Column | Can’t put solar panels on your roof? Plug-in ‘balcony solar’ may be for you.

The Washington Post · last updated August 12, 2025 – 2:53 AM

Fifty-three million U.S. households cannot install rooftop solar, primarily due to building and roof limitations, because they live in apartments or because of their status as renters.

But as prices plummet and technology shrinks, soon almost anyone in the United States may be able to plug in to the sun. For a few hundred dollars, portable panels that hang on any sunny surface pump free solar electricity into your home via a wall socket.

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