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Portable and plug-in solar kits
Solar generators, balcony panels and plug-in kits. What they genuinely do, what they can’t, and the law that changed in the last eighteen months.
The short answer: these are two different products with confusingly similar names. A solar generator is a battery in a box — it runs things during an outage or a camping trip. A plug-in kit pushes power into your home wiring to shave your electricity bill. Only the second one was illegal in most of the country until recently, and that is now changing fast.
Solar generators, so-called
The name is marketing. There’s no generator involved and no fuel. It’s a lithium battery with an inverter and sockets built in, usually charged from the wall and optionally topped up by a folding solar panel.
| Capacity | Price | Realistically runs |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 kWh | $200 – $400 | Phones, laptop, lights, CPAP for a night |
| 1 kWh | $500 – $900 | Above plus a small fridge for several hours |
| 2 kWh | $1,000 – $1,800 | Fridge overnight, or power tools for a while |
| 5 kWh+ | $2,500 – $5,000 | Several essential circuits for a day |
A 2 kWh unit will not run a well pump, a central air conditioner, an electric water heater or an electric range. It won’t run a whole house, whatever the product photography suggests.
What it does well: the fridge, the internet, phones, lights and medical equipment through an outage. That’s genuinely valuable and worth buying for — just buy it for what it is.
Note the recharge time too. A 2 kWh unit with a single 200-watt folding panel takes most of a sunny day to refill. In a multi-day outage that’s the number that matters, not the capacity.
Plug-in and balcony solar — the interesting one
This is a panel, or two, with a small inverter, plugged into an ordinary wall socket. The power flows backward into your home circuit and is used by whatever is running, reducing what you draw from the utility.
It’s been ordinary in Germany for years, where hundreds of thousands of apartments have panels on the balcony railing. In the United States it was effectively blocked almost everywhere — not because it was unsafe, but because utility interconnection rules were written for rooftop systems and made no allowance for something you plug in.
In March 2025, Utah became the first state to legalize it properly. House Bill 340 created a category for portable solar devices up to 1,200 watts and removed the interconnection application, utility approval and permitting requirements that had made it impractical.
As of August 2026, Utah, Maine, Virginia, Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire have signed plug-in solar bills into law, with more moving through legislatures.
There’s now a safety standard too. UL Solutions opened certification for UL 3700, written specifically for plug-in solar, in January 2026. Look for it.
Before you buy one
- Check your state. Outside the states listed above, plug-in solar may still require utility approval, or be prohibited outright. Rules are changing quickly, so check current status rather than relying on this page.
- Check your lease or HOA. Even where it’s legal, your landlord or association may have something to say about what hangs off the balcony.
- Look for UL 3700. A plug-in inverter must shut off instantly when unplugged, or the pins stay live. That’s exactly what the certification tests.
- Do the arithmetic. An 800-watt setup in a decent climate might produce roughly 800–1,200 kWh a year. At 15¢ that’s $120–$180 a year against a $400–$800 kit.
- One kit per circuit. Don’t plug several into the same circuit.
Which one suits you
| What you want | Buy |
|---|---|
| Power during outages | Solar generator, sized to your fridge and essentials |
| Power while camping | Solar generator with a folding panel |
| Lower electricity bill, and you rent | Plug-in kit, if your state allows it |
| Lower electricity bill, and you own | Rooftop solar. Far better value per dollar |
| Whole-house backup | Neither. A home battery or a standby generator |
For a homeowner with a decent roof, plug-in solar is a curiosity rather than a strategy — the per-watt economics of a real rooftop system are much better. Where it genuinely shines is for renters and apartment dwellers, who have never had any way to generate their own power at all.
Sources
- World Resources Institute, Enabling plug-in solar in the states.
- IEEE Spectrum, Plug-in balcony solar moves from hack to household.
- Solar.com, 2026 guide to balcony and plug-in solar.
- Plug-In Solar Guide, State legislation map.