Image is AI generated and illustrative. It does not show a real building, a kit certified for sale in California, or an installation that any homeowners association or landlord has approved, and real panels may look and mount differently. It is here to picture the change: starting January 1, 2027, California law opens plug-in solar to condominium and apartment residents, subject to their lease or association rules.
Sources checked October 5, 2026
A balcony above the Esplanade in Redondo Beach. A patio fence behind a duplex in El Segundo. A strip of sunny yard beside a backyard unit in Torrance. On January 1, 2027, a small certified solar panel in any of those places stops needing the electric company’s approval.
Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 868 on September 30, 2026. It lets a California household use plug-in solar panels of up to 1,200 watts without an interconnection agreement, a utility fee or the utility’s approval. The law does not mention landlords or homeowners associations, so a lease or a set of HOA rules still decides whether a panel can go on a particular balcony. Kits that meet the law’s safety conditions are not yet on store shelves.
What did California legalize?
SB 868, by Senator Scott Wiener, adds a short chapter to the Public Utilities Code on what it calls a portable solar generation device. From January 1, 2027, a device that meets six conditions is exempt from utility interconnection rules. The Governor’s office listed the bill as signed on September 30, 2026, and it is Chapter 985 of the 2026 statutes.
Interconnection is the approval process a utility runs before a rooftop solar system is switched on. Under the new chapter, a utility may not require a customer with a qualifying device to get its approval, to pay “any fee or charge” related to the device, or to add equipment beyond what is built into it.
The six conditions, in the statute’s order:
| Condition | What the statute says |
|---|---|
| Size | A maximum combined AC output of no more than 1,200 watts per dwelling. |
| Connection | Designed to be connected to and disconnected from the building’s electrical system through a receptacle. |
| Purpose | Intended to offset the customer’s own electricity use on site. |
| Codes | Meets the most recent National Electrical Code and California Electrical Code. |
| Certification | Certified as a plug-in photovoltaic system by Underwriters Laboratories or an equivalent nationally recognized testing laboratory. |
| Outage shut-off | Includes a certified feature that isolates the device so it cannot send electricity back to the grid during a power outage. |
For scale, the Los Angeles Times put 1,200 watts at enough to run a refrigerator and a few small appliances. A device that misses any one condition does not qualify, and the regular interconnection rules apply to it.
Can you buy a kit and plug it in today?
Not yet, if the goal is a kit that qualifies under the law. The exemption begins January 1, 2027, and it covers only certified devices. KQED reported on October 1 that plug-in products now on the market do not meet the requirements, and that advocates expect qualifying kits to reach stores in the spring of 2027.
The certification most often named is UL 3700, a testing framework for plug-in solar that UL Solutions announced on January 8, 2026. The statute does not name UL 3700. It says Underwriters Laboratories or an equivalent laboratory. An Environmental Working Group executive told the Los Angeles Times that at least two companies expect approval by the end of 2026.
“Plug in” may also take more than a spare outlet. The statute’s word is receptacle, and the Assembly committee analysis of June 10, 2026 noted that the UL framework contemplates work by a qualified professional, generally an electrician. KQED’s report says some kits may need an electrician and others may not, depending on how manufacturers build them. For a South Bay resident, the practical step is to wait for a certified kit and read its installation requirements before buying.
What will the panels look like, and what will they cost?
Senator Wiener’s office lists what a typical kit contains: a few solar panels, an inverter and a small battery that plug into a 120-volt outlet. KQED reported in August that the panels can be propped up in a backyard, hung off a balcony or placed on a roof. Today’s models run from about $300 to $2,200.
Size drives the price. The senator’s January 6, 2026 release put a 200-watt system at about $400 and an 800-watt system at up to $2,000 without a battery. Products sold elsewhere range from 200 to 1,800 watts, and California’s limit is 1,200 watts per dwelling.
Those are prices for products that do not yet meet California’s conditions. No manufacturer has published a price for a kit certified under the new law, so a South Bay resident budgeting for 2027 is working from a range, and the range may move once certified kits are listed.
Is there a tax credit or rebate?
No federal tax credit applies. The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit, which covered 30 percent of home solar and battery purchases, has ended: the IRS states that it “is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.” The first kits that qualify under SB 868 are expected in 2027. SB 868 itself creates no rebate or credit.
In plain terms, a $500 kit is a $500 purchase, and the payback math below has no credit in it. Tax rules change and individual situations differ, so a CPA is the place to confirm before counting on any deduction or credit.
Does a renter need the landlord’s permission?
SB 868 does not answer that. The law changes only the Public Utilities Code and speaks only to the relationship between a customer and the electric utility. It contains no language on leases, landlords or tenants. For a South Bay renter, the lease decides, and many leases have terms on balcony and patio use, alterations and anything attached to the exterior.
That leaves a clear path. Read the lease for those terms, then ask the owner or property manager in writing before buying a kit, with the product’s certification and mounting method in hand. A written yes protects both sides, and an owner who has seen the safety certification has more to go on than one asked about “a solar panel.”
What about a condo or townhome with an HOA?
The statute is silent here too. In a condominium, a balcony or patio is usually governed by the association’s CC&Rs and rules, which commonly cover what can be placed on or attached to it. A South Bay condo owner who wants a kit in 2027 should check those documents and ask the board or manager before buying.
California already has a law on HOAs and solar. Civil Code Section 714 voids governing-document provisions that effectively prohibit or restrict a solar energy system, while allowing reasonable restrictions. SB 868 did not amend it. Whether Section 714 reaches a plug-in panel on a balcony, or a lease, has not been tested that we could find, and it is a question for an attorney.
Is there battery backup, and does the kit move with you?
The kit moves with you by design. The statute’s term is “portable solar generation device,” and one of its conditions is that the device be made to connect to and disconnect from a building. A renter who moves can unplug it and take it. Battery backup through the wall outlet is a different matter, because the law requires the device to cut itself off from the building’s wiring during an outage.
Some kits include a battery, and the senator’s release lists one as part of a typical system. The statute does not mention batteries. Whether a given kit’s battery can run appliances plugged directly into it while the power is out is a product feature to check on the certification and in the manual. For a South Bay resident who wants outage backup, that is the question to put to the manufacturer before buying.
One note for owners who sell. A purchase contract decides what stays with a home, so a seller who plans to take a kit, or leave it, should say so in writing in the contract.
Can a plug-in kit be used on an ADU?
The statute does not mention ADUs. Its limit is 1,200 watts “per dwelling,” and it does not define the term, so it does not settle whether a house and its backyard unit each get 1,200 watts or share one allowance. KQED’s August report included a photo of panels on an ADU in Berkeley. Where the two share an electric meter, ask the utility.
A separate rule applies to new construction. The California Energy Commission’s ADU guidance for the 2025 Energy Code says newly built detached ADUs must have solar installed unless an exception applies, and that attached ADUs, which are treated as additions, do not. That guidance says nothing about plug-in kits. An owner planning a new detached unit in Torrance or on the Palos Verdes Peninsula should not assume a plug-in kit satisfies it, and the city’s building department can say what does.
Will a seller have to disclose a plug-in kit when selling a condo or an ADU?
SB 868 adds no disclosure requirement, and it directs no agency to write one. California’s existing disclosure law still covers the sale. Under Civil Code Section 1102, a seller of residential property completes a Transfer Disclosure Statement, and a kit that is on the property, or any electrical work done for one, belongs in that conversation with the listing agent.
Three facts answer most of what a South Bay buyer would ask about a kit: whether it stays with the home or leaves with the seller, its make, model and certification, and whether it was registered with the utility. The statute ties registration to an address, so a kit that changes hands or moves is a reason to check with the utility again. Any written approval from an association or a landlord goes in the same file.
In a condominium, the association’s documents reach the buyer during the sale. Civil Code Section 4746 already lets an association require an owner with solar on a shared roof to disclose the system and its responsibilities to prospective buyers. That section was written for roof systems, and an association’s own rules may say more about balconies.
The same applies to the newer ways a small home is sold. Where a city has adopted an ordinance under Government Code Section 66342, an ADU can be sold separately as a condominium, and state law requires that condominium to be created under the same act that governs HOAs, so it comes with governing documents of its own. A home on a parcel created by an urban lot split under Section 66411.7 is sold with its own disclosures like any other house. Where the house and the ADU shared an electric meter before the sale, which unit the kit serves is a question to settle with the utility before listing.
Which electric company serves your address?
The law applies to both kinds of utility in the South Bay. Southern California Edison’s list of cities served includes Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, Hawthorne, Lomita and the Palos Verdes Peninsula cities. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the City of Los Angeles’s utility, which covers San Pedro, Harbor City, Westchester and Playa del Rey.
SB 868 names investor-owned utilities such as Edison and publicly owned ones such as LADWP in the same sentence, so the exemption is the same on both sides of the city line. Either utility may ask a customer to register a device through what the statute calls “a simple online registration form” giving the address, make, model and size. Registration cannot be made a request for approval. We found no registration form on either utility’s site on October 5, 2026.
How much could a plug-in panel save?
The figures available so far come from the bill’s supporters. The Environmental Working Group, a co-sponsor, estimates that a single 400-watt system covers about 14 percent of an average apartment’s electricity use and saves about $250 a year, and says kits start around $500 today.
On the co-sponsor’s own numbers, a $500 kit that saves $250 a year pays for itself in about two years. No utility has published an estimate for Edison or LADWP customers, and output depends on which way a panel faces and how much shade it gets, so two South Bay addresses can differ.
The savings come from electricity used in the home while the sun is on the panel. The statute says the device is “intended to offset the customer’s onsite electricity consumption,” and it sets up no credit or payment for power that flows out to the grid. A household that is empty all day uses less of what the panel makes than one with someone working from home.
What are the limits?
The exemption has an end date. The section that removes utility approval and fees “shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030,” three years after it starts, unless the Legislature extends it. The statute does not say what happens on that date to a device already in use. Beginning January 1, 2030, plug-in devices that lack the code compliance, certification and outage shut-off may not be sold in California.
There was opposition. Pacific Gas and Electric lobbied against the bill, citing safety and the question of who pays to maintain the grid, according to the Los Angeles Times. KQED reported that labor unions moved to neutral once the bill required compliance with state and national electrical codes.
For a resident, each of these limits has a workable response: buy only a certified kit, keep the purchase record and certification, and register the device if the utility asks. For anyone weighing the three-year window, the two-year payback above is the number to hold against it.
What does this mean if you own rental units, or are buying a condo?
If you own a duplex, a small apartment building or a home with an ADU in the Beach Cities, expect the question from tenants in 2027. The statute leaves the answer to the lease. Owners who decide ahead of time how they will handle a request, with their attorney or property manager, will be answering from a policy.
If you are buying a condominium or townhome, the association’s CC&Rs and rules arrive during the contingency period, which our page on what happens after the offer walks through. A buyer who wants a panel on the balcony can read those documents for balcony and solar provisions then, while there is still time to ask the association. The same goes for a detached unit, where our post on checking cell and internet service by address covers the other utilities people forget.
What other solar options does an apartment resident have now?
There are utility programs that need no equipment at the home, and they differ by utility. LADWP customers in multifamily housing can apply for Shared Solar today. Edison’s Green Rate is closed to new enrollment, with a waitlist. On the same day he signed SB 868, the Governor vetoed AB 1813, a bill to expand community solar statewide.
- LADWP Shared Solar: for customers on the R1A, R1D or R1E residential rates with an account in good standing at a multifamily address. A subscriber buys 50 or 100 kilowatt-hours a month from local solar plants at a rate fixed for 10 years, and the subscription moves with the customer to another multifamily address in LADWP territory. The 2026 rate is $0.29624 per kilowatt-hour, against a standard Tier 1 rate of $0.26408 that LADWP lists for July through September 2026. On a 100 kilowatt-hour block that is about $3.22 a month more than Tier 1 today, in exchange for a rate that holds for a decade.
- LADWP Virtual Net Energy Metering: a pilot for owners and developers of multifamily buildings, who install solar on site and share at least 40 percent of the proceeds with tenants. A tenant cannot apply directly, and LADWP’s status information on the page is dated July 19, 2023.
- SCE Green Rate: the page states, “Currently, SCE is not taking enrollments because interest has exceeded capacity,” and gives a waitlist address.
- SCE Community Renewables: a customer contracts directly with a participating solar developer for part of a project’s output and receives a credit on the Edison bill.
What we report next
Two things are still missing: a registration form from Edison or LADWP, and a certified kit for sale. We will update this page when either appears. Supporters expect the first certified kits in the spring of 2027. Buying, selling, or still working out whether the South Bay is where to set down roots? Send Neil a note with the address you are weighing.
Sources
- California Legislature, SB 868, Electricity: portable solar generation devices, Chapter 985, Statutes of 2026, adding Public Utilities Code Sections 8530 to 8532. Chaptered text read October 5, 2026.
- Office of the Governor, legislative update of September 30, 2026.
- Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy, analysis of SB 868, hearing of June 10, 2026.
- California Civil Code Sections 714, 1102 and 4746; Government Code Sections 66342 and 66411.7. Read October 5, 2026.
- Los Angeles Times, Want solar but don’t own a roof? California just legalized plug-in panels, no permission required, by Blanca Begert, September 30, 2026.
- KQED, published by LAist, California officially legalizes balcony solar, opening the market to the new technology, by Laura Klivans, October 1, 2026.
- Senator Scott Wiener, news release introducing SB 868, January 6, 2026; KQED, California lawmakers greenlight solar panels you can plug into the wall, August 27, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, Residential Clean Energy Credit, page last reviewed July 4, 2026.
- California Energy Commission, 2025 Energy Code Accessory Dwelling Units FAQs. Read October 5, 2026.
- Environmental Working Group, news release, September 30, 2026. EWG co-sponsored the bill.
- UL Solutions, announcement of UL 3700, January 8, 2026.
- Southern California Edison, Incorporated Cities and Counties Served by SCE, updated March 17, 2025; Green Rate and Community Renewables pages, read October 5, 2026.
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Shared Solar and Virtual Net Energy Metering Pilot pages, read October 5, 2026.
We do our very best to supply facts drawn from official sources so that the information you find here is reliable and accurate. If we find conflicting information, we report on all of it. This article is general real estate information. It is not legal, electrical, tax, financial or investment advice. A lease, an association’s governing documents, local building and fire codes and an insurance policy can each affect whether and how a device may be installed, so confirm with the property owner, the association, a licensed electrician and an attorney before relying on it. Savings estimates are those of the organizations named and will differ by home. Chhabria Real Estate Company has no affiliation with any manufacturer, utility or organization named here. Chhabria Real Estate Company, DRE 01821437.
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