[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":232},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Ftools\u002Fbuyers-checklist":3,"author-mike":193},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bare":7,"body":8,"dateModified":158,"datePublished":158,"description":159,"extension":160,"howToSteps":161,"kits":180,"layout":181,"meta":182,"navigation":183,"path":184,"schemaType":185,"seo":186,"sources":180,"stem":187,"targetKeywords":188,"titleTag":191,"translationOf":180,"__hash__":192},"content\u002Ftools\u002Fbuyers-checklist.md","The buyer's checklist","mike",false,{"type":9,"value":10},"minimark",[11,18,23,77,81,117,121,154],[12,13,14],"answer-box",{},[15,16,17],"p",{},"Three lists: your place, the kit, and the day it arrives. If you can tick everything in the first list, the purchase is probably sensible. Print it if that helps.",[19,20,22],"h2",{"id":21},"about-your-place","About your place",[24,25,26,35,38,44,47,50,53,60,67,70],"ul",{},[27,28,29,30],"li",{},"I know which way the spot faces, and it isn't north. ",[31,32,34],"a",{"href":33},"\u002Ftools\u002Forientation","Check",[27,36,37],{},"I can see a wide arc of open sky from there for most of the middle of the day.",[27,39,40,41],{},"There's an outdoor outlet within cord reach, with a cover that closes on a plug. ",[31,42,34],{"href":43},"\u002Ftools\u002Foutlet-check",[27,45,46],{},"I know what else is on that circuit and it isn't a heater or an air conditioner.",[27,48,49],{},"The railing, wall or floor can take 40 to 60 pounds and I won't damage it mounting to it.",[27,51,52],{},"I've read my lease's alterations clause, or my HOA's architectural rules.",[27,54,55,56],{},"I've asked, in writing, if I need to. ",[31,57,59],{"href":58},"\u002Ftools\u002Fletter","Letter generator",[27,61,62,63],{},"I know roughly what my electricity costs per kilowatt-hour. ",[31,64,66],{"href":65},"\u002Ftools\u002Futility-finder","Find out",[27,68,69],{},"I know whether anyone's home during the day, and I've been honest about it.",[27,71,72,73],{},"I've run the numbers and I'm comfortable with the answer. ",[31,74,76],{"href":75},"\u002Fwizard","Calculator",[19,78,80],{"id":79},"about-the-kit","About the kit",[24,82,83,86,93,96,99,102,105,108,111,114],{},[27,84,85],{},"Total AC output across everything at this address is 1,200 watts or less.",[27,87,88,89],{},"The manufacturer names a specific certification, not \"certified components.\" ",[31,90,92],{"href":91},"\u002Ftools\u002Fcompliance-checker","Checker",[27,94,95],{},"Documentation says it has anti-islanding, or shuts down in an outage.",[27,97,98],{},"It's sold by a US seller with US documentation, not imported from Europe.",[27,100,101],{},"I know what mounting hardware is included and what isn't.",[27,103,104],{},"I've bought clamps that fit my actual railing shape.",[27,106,107],{},"I've budgeted for a tilt bracket if the panel would otherwise hang vertical.",[27,109,110],{},"I know the warranty on the panel and, separately, on the microinverter.",[27,112,113],{},"I know whether there's an app or whether I need a plug-in energy meter.",[27,115,116],{},"I've checked the return policy, in case the balcony turns out to be worse than I thought.",[19,118,120],{"id":119},"the-day-it-arrives","The day it arrives",[24,122,123,126,129,132,135,138,141,144,147],{},[27,124,125],{},"Photograph the railing before mounting anything.",[27,127,128],{},"Unbox and check for shipping damage before you're forty feet up a stairwell with it.",[27,130,131],{},"Mount before plugging in. Never the reverse.",[27,133,134],{},"Check the clamps are tight, then check again a week later.",[27,136,137],{},"Plug in and confirm it's producing — via the app, or a plug-in meter.",[27,139,140],{},"Photograph the installed panel and email it to your landlord or board if you promised to.",[27,142,143],{},"Add it to your renter's or HO-6 policy.",[27,145,146],{},"Note the date and the reading. Everything interesting comes from comparing that against later readings.",[27,148,149,150],{},"Register with your utility if they've asked for it. ",[31,151,153],{"href":152},"\u002Fis-it-legal","Current requirement",[155,156],"disclaimer",{"kind":157},"electrical","2026-09-01","What to check about your place, about the kit, and what to do the day it arrives. Printable, one page.","md",[162,165,168,171,174,177],{"name":163,"text":164},"Check your place","Confirm the direction isn't north, that you can see a wide arc of open sky, that there's an outdoor outlet within cord reach with a cover that closes on a plug, and that you know what else is on that circuit.",{"name":166,"text":167},"Get permission","Read your lease's alterations clause or your HOA's architectural rules, and ask in writing if you need to.",{"name":169,"text":170},"Check the kit","Total AC output across everything at the address must be 1,200 watts or less, the manufacturer must name a specific certification rather than \"certified components,\" and the documentation must say it shuts down in an outage.",{"name":172,"text":173},"Buy the parts the kit leaves out","Clamps that fit your actual railing shape, and a tilt bracket if the panel would otherwise hang vertical.",{"name":175,"text":176},"Set it up","Photograph the railing first, check for shipping damage before carrying it upstairs, mount before plugging in, then confirm it's producing via the app or a plug-in meter.",{"name":178,"text":179},"Record the starting reading","Note the date and the reading, add the panel to your renter's or HO-6 policy, and register with your utility if they've asked for it. Everything interesting comes from comparing that first reading against later ones.",null,"article",{},true,"\u002Ftools\u002Fbuyers-checklist","HowTo",{"title":5,"description":159},"tools\u002Fbuyers-checklist",[189,190],"balcony solar checklist","what to check before buying solar panel apartment","Balcony Solar Buyer's Checklist | Before You Buy","BAyFNOi-tI8TiG1tKCzAwhAT7x4MUSO-FTiIpKgYwl8",{"id":194,"title":195,"body":196,"description":223,"email":221,"extension":160,"location":224,"meta":225,"name":203,"navigation":183,"path":226,"photo":227,"role":228,"sameAs":180,"seo":229,"stem":230,"__hash__":231},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.md","Mike",{"type":9,"value":197},[198,205,208,212,215],[15,199,200,204],{},[201,202,203],"strong",{},"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.",[15,206,207],{},"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.",[19,209,211],{"id":210},"editorial-independence","Editorial independence",[15,213,214],{},"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.",[15,216,217,218,222],{},"Reach him at ",[31,219,221],{"href":220},"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":223},"authors\u002Fmike","kb0uodhMlGk_YV3nMOIXdr6bpZgtB5zNoRxdGxsXMQ8",1788387858983]