California Senate passes plug-in solar bill, with provisions for battery storage

The California Senate has passed SB 868, also known as “The Plug And Play Solar Act.” The bill establishes a definition of and rules for “portable solar generation device(s),” which generate power from solar panels connected to a home’s writing using a standard 120V outlet, via a small inverter with up to 1,200 watts of AC output.

Such devices, commonly referred to as “balcony solar panels” or “plug-in photovoltaics” (PIPV), would be exempted from rules that require the owner to pay a fee and obtain permission from the utility company to interconnect home solar panels.

SB 868, introduced by Senator Scott Wiener in early January, was modeled after the nation’s first successful plug-in solar bill — 2025’s HB 340 in Utah. Following the Utah bill’s passage, legislators in six other states have passed balcony solar laws (though two have not yet been signed by their state’s governors).

“The cost of electricity has risen to absurd levels, and plug-in solar is an easy way families can lower costs,” said Wiener in a statement celebrating his bill’s passage in the Senate. “These units are small and mobile enough that millions of Californians can use them to save on affordable clean energy where rooftop systems aren’t appropriate. I thank my colleagues for supporting this important measure to provide affordable clean energy to more people in our state.”

The California bill passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support on a 35-1 vote, and now heads to the state Assembly. California legislators have until August 31 to pass bills for final approval this session.

Wiener’s statement also covered batteries, often known as plug-in storage. Wiener noted “Plug-in solar systems consist of a few solar panels, an inverter, and a small battery that plug directly into a home’s standard 120‑volt outlet.”

Section 1 of the bill text calls out the traditional barriers to deployment, explicitly stating that “interconnection fees and processes can add substantial costs and time to the adoption of customer-sited solar and energy storage projects.”

As goes California…

While bills in other states have been cause for celebration by plug-in solar advocates across the country, California is seen as the most important market for the technology. The state has long been a leader in installed solar capacity, although Texas has become the nation’s solar hub as California policy has slowed new distributed solar additions.

Advocates say that the push for plug-in solar will spread the technology quickly across the state, allowing companies that sell such products to access millions of new customers — something they say will make the economics of adding a couple of panels to an apartment balcony an obvious good choice.

“These systems are simple, practical and proven. They give people the ability to plug into clean energy savings immediately,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for California of the Environmental Working Group (and former executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association) in a statement. “We strongly encourage the Assembly to promptly take up and pass the balcony solar bill, ensuring that as we head into a hot summer, millions of Californians can look forward to having access to this technology and begin to see meaningful reductions in their energy bills.”

While it is uncertain whether the Assembly will pass the bill (and if so, whether outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom would sign it), at least one candidate vying to replace Newsom is a fan of plug-in photovoltaics.

“Solar keeps getting cheaper, faster, and better. Balcony solar is fantastic—unbox it and hang it up. Any politician who opposes this technology is either ignorant or is beholden to utility monopolies. As governor, I’ll unleash solar’s full potential,” wrote Tom Steyer on X.

Even without legislative action, some companies are already selling plug-in solar products in California, including APsystems, Craftstrom and the nonprofit Bright Saver. But these companies are still pushing legislators to pass SB 868.

Cora Stryker, the cofounder of Bright Saver, has been a vocal advocate for plug-in solar laws nationwide. In a statement made to pv magazine USA ahead of the Senate vote, she expressed her personal viewpoint on the momentum behind the plug-in solar movement.

“From big states like California and New York to smaller states like New Hampshire and Virginia, there’s no doubt that Americans want some agency to fight back against rising energy bills,” Stryker wrote. “Californians right, left and center are contacting their elected officials to say clearly that they need plug-in solar – not next year, but right now. The question now is whether elected officials will listen to the people. We are optimistic that they will.”

From pv magazine USA.