[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":623},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fwhat-is-plug-in-solar":3,"author-mike":553,"ssc-status":610},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bare":7,"body":8,"dateModified":518,"datePublished":519,"description":520,"extension":521,"howToSteps":522,"kits":522,"layout":523,"meta":524,"navigation":525,"path":526,"schemaType":527,"seo":528,"sources":529,"stem":545,"targetKeywords":546,"titleTag":551,"translationOf":522,"__hash__":552},"content\u002Fwhat-is-plug-in-solar.md","What is plug in solar?","mike",false,{"type":9,"value":10},"minimark",[11,21,24,33,38,41,48,54,60,66,70,73,212,220,224,227,233,239,245,251,257,267,271,274,280,286,292,307,311,314,317,321,324,327,334,338,342,345,405,415,418,425,429,432,435,438,441,445,451,457,461,464,467,470,474,509,515],[12,13,14,18],"answer-box",{},[15,16,17],"p",{},"Plug in solar is a solar panel you can plug into an ordinary wall outlet. It sits on a balcony, a patio or against a sunny wall, and whatever is switched on in your home uses the power it makes. Kits start around $285.",[15,19,20],{},"The thing that matters: it is the first solar you can buy without owning a roof. No installer, no permit, no contract, no credit check — you buy it like an appliance, set it up in an afternoon, and take it with you when you move.",[22,23],"status-strip",{},[25,26],"illustration",{"alt":27,"brief":28,"caption":29,"ratio":30,"src":31,":priority":32},"Four components laid out on a concrete floor and photographed from directly above: a solar panel with black cells in a slim frame, a black finned microinverter with a mounting bracket behind it, a coiled pair of DC cables ending in clip-together connectors, and a coiled cable with an ordinary three-pin household plug on one end.","Exploded view of one kit: panel, microinverter, the two cables, the plug. Laid flat on a floor, shot from directly above, each part far enough apart to be countable.","Four parts. The expensive, clever one is the small box, not the panel.","wide","\u002Fimages\u002Fplug-in-solar-components.jpg","true",[34,35,37],"h2",{"id":36},"what-is-actually-in-one","What is actually in one?",[15,39,40],{},"Four things, and only one of them is the panel.",[15,42,43,47],{},[44,45,46],"strong",{},"A panel."," About the size of a door and about as heavy as a bicycle. Sunlight hits the cells and produces direct current — the same kind a battery makes. A typical balcony panel is rated somewhere between 180 and 450 watts, which is its output in ideal noon sun, not what it makes all day.",[15,49,50,53],{},[44,51,52],{},"A microinverter."," A sealed box, usually mounted right behind the panel, that turns the panel's direct current into the ordinary 120-volt alternating current your home runs on. This is the expensive, clever, safety-critical part of the kit, and it's the component that has to be certified.",[15,55,56,59],{},[44,57,58],{},"A cable and a plug."," The microinverter's output ends in a standard plug. You plug it into an outdoor outlet the same way you'd plug in a string of lights.",[15,61,62,65],{},[44,63,64],{},"Something to hold it up."," Railing clamps, a folding stand, or a wall bracket, depending on where it's going.",[34,67,69],{"id":68},"how-is-it-different-from-the-solar-on-peoples-roofs","How is it different from the solar on people's roofs?",[15,71,72],{},"It is a different product for a different situation, not a smaller version of the same purchase.",[74,75,76,91],"table",{},[77,78,79],"thead",{},[80,81,82,85,88],"tr",{},[83,84],"th",{},[83,86,87],{},"Rooftop solar",[83,89,90],{},"Plug in solar",[92,93,94,108,121,134,147,160,173,186,199],"tbody",{},[80,95,96,102,105],{},[97,98,99],"td",{},[44,100,101],{},"What you buy",[97,103,104],{},"A construction project on your house",[97,106,107],{},"An appliance, in a box",[80,109,110,115,118],{},[97,111,112],{},[44,113,114],{},"Who can buy it",[97,116,117],{},"People who own the roof",[97,119,120],{},"Anyone with an outdoor outlet and some sun",[80,122,123,128,131],{},[97,124,125],{},[44,126,127],{},"Rough cost",[97,129,130],{},"Around $25,000 before financing",[97,132,133],{},"$285 to $2,400",[80,135,136,141,144],{},[97,137,138],{},[44,139,140],{},"Who installs it",[97,142,143],{},"A licensed contractor, over several days",[97,145,146],{},"You, in an afternoon",[80,148,149,154,157],{},[97,150,151],{},[44,152,153],{},"Permit",[97,155,156],{},"Yes",[97,158,159],{},"No",[80,161,162,167,170],{},[97,163,164],{},[44,165,166],{},"Contract",[97,168,169],{},"Commonly a 20 to 25 year agreement",[97,171,172],{},"None",[80,174,175,180,183],{},[97,176,177],{},[44,178,179],{},"Share of a typical bill",[97,181,182],{},"Most of it",[97,184,185],{},"A slice — usually 10 to 20 percent",[80,187,188,193,196],{},[97,189,190],{},[44,191,192],{},"If you move",[97,194,195],{},"It stays with the building",[97,197,198],{},"It comes off the railing and goes with you",[80,200,201,206,209],{},[97,202,203],{},[44,204,205],{},"Backup in a blackout",[97,207,208],{},"Only with a battery and the right inverter",[97,210,211],{},"None, ever",[15,213,214,215],{},"The honest framing: a roof produces far more power and can cover most of a bill. It also costs many times as much, takes weeks, and needs a roof you own. This is the other end of that, and it is not a replacement for it. ",[216,217,219],"a",{"href":218},"\u002Fwhat-it-costs","The costs side by side →",[34,221,223],{"id":222},"what-this-does-that-a-roof-cant","What this does that a roof can't",[15,225,226],{},"The comparison above makes plug in solar look like the smaller option. On price and output it is. On everything else it is the only option, and those differences are worth more than they look.",[15,228,229,232],{},[44,230,231],{},"You don't have to own the building."," This is the whole point. Around 44 percent of Californian households rent, and for twenty years the answer to \"can I get solar?\" was no. It isn't no any more.",[15,234,235,238],{},[44,236,237],{},"Nothing is signed."," No twenty-year agreement, no lien on a property, no credit check, no salesperson at the door. You pay once and you own it.",[15,240,241,244],{},[44,242,243],{},"Nothing is drilled."," Railing clamps and a folding stand. Nothing is bolted to the building, nothing is cut into, and a landlord's most common objection has nothing to hold onto.",[15,246,247,250],{},[44,248,249],{},"It's reversible in half an hour."," Off the railing, into the car, onto the next balcony. A roof array is a permanent improvement to somebody else's asset — this is a possession, like a bike.",[15,252,253,256],{},[44,254,255],{},"You can start small and find out."," A $285 kit is a way to learn whether any of this works on your balcony before spending more. Nothing about rooftop solar can be tried.",[15,258,259,262,263],{},[44,260,261],{},"It pays back in a few years, not decades."," Because the purchase is small, the arithmetic is short. ",[216,264,266],{"href":265},"\u002Fmethodology","The full working →",[34,268,270],{"id":269},"what-it-wont-do","What it won't do",[15,272,273],{},"Four things, said here rather than left for you to discover.",[15,275,276,279],{},[44,277,278],{},"It won't cover most of your bill."," A slice, usually 10 to 20 percent. If you want the whole bill gone you want a roof, and you need to own one.",[15,281,282,285],{},[44,283,284],{},"It won't pay you for spare power."," Anything your home doesn't use in the moment flows to the grid and earns you nothing. SB 868 is silent on export compensation, deliberately — which is why these systems are small on purpose, and why the next two sections matter more than the panel's rating does.",[15,287,288,291],{},[44,289,290],{},"It won't keep anything running in a blackout."," Not reduced power. None. There's a good reason, below.",[15,293,294,297,298,302,303],{},[44,295,296],{},"It won't work everywhere."," A north-facing balcony, or one with a building in front of it, may not clear $100 a year. ",[216,299,301],{"href":300},"\u002Fsavings-calculator","The calculator"," says \"Honestly? Probably not\" when that's the answer, and it says it often. ",[216,304,306],{"href":305},"\u002Ftools\u002Forientation","Which way does yours face? →",[34,308,310],{"id":309},"where-does-the-power-actually-go","Where does the power actually go?",[15,312,313],{},"This is the part that confuses people, so here it is plainly. Electricity takes the shortest path to whatever is drawing it. When your panel pushes 300 watts onto the circuit and your fridge is drawing 150, the fridge takes it from the panel rather than from the grid. The utility's meter only measures what crosses it, so it simply records less.",[15,315,316],{},"If the panel is making 300 watts and your home only wants 100, the other 200 flows out to the grid. Under SB 868 you're paid nothing for it. That's not a loophole or an oversight you can work around — the bill is silent on export compensation, deliberately.",[34,318,320],{"id":319},"why-does-it-matter-whether-anyone-is-home-during-the-day","Why does it matter whether anyone is home during the day?",[15,322,323],{},"Solar makes its power in the middle of the day. Most households use their power in the morning and evening. The fraction of your production that your home happens to consume as it's made is the single biggest number in the whole calculation, and nobody ever asks about it.",[15,325,326],{},"A household where somebody works from home, or has a baby, or runs a pool pump, uses maybe 70 to 80 percent of what a small panel makes. A household that's empty from eight to six uses closer to 40 percent. Same panel, same sunshine, nearly double the difference in money.",[15,328,329,330,333],{},"This is why we ask it in ",[216,331,332],{"href":300},"the calculator"," and why we rate a café better than a house.",[335,336],"day-band-chart",{"caption":337},"Production peaks around noon. Southern California Edison's most expensive hours run 4pm to 9pm. Everything you can shift into the amber is worth full price.",[34,339,341],{"id":340},"what-does-a-battery-change","What does a battery change?",[15,343,344],{},"A battery sits between the panel and the outlet. It soaks up the midday surplus you'd otherwise give away and releases it in the evening, when you're home and rates are highest.",[74,346,347,359],{},[77,348,349],{},[80,350,351,353,356],{},[83,352],{},[83,354,355],{},"No battery",[83,357,358],{},"With a small battery (1–2 kWh)",[92,360,361,372,383,394],{},[80,362,363,366,369],{},[97,364,365],{},"Share of production you actually use",[97,367,368],{},"about 60%",[97,370,371],{},"about 90%",[80,373,374,377,380],{},[97,375,376],{},"Estimated annual saving, 1,200W in Irvine",[97,378,379],{},"~$376",[97,381,382],{},"~$564",[80,384,385,388,391],{},[97,386,387],{},"Added cost",[97,389,390],{},"—",[97,392,393],{},"$800–$1,500",[80,395,396,399,402],{},[97,397,398],{},"Payback",[97,400,401],{},"2–4 years",[97,403,404],{},"4–6 years",[15,406,407],{},[408,409,410,411,414],"em",{},"Estimated. Assumes 1,900 kWh a year from a tilted 1,200-watt system in Orange County and a 33-cent blended rate. ",[216,412,413],{"href":265},"Full working",".",[15,416,417],{},"So a battery earns you more but pays back slower. It's worth it if you're on a time-of-use plan with a punishing evening peak, and it's the wrong purchase if you're mainly trying to find out whether any of this works for you.",[15,419,420,421],{},"In Germany, the only mature market for this, EcoFlow's own sales data shows the share of its balcony systems sold with storage doubled from 20 percent in 2023 to 40 percent in 2025. Buyers with a decade of experience increasingly conclude the battery is worth it. ",[216,422,424],{"href":423},"\u002Fguides\u002Fbattery-or-no-battery","Whether it's worth it for you →",[34,426,428],{"id":427},"is-it-safe-on-a-normal-household-circuit","Is it safe on a normal household circuit?",[15,430,431],{},"This is the part the firefighters' unions and the electrical workers argued about, and it's worth understanding rather than glossing over.",[15,433,434],{},"Your outlet is on a branch circuit, protected by a 15-amp or 20-amp breaker. That breaker's job is to trip if too much current flows. Normally all the current on that circuit comes from your panel board, so the breaker sees everything.",[15,436,437],{},"A plug in solar device adds a second source of current, downstream of the breaker. In theory, with a large enough device and enough load on the same circuit, the wires could carry more current than the breaker is watching for. That's the \"breaker masking\" concern.",[15,439,440],{},"In practice, the 1,200-watt cap in SB 868 exists precisely to keep this well inside the margin, and the UL 3700 standard is written to test for it. Germany has over a million of these installed with no pattern of fires attributable to the devices. But it's a real engineering question, not industry noise, and the answer is: keep to certified equipment, keep to the wattage cap, and don't run a heater on the same outlet.",[442,443],"disclaimer",{"kind":444},"electrical",[15,446,447],{},[216,448,450],{"href":449},"\u002Ftools\u002Foutlet-check","Two-minute outlet check →",[25,452],{"alt":453,"brief":454,"caption":455,"ratio":30,"src":456},"A black microinverter bolted to a bracket on the back of a solar panel, which is clamped to a metal balcony railing. Black and red cables run from the inverter along the panel frame and are cable-tied to the railing. Beyond the balcony are apartment buildings with their own balconies, palm trees, a road, and dry hills in the distance.","The microinverter mounted on the back of the panel frame, close enough to read the label and the certification marks.","The microinverter is the part the law is really about, and the part that has to be certified.","\u002Fimages\u002Fplug-in-solar-microinverter.jpg",[34,458,460],{"id":459},"why-does-it-switch-off-in-a-blackout","Why does it switch off in a blackout?",[15,462,463],{},"In plain terms: it switches off in a blackout. Every compliant device watches the grid and stops producing within a fraction of a second of it disappearing. Spec sheets call this anti-islanding.",[15,465,466],{},"The reason is line workers. If the power is out on your street and a dozen balconies are quietly pushing electricity onto the local wires, someone repairing those wires can be hurt. So the law requires the device to shut down, and it does.",[15,468,469],{},"The consequence for you: plug in solar provides zero backup power. Not reduced power, none. If you want the fridge running during an outage, you want a battery with a backup output, which is a different product with a different price.",[34,471,473],{"id":472},"what-do-you-need-before-you-buy-one","What do you need before you buy one?",[475,476,477,484,490,499],"ul",{},[478,479,480,483],"li",{},[44,481,482],{},"An outdoor outlet",", or a safe way to reach one. Running a cord through a sliding door is common and usually fine; running it under a rug is not.",[478,485,486,489],{},[44,487,488],{},"A railing, wall, or floor"," that can hold roughly 40 to 60 pounds and won't be damaged by clamps.",[478,491,492,495,496],{},[44,493,494],{},"Sun."," A south or west aspect with a clear view of the sky. ",[216,497,498],{"href":305},"Which way does yours face?",[478,500,501,504,505,414],{},[44,502,503],{},"Permission, or at least no prohibition."," Your lease and your HOA rules still apply. ",[216,506,508],{"href":507},"\u002Fguides\u002Fcan-your-landlord-or-hoa-say-no","The honest version",[15,510,511],{},[216,512,514],{"href":513},"\u002Fguides\u002Fwhats-in-a-kit","What's in a kit and what you'll also need →",[516,517],"sources-block",{},"2026-09-08","2026-09-01","A solar panel that plugs into an ordinary outlet. What plug in solar is, how it differs from rooftop solar, what it does for a renter that a roof can't, and what it won't do.","md",null,"article",{},true,"\u002Fwhat-is-plug-in-solar","Article",{"title":5,"description":520},[530,533,536,539,542],{"title":531,"url":532,"accessed":519},"UL Solutions, UL 3700 Outline of Investigation for Interactive Plug-In Photovoltaic Equipment","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ul.com\u002Fservices\u002Ful-3700-plug-in-photovoltaic-systems",{"title":534,"url":535,"accessed":519},"SB 868 bill text, Public Utilities Code §8530","https:\u002F\u002Fleginfo.legislature.ca.gov\u002Ffaces\u002FbillTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB868",{"title":537,"url":538,"accessed":519},"Bundesnetzagentur, Marktstammdatenregister registrations of plug in solar devices","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bundesnetzagentur.de\u002F",{"title":540,"url":541,"accessed":519},"ESS News, EcoFlow German sales data on balcony storage attach rates","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ess-news.com\u002F",{"title":543,"url":544,"accessed":519},"US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024, California housing tenure","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.census.gov\u002Fquickfacts\u002FCA","what-is-plug-in-solar",[547,548,549,550],"what is plug in solar","plug in solar explained","what is balcony solar","plug in solar panels california","What Is Plug In Solar?","Kgy5Owe8A_miE6iZ2oZiD1OAiiCH0Sf3I8r45uIAwBQ",{"id":554,"title":555,"body":556,"description":601,"email":600,"extension":521,"location":602,"meta":603,"name":562,"navigation":525,"path":604,"photo":605,"role":606,"sameAs":522,"seo":607,"stem":608,"__hash__":609},"authors\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.md","Mike",{"type":9,"value":557},[558,564,570,577,581,584,587,591,594],[15,559,560,563],{},[44,561,562],{},"Mike Yu"," is the editor of SmallSolarCo. He started it 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 — and found that nothing written about it in California was both plain and sourced.",[15,565,566,569],{},[44,567,568],{},"He is not an electrician, a solar installer, or a lawyer",", and the site says so wherever it matters. What he does is read the primary sources — bill text, CPUC filings, utility tariff sheets, UL standards, manufacturer specification sheets — and put them in one place with the arithmetic attached and a date on every claim.",[15,571,572,573,576],{},"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. It's published in full on ",[216,574,575],{"href":265},"the methodology page",", and the site's tests fail if an article and the calculator ever disagree.",[34,578,580],{"id":579},"what-this-site-does-and-doesnt-do","What this site does and doesn't do",[15,582,583],{},"It explains, catalogs, and calculates. It does not test hardware. Kit pages are built from published specifications with the date they were checked, not from a test bench, and the site says so rather than implying otherwise.",[15,585,586],{},"There is a plug-in kit on the Irvine balcony logging output, which is used to check whether the model is roughly calibrated. Figures from it are labelled measured and carry their conditions. Everything else on the site is labelled as an estimate, and there are far more estimates than measurements.",[34,588,590],{"id":589},"editorial-independence","Editorial independence",[15,592,593],{},"Affiliate commissions don't reach the savings model — it's the same arithmetic for every kit, and the current recommendation for anyone spending under $400 is a nonprofit that pays nothing. We don't accept hardware on terms that involve anyone approving coverage first. If a manufacturer sends something, the page says so.",[15,595,596,597,414],{},"Reach him at ",[216,598,600],{"href":599},"mailto:hello@smallsolarco.com","hello@smallsolarco.com","Mike Yu is the editor of SmallSolarCo. He started it 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 — and found that nothing written about it in California was both plain and sourced.","Irvine, California",{},"\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike","\u002Fimages\u002Fauthors\u002Fmike.jpg","Founder and editor",{"description":601},"authors\u002Fmike","2UYfVkomBje4XbTXMc-HWSa7jliDKILElV8MEZxfPVw",{"id":611,"asOf":519,"deadline":612,"effectiveIfSigned":613,"extension":614,"linkHref":615,"linkText":616,"long":617,"meta":618,"short":619,"stage":620,"stem":621,"__hash__":622},"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",1788880325081]