Balcony Solar Questions Answered

Ten states have now enacted plug-in solar legislation, and several more have bills in progress. Our Legislation Tracker has the details. In states that have passed a law, you are generally clear to install and use a small system without an interconnection application.In states that have not passed legislation yet, there is no explicit legal framework either permitting or prohibiting these systems. Technically, you would need to apply for interconnection with your utility. Currently, we are only shipping to states where our Balcony Solar Kit is compliant.

Monthly savings from a plug-in balcony solar system typically range from about $9 to $23, depending on your local electricity rate and how much direct sunshine your panel gets. Renters and homeowners in high-cost states like California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts see the biggest savings, oftentimes approaching $250 a year with a 360W system. Enter your zip code in our Savings Calculator to see your personalized estimate.

A single 180 W panel covers a typical home's essential daytime loads while the sun is shining: the fridge, Wi-Fi router, laptop and phone charging, and devices on standby. Many households don't have much more than that in base load.Panel output peaks around 150–160 W under ideal conditions, which adds up to 1 kWh on a sunny summer day and up to 270 kWh a year, depending on your location and how you mount it (ideally tilted around 45 degrees).If you have larger continuous daytime loads, such as electric heating or cooling, a heat pump water heater, multiple large fridges, a pool pump or spa, or regular daytime EV charging, the two-panel (360 W) kit makes more sense.

We currently ship to the 7 states that have passed plug-in solar legislation: Utah, Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii due to shipping logistics.For states where legislation has passed but requires whole-system UL 3700 certification, which currently California, Maine, and Vermont, we're not able to ship yet, as UL 3700 balcony solar kits have not yet been achieved. However, you can reserve a kit now and we'll fulfill it as soon as certification is complete. If plug-in solar isn't legal in your state yet, we encourage you to become a member and take action. Your membership directly funds our policy and advocacy work to pass legislation in more states. We believe any American who wants clean, affordable solar should be able to have it, that's why we helped introduce legislation in 35+ states in 2026 and are only going to ramp up in 2027.

We are currently sold out. Orders placed today are expected to ship in mid-October.We ship in the order that pre-orders were placed. We do not currently have a way to hold an order or guarantee a specific delivery date.

We recommend plugging in only one panel for most households. The panel produces a maximum of 180 watts under optimal conditions, but many households do not have more than that in baseload, i.e. electrical devices that are always on. Excess energy not consumed by those will flow back to the grid, which won’t be credited by your utility.If you run electric heating or cooling during the day for most of the year, have a pool pump or heat pump water heater, or charge your EV at home, your home likely uses enough electricity to support two units without backfeeding to the grid. In those cases, it makes sense to add the second panel.If you're unsure, it's always best to start with one panel and monitor your energy use.

Our kits are deliberately built to 360 W. This is the level most experts agree is safe on a shared circuit, and the level many state plug-in solar laws carve out from dedicated circuit requirements. If you order multiple 360 W kits, each must be installed on a separate circuit unless it is a dedicated circuit with its own breaker.You do need a GFCI-protected outlet with an in-use weather cover. GFCI's have been required on all outdoor outlets for decades, so if you do not have them on your outdoor outlets, this is a timely upgrade regardless of plugging in a solar panel.An outdoor-rated extension cord is fine if your outlet is farther than the 15 ft cord reaches.

Single-panel kit: one 180 W panel (46" x 34", 11 lbs), a Hoymiles 360 W microinverter, and a 15 ft power cord with a standard outlet plug.Two-panel kit: two 180 W panels, a Y-cable connecting both panels to the inverter, the same microinverter, and the same 15 ft cord.Both kits include stainless steel zip ties for basic mounting. Some customers use third-party mounting hardware, and we are happy to recommend options.

No. The panels are a physical product you buy and own outright. They do not stop working if your membership lapses.You need an active membership at the moment of purchase to get the at-cost price. After that, there is no requirement to renew. Membership is not a subscription. It gives you access to the at-cost price and supports our advocacy work.One membership covers multiple kit purchases, and there is no deadline on it. You can buy whenever you are ready.

Power flows from the outlet back to your breaker panel and out to whatever is drawing power anywhere in your home at that moment. It is not confined to the circuit you plugged into. If your fridge or AC is running, the panel is feeding it.Whatever your home is not using at that instant goes back to the grid. In most cases, a 180 W or 360 W kit is fully absorbed by your home's baseload, so very little is ever exported.Analog meters with a disk will either spin backwards or not at all when power flows back to the grid. Digital smart meters can be configured by the utility to count exported power as consumption, but we have no evidence of this happening to any of our customers.

Both are safety standards, and they cover different things.UL 1741 is the long-established safety standard for grid-connected inverters. It covers anti-islanding, output quality, and protection. The Hoymiles inverter in our kits is UL 1741 certified.UL 3700 is a newer standard written specifically for complete plug-in solar systems. In July 2026, our Hoymiles inverter became the first inverter in the world to earn a UL 3700 subassembly certification. That certifies the inverter meets all applicable UL 3700 requirements. It is not the same as whole-system certification, where the panels, cables, and mounting hardware are certified together with the inverter. That step is still ahead of us and the industry.

Not today. Our kits are standalone and we do not currently sell a battery option.Several manufacturers are working toward UL 3700 certification for their battery systems. We want to offer a battery in the future, but we cannot commit to a timeline.

One 180 W panel can produce up to 270 kWh per year, depending on your location and how it is mounted (ideally, tilted at around 45 degrees). On a good summer day, you can produce 1 kWh and more per panel, with production typically peaking at 150-160 W.

Yes. The Hoymiles inverter comes with the S-Miles app. Pairing the inverter to your home Wi-Fi takes a few minutes, after which you can see live power output and historical production data on your phone at any time.

Not currently. We plan to make individual components, including the inverter, available for separate purchase once we have sufficient inventory.

No, the system does not provide backup power during an outage. For safety reasons, plug-in systems automatically shut off when the grid goes down. This is required by the UL 1741 anti-islanding standard to protect utility line workers. The system is designed to reduce your electricity use while the grid is running, not to serve as an emergency source of power.

Solar panels work optimally in direct, unfiltered sunlight. If mounted indoors, even right at a window, the glass reduces light intensity by filtering out a significant amount of the sun’s energy. Your solar panel will produce only a fraction of what it would produce outside, unlikely to be worth the investment.

Just bring the system with you to your next home. As long as there's no pre-existing rooftop solar in your new home, you should be able to plug our panel in. If there is rooftop solar, please review your agreement carefully to ensure a system like ours qualifies for usage.

The panels can be mounted anywhere outdoors with at least 6 hours of direct sun: mounted on a railing, wall, or fence, laid flat, or leaned at an angle. Always secure or weigh it down.The panels have mounting holes all around and an aluminum frame that is lighter and thinner than a conventional glass panel, so you have a lot of options.Railings and fences: the included stainless steel zip ties, or adjustable aluminum brackets.Flat against a wall: four regular screws, ideally with roughly 1" standoffs so air can circulate behind the panel.Ground or flat roof: adjustable tilt brackets.Metal seam roofs: S-5 clamps combined with mounting brackets.Anything mounted outdoors should be bolted or screwed through to something structural, such as a railing, fence post, wall stud, or roof deck. Do not rely on weight alone to hold a panel down in a storm.Tilting the panels toward the sun matters. A vertically mounted panel produces roughly 20–40% less per year than one tilted at your latitude.

We recommend plugging in only one panel for most households. The panel produces a maximum of 180 watts under optimal conditions, but many households do not have more than that in baseload, i.e. electrical devices that are always on. Excess energy not consumed by those will flow back to the grid, which won’t be credited by your utility. If you run electric heating or cooling during the day for most of the year, have a pool pump or heat pump water heater, or charge your EV at home, your home likely uses enough electricity to support two units without backfeeding to the grid. In those cases, it makes sense to add the second panel.If you're unsure, it's always best to start with one panel and monitor your energy use.

We recommend plugging the inverter cord directly into a wall outlet whenever possible.If you must use an extension cord, make sure it is:Heavy-duty and outdoor-ratedGrounded (3-prong plug)Properly rated for at least 15 amps (although two panels only produce 3 amps, the cord should meet household safety standards)Do not use a power strip. Power strips are not designed for continuous power input and may pose a fire risk when used with energy-generating devices like solar panels.For safety and compliance, avoid daisy-chaining cords or running cords through doors or windows where they can be pinched or damaged.

Yes, the plug-in kit plugs into a standard outlet and feeds power into your home in parallel with your rooftop system, supplementing its production. However, the regulatory picture varies from state to state, and possibly from utility to utility.For example, if you are on NEM 1.0 or 2.0 in California, you are allowed to expand your existing system by the greater of 10% or 1 kW without losing your NEM status. Some utilities require registering the expansion with them, others don’t. Other states may have similar rules. Please check your interconnection agreement or ask your utility.

You use it or lose it. You’ll save the most on your energy bills if you use the electricity generated by the panels while the sun is shining. We recommend using energy-intensive appliances like laundry and dishwashers as well as charging electronics during the day when the sun is shining to maximize your savings.