Washington Should Legalize Balcony Solar

This week, Washington state Representatives Hall, Callan, Reed, and Leavitt prefiled HB 2296, a bill that would legalize plug-in “balcony solar” systems in Washington. It’s modeled on Utah’s bipartisan HB 340, which passed unanimously last year, but improves on it in ways that matter for renters and condo owners. The legislature should pass it.

Balcony solar systems are simple: a standard solar panel, a specialized microinverter, and a plug that goes into a regular wall outlet. In Germany, where over a million of these devices are now installed, you can buy one at a hardware store, hang it on your balcony, and start generating electricity. No electrician. No permits. No utility approval.

In the United States, this is effectively illegal almost everywhere.

The barrier isn’t technical. Modern plug-in solar systems include anti-islanding protection that automatically disconnects them during power outages, eliminating the main safety concern. The barrier is regulatory: interconnection agreements designed for large rooftop installations, requirements for licensed electricians to install what amounts to a fancy appliance, and utility approval processes that can take months. These soft costs can double the price of systems that retail for under $1,500 in Europe.

Utah changed this last year. HB 340 exempts portable solar devices under 1,200 watts from interconnection requirements. The bill passed 72-0 in the House and 27-0 in the Senate. EcoFlow is already selling its STREAM system there, though actual energy generation will vary significantly based on sun exposure and installation—a 1,200-watt system in a good location could offset $150-250 annually in electricity costs at typical rates. My back of the envelope calculation suggests that a 1,200 watt balcony solar system on my home would pay for itself in about six years, giving me 14 years of reduced costs—even with Seattle’s historically cheap electricity costs!

Washington’s HB 2296 builds on Utah’s approach but is more comprehensive in ways that matter.

The biggest difference is that Washington’s bill explicitly addresses HOAs and landlords. Utah’s bill only constrains utilities. If you’re a renter or live in a condo in Utah, your landlord or HOA can still prohibit balcony solar even though the utility can’t. Washington’s bill amends the HOA statute directly: governing documents “may not prohibit the placement or use of a portable solar generation device by an owner or resident.” Landlords face the same restriction.

This matters because the people most likely to benefit from balcony solar are exactly the people least likely to own single-family homes. Renters can’t install rooftop solar. Neither can most condo owners. Balcony solar is the only realistic path to solar access for a huge portion of the population, and that path is blocked if property owners can veto it.

Washington’s bill also includes consumer protection provisions that Utah lacks. Selling a non-compliant device and claiming it can be plugged in without an electrician would be a per se violation of the state’s consumer protection act. Given that the market for these products is still nascent and standards are still being developed, these guardrails against fly-by-night sellers seem prudent.

The bill creates two certification pathways. Systems over 391 watts need UL 3700 certification—the new standard specifically developed for plug-in solar. Smaller systems can qualify through the state Department of Labor and Industries. The 391-watt threshold isn’t arbitrary; it derives from NEC provisions governing how much power can safely backfeed through a standard 15-amp outlet on a shared circuit.

HB 2296 isn’t perfect. First, there’s a catch with its greatest improvement over HB 340: the HOA preemption expires in January 2028. If Washington’s state legislature doesn’t renew it, condo owners lose their protection just as the market is maturing. This is a mistake. If the concern is that the market might develop in unexpected ways, the solution is oversight, not a sunset that creates uncertainty for consumers and manufacturers alike.

Second, the more fundamental limitation is that balcony solar isn’t rooftop solar. A 1,200-watt system won’t power a whole home. But most apartments have some usable sun exposure, and even modest generation adds up. Germany’s experience suggests that households with reasonable orientation can offset 10-20% of their electricity consumption. Across potentially hundreds of thousands of installations, that’s meaningful distributed generation, and helps us begin to prove out the market for small-scale green energy production across the United States.

The choice isn’t between perfect solar access and no solar access. It’s between letting renters and condo owners participate in distributed solar generation or continuing to reserve solar for people who own detached houses with south-facing roofs.

Washington’s bill is a good answer to that question. The legislature should pass it.