlow STREAM Ultra","1,200W + storage","$1,459–$2,399",1459,"1.92 kWh LFP","Check before ordering","Evening peak avoidance",60,{"path":286,"title":287,"kits":288},"\u002Fkits\u002Fhoymiles-hiflow-pro","Hoymiles HiFlow Pro",[289],{"name":287,"brand":290,"size":291,"price":292,"battery":223,"cert":224,"certNote":293,"shipsToCa":294,"suits":295,"order":296},"Hoymiles","360W per unit","Not published","UL 3700 compliant (inverter)","Limited","Building up to 1,200W across multiple outlets",40,1788387857375]