Plug-In Solar by State
Where balcony solar is legal, what size, and under which bill.
Where balcony solar is legal, what size, and under which bill.
MAP
Laws checked October 13, 2026 · change log
Ten states have acted; six more and D.C. pending. No federal law: each state stands alone. Tap a state for details.
Small tier only: Colorado up to 391 W today; New Jersey up to 400 W from March 1, 2027. Above those sizes, no equipment on sale meets the law yet. Based on the law’s text, the electrical code and the certificates of equipment on sale, checked October 13, 2026. Sun Safe’s reading, not legal advice.
Tap a row to see it on the map. — = not addressed in the law. Checked October 13, 2026.
| State | In effect | Size cap | Listing | Electrician | Utility notice | Renters, HOAs | Net metering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | May 7, 2025 | 1,200 W per device | Lab-certified device | No | No | — | Not part of it |
| Vermont | Jul 1, 2026 | 1,200 W inverter capacity per meter | UL 3700, complete system | Landlord may require | No | Renters: 10 days’ notice. covenants and zoning can’t ban | Not allowed with it |
| Maine | Jul 29, 2026 | 420 W / 1,200 W AC per address | UL 3700, equal, or NEC-configured | Over 420 W | Over 420 W, within 30 days | — | Not for net billing |
| Virginia | Jan 1, 2027 | 1,200 W per customer | Lab-certified device | No | Before installing (SCC form) | Landlords with 5+ units can’t ban exterior installs; HOA rules apply | Exempt |
| Maryland | Jul 1, 2026 | 1,200 W, one per meter | Lab-certified device | No | Before installing | — | Meter may misread export |
| New Hampshire | Jan 1, 2027 | 1,200 W AC inverter output | Lab-certified device | No | No | — | — |
| Connecticut | Oct 1, 2026 | 1,200 W, one per meter | Lab-certified, UL 1741 | No | No | — | Export billed as usage without a net-metering meter |
| Colorado | Aug 12, 2026 | 1,920 W to the grid (391 W tier) | To 391 W: listed inverter. Over: complete system | Over 391 W | Utility may ask the size | From 2027: can’t unreasonably ban | — |
| California | Jan 1, 2027 | 1,200 W AC per dwelling | Complete system | No | Optional online notice | — | — |
| New Jersey | Mar 1, 2027 | 1,200 W per address (400 W tier) | To 400 W: listed inverter. Over: UL 3700 system | No | No | Can’t ban (tenants who pay their own power); 14 days’ notice | Exempt |
| New York | Not signed | 1,200 W AC inverter nameplate | Complete system | No | Within 30 days | — | Unpaid unless net metering |
STATE BY STATE
Each page covers the bill in detail: the size limit and how it’s measured, listing, electrician and circuit rules, utility notice, renters and HOAs, and what all of that means for choosing an inverter and panels.
WHAT THESE LAWS HAVE IN COMMON
Most of these bills do four things: exempt qualifying devices from utility interconnection agreements, bar utilities from charging approval fees, require certification by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, and cap system size — almost always at 1,200 W of inverter output.
Where they differ is the detail that matters to you: whether a licensed electrician is required, whether a landlord or HOA can say no, whether you must notify the utility afterward, and whether the cap is AC inverter nameplate or DC module rating. Those nuances are in each state's panel above, and in full on each state’s own page below.
Vermont’s law names UL 3700 directly, and New Jersey’s names UL 3700 or a comparable standard. New York’s passed bill and California’s ask for listing as a complete plug-in system. Most of the others ask for certification by a nationally recognized testing laboratory without naming a standard. What UL 3700 covers, and what it doesn’t yet, is explained in the next section.
Article 690 governs PV systems generally, and 690.7 governs the maximum voltage calculation that decides whether your module fits your inverter. What none of these state laws do is override your local electrical code or your authority having jurisdiction. A state law legalizing plug-in solar makes it permissible; it does not make any particular installation compliant.
THE SAFETY STANDARD
UL 3700 is the first U.S. safety standard written for solar that plugs into an outlet. So far it has been used to certify individual parts, mainly microinverters. No complete plug-in system — panels, inverter, cord and outlet together — has been certified yet.
Each certificate also lists the conditions the part was tested under. Some of those conditions call for hardware you can’t buy yet. That gap is why “UL 3700 certified” on a box doesn’t tell you the whole story.
Our position: plug-in solar may be doable by an average person, but we recommend a practicing electrician install or check every system, and that it meet code.
UL studied what goes wrong when solar feeds power into a home through an ordinary outlet. It found three problems that regular outlets and breakers were never designed for.
A running system pushes power out through its plug. If the plug is pulled, its metal prongs must stop carrying voltage before anyone can touch them.
UL 3700 asks for prongs that go dead almost immediately once unplugged, and connectors that lock so they can’t be pulled loose by accident.
Most outlets in a room share one circuit and one breaker. The breaker only counts current coming from the panel, not current the solar adds at the outlet. Put 20 A of appliances on a 15 A circuit with 8 A coming from solar, and the breaker sees 12 A and stays on while part of the wire carries 20.
That part is on you. Know which circuit the solar will go on, know what else runs on it, and never load it past its rating.
UL 3700 asks for a dedicated circuit, a smaller breaker, or fuses inside the unit, depending on the design.
GFCI outlets and breakers cut power when current leaks through a person. They were built for power flowing one way. The usual result of solar feeding backward through one is nuisance tripping: annoying, not dangerous.
UL’s testing also found that repeated backfeed can damage some GFCIs so they stop protecting while looking normal. It’s uncommon, and pressing the TEST button once a month will catch it.
UL 3700 asks for a GFCI rated for power flowing in both directions.
APsystems EZ1-LV — CSA certificate 80310017, July 2026.
Hoymiles HiFlow Pro LV (HMS-360 to 500-1WM-LV) — CSA certificate 80310016, July 2026.
A certified microinverter is a real step. The inverter itself passed the tests.
Both certificates say the full system still has to be evaluated once the parts are combined. Two parts they call for aren’t on sale in the U.S. yet, as far as we can find: a matching locking outlet, and a GFCI rated for two-way power.
A UL engineer told IEEE Spectrum the two-way GFCI isn’t commercially available yet.
These are the “Conditions of Acceptability” printed on each certificate, in plain words. The two inverters were tested for different installations.
| Condition | APsystems EZ1-LV | Hoymiles HiFlow Pro LV | Can you buy it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit | Dedicated circuit, nothing else on it. 10 A breaker. | May share a circuit. 15 A breaker. | Yes |
| Protection inside the unit | Not listed as a condition. | 4 A or 5 A fuse on each hot wire, built in. | Built in |
| Connection to the house | A locking plug made for plug-in solar, into a matching outlet from the same maker, permanently installed. Not an ordinary household outlet. | Not yet | |
| GFCI | A listed Class A GFCI rated for two-way power, between the system and any shared circuit. | Not yet | |
| Whole-system review | Shutdown when unplugged, grid-disconnect behavior and installation instructions must be re-checked once the parts are combined. | Not done yet | |
One manufacturer, Mango Power, announced that Intertek recognized its microinverters under UL 3700 (September 7, 2026). That covers the microinverters, not every complete kit, and it isn’t on the product datasheet yet. We haven’t found a published certificate number.
UL 3700 is published as an Outline of Investigation (Issue 1, December 11, 2025). That is a test method labs certify against, typically the step before a full consensus standard. Expect it to change.
Several complete kits (panels, microinverter and cord in one box) are sold with a UL 3700 label. As of October 2026, the certificate behind that label is the inverter’s. Bright Saver says so plainly: its kit doesn’t currently have whole-system certification. Most kits also ship with a standard household plug, while both inverter certificates were tested with a locking plug-in-solar plug, a matching outlet and a two-way GFCI.
That doesn’t make these kits unsafe or illegal. It means the certificate on its own doesn’t settle whether a kit meets your state’s listing requirement. The Designer lists several kits with their published specs, checks them against your coldest morning, and links to each seller.
The microinverters on the market are grounded through the green ground wire in their AC cord, back to the outlet. That’s documented by APsystems and Hoymiles. What no maker documents is the path for the panel frames and the rack: the NEC (690.43) requires metal panel frames to be bonded with listed hardware, whatever the voltage.
Whether the cord’s ground can serve the whole array is your inspector’s call. A practicing electrician can confirm the outlet’s ground in a minute with a plug-in tester.
Sources: UL Solutions, Interactions of Plug-In PV with Protection of Existing Power Systems (white paper, 2025), and UL Solutions’ announcement of the UL 3700 framework · CSA certificates 80310017 (APsystems) and 80310016 (Hoymiles), copies hosted by sellers · Bright Saver FAQ · Mango Power announcement · APsystems EZ1-LV manual and Hoymiles HiFlow Pro LV manual (grounding) · NEC 690.43 summary (Mike Holt) · IEEE Spectrum, “Plug In Balcony Solar Power Moves from Hack to Household” · Vermont Act 149
FAQ
Not necessarily. The outlet has to be on a circuit with room for the solar, and some state laws and UL 3700 certificates call for a dedicated circuit, a particular breaker, or a specific type of GFCI. Never run it through an extension cord or power strip. A practicing electrician can check your circuit in a few minutes, and your state’s panel on the map says what your law requires.
It depends on the state. Several of the new laws skip the usual interconnection application but still ask you to notify the utility. Others say nothing. Pick your state on the map to see what yours says, and when in doubt, tell them. It’s a short email.
No. A plug-in microinverter shuts off within a fraction of a second when the grid goes down, so it can’t send power back onto lines a line worker thinks are dead. That’s a required safety feature, not a flaw. If you want power during an outage, you need a battery, such as a portable power station charged by the panels.
Some laws limit what a landlord or HOA can block, and some don’t address it. New Jersey, for example, bars landlords and HOAs from banning them but lets them set reasonable size and placement rules, while Utah’s law doesn’t mention landlords at all. Check your state’s panel, then get permission in writing anyway. It saves arguments later.
Some states waive the permit for small systems. The electrical code still applies either way. Plug-in solar may be something an average person can set up, but we recommend a practicing electrician install it or check it, and your local inspector has the final word.
Only the power your home uses at the moment the panels make it saves money. Most plug-in laws don’t pay you for what flows back to the grid. For a real number, the Designer estimates sun hours for your town and works out the payback from your own electric bill.
Only as far as the inverter’s input limits and your state’s wattage cap allow. The Designer warns you the moment a layout goes over the voltage or current an input can take, and its voltage and current check shows the cold-morning and hot-afternoon math in detail.