Plug-In Solar in California: What SB 868 Allows From 2027

Plug-in solar, also called balcony solar, becomes legal in California on January 1, 2027. Senate Bill 868, signed on September 30, 2026, exempts a device of up to 1,200 W of AC output per dwelling from all interconnection requirements if it is certified as a plug-in photovoltaic system. Utilities may ask for an online registration, not approval or fees. The exemption expires in 2030 unless extended.

Is plug-in solar allowed in California today?

Not yet under SB 868. The bill was chaptered on September 30, 2026 as Chapter 985 of the Statutes of 2026 and carries no urgency clause, so it takes effect on January 1, 2027, the normal date for California laws. Until then, a solar device that feeds your home’s wiring is a generator under your utility’s interconnection rules: Rule 21 for PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, and each municipal utility’s own rules for LADWP, SMUD and the others. Those rules require an application before any generator operates in parallel with the grid.

Plugging in a kit before January without an application can breach your service agreement. Enforcement against a small device is rare, but the cleaner path is to wait two months.

State Senator Scott Wiener carried the bill, also known as the Plug and Play Solar Act. By the Bright Saver tracker’s count, California was the tenth state with a signed plug-in solar law. For the others, see plug-in solar laws by state.

What SB 868 allows

SB 868 adds a short chapter on portable solar generation devices to the Public Utilities Code. The definition of a portable solar generation device is the strictest of the state laws we have read: it requires certification of the complete plug-in system, not only of its parts.

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“Aggregated” matters: the 1,200 W cap counts every plug-in device in the dwelling together. Two 800 W kits in one apartment would exceed it. Our guide to the 1,200 W limit explains how output and panel wattage relate.

The 2030 sunset and the sales rule

The section that exempts devices from interconnection and forbids approval requirements and fees stays in effect only until January 1, 2030. Utilities negotiated that sunset, according to trade press coverage. Unless the Legislature extends it, devices installed under the exemption would face whatever rules apply after that date.

A separate sales rule points the other way. From January 1, 2030, a portable photovoltaic device designed to plug into a receptacle may not be sold or offered for sale in California unless it meets the code, certification and isolation requirements of the definition. The cheap, unlisted kits sold online today would then be off the market in California regardless of what happens to the exemption.

Certification: why California is stricter

Utah’s law requires a listed device; Virginia’s requires certification by a recognized laboratory. California’s requires certification “as a plug-in photovoltaic system.” In practice, that points to a complete-system listing under UL 3700, the outline of investigation for interactive plug-in photovoltaic equipment and systems, for which UL Solutions opened a certification program in January 2026. The isolation feature that prevents backfeeding during an outage must itself be certified.

A microinverter listed to UL 1741, sold with panels and a cord that are not listed as a system, does not meet that wording as we read it. The first microinverters certified to UL 3700 appeared in mid-2026; how many complete kits carry a system listing by January 2027 is something to check product by product. Ask for the certificate and the laboratory’s file number. Our inverter guide explains the difference between the listings.

Registration with your utility

The law lets a utility require notification through a simple online registration form with your address and the device’s make, model and size. It forbids turning that into an approval. As of November 2026 we have not seen registration forms from PG&E, SCE or SDG&E; utilities that choose to require one would need it by January, so check your utility’s website then. Our guide on telling your utility about plug-in solar explains what to keep on file.

Because the device is exempt from interconnection, it does not enroll in California’s net billing tariff. Exported electricity earns nothing.

Renters, condos and HOAs

SB 868 deals with utilities and product safety. Neither the Assembly committee analysis nor published summaries of the final bill mention landlords, condominium associations or homeowners associations. California’s Solar Rights Act, in Civil Code section 714, limits restrictions on solar energy systems, but whether it covers a portable device hung on a balcony railing has not been tested as far as we know. For renters, the lease decides. Our guides on plug-in solar for renters and HOA rules cover how to ask.

What plug-in solar can save in California

California’s average residential rate was 29.75 cents per kWh in August 2026, according to the EIA, against 18.16 cents nationally. That is why the state matters so much for plug-in solar. Production estimates come from the PVWatts model (National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly NREL) for Los Angeles, panels facing due south; Sacramento comes out within a few percent. They assume you use every kilowatt-hour yourself.

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Two caveats. First, the average rate hides time-of-use pricing: on many California plans, midday electricity is cheaper than the evening peak, so a kilowatt-hour from a balcony kit at noon may be worth less than the average. Second, surplus earns nothing, so a kit sized beyond your daytime load wastes part of its output. A kit with a small battery shifts some of it into the evening. Our cost and savings guide shows the arithmetic.

How to get ready for January 2027

Common mistakes

• Buying now, plugging in now. The exemption does not apply before January 1, 2027.
• Counting kits separately. The 1,200 W cap is aggregated per dwelling.
• Accepting an inverter listing as system certification. California’s wording asks for more.
• Assuming the exemption is permanent. It sunsets in 2030 unless the Legislature acts.

Next steps

• Plug-in solar laws in every state
• Plug-in solar in Arizona, California’s neighbor without a law
• What a plug-in kit costs and what it saves