Plug-in solar laws by state

States where plug-in solar is legal now

Maine, Maryland, Utah, and Vermont have a law in force. In Utah that has been true since May 2025, which makes it the longest-running of the group. Maine, Maryland and Vermont came in during 2026.

Being legal does not always mean you can buy a kit and plug it in tomorrow. Utah's law needs a device that carries both a code-compliant and a UL listing, and the two news reports we relied on said no product met both when they wrote. Maine and Vermont ask for UL 3700, and Maryland asks for a nationally recognised testing laboratory. Read the state page before you buy.

States where a law is signed but not fully started

California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Virginia have all signed a law, and none is fully running yet. Virginia, New Hampshire and California start on 1 Jan 2027, New Jersey on 1 Mar 2027. Connecticut's plug-in sections took effect on 1 Oct 2026, but building and fire code bodies still have to decide whether their own rules need changing. Colorado's general date has passed, and its Public Utilities Commission has until 31 Dec 2026 to write the rules for meter collars.

In practice, if you live in one of these states, you probably cannot count on a clear legal route today. Check the state page for what has actually started.

States with a bill that is not law yet

New York is the closest. Both chambers passed the SUNNY Act on 28 May 2026, and as of 14 Oct 2026 the legislature's site shows it has not been signed or vetoed. The governor can act any time until the end of the year. Massachusetts is further back: the House and Senate passed different versions, and a conference committee has not reported anything we can find.

Will balcony solar become legal in more states?

Probably, but we do not know how many, or how fast. Several legislatures have looked at the idea this year. We will add states to this table as we finish researching them, and we will move the ones that change. If your state is not here yet, it is on our list.

What the laws usually require

• A size limit. 1,200 W of AC output is the usual cap. Colorado allows up to 1,920 W. Massachusetts has not settled on one.
• A safety listing. Most want certification from a recognised testing laboratory, often UL. The exact standard varies: UL 3700 in Maine and Vermont, UL 1741 and IEEE 1547 in Connecticut. Colorado's rule applies only above 391 W, and New Jersey's smaller-system exemption covers building and wiring changes, not the product listing.
• Utility notice, or none. Some states want you to tell the utility, some forbid it from asking for approval. Some do both: no approval needed, but a notice.
• No payment for exports. Where the bills say anything about export, plug-in devices are kept out of net metering. Do not plan around being paid for what you send back.
• Renter and landlord rules. A few states say landlords cannot flatly ban a qualifying system. The details differ, and some states say nothing at all.

How we check this

Each row has been read from the law or the legislature's own record, then confirmed through a second route. The two exceptions are Utah and Virginia: we confirmed those through legislative trackers and news reports because the state sites would not load for us, and we will update them once we have read the bill pages directly. They are marked on their state pages.

Get told when something changes

You can join the alert list and we will email you when your state's status changes. The email tool is still being set up, so the first alerts come later, and in the meantime the date on this page is the best signal. The UK page covers Great Britain, where plug-in solar has been legal since 27 Aug 2026.