California Solar Power Bills Move Forward to Support Balcony Solar, Community Solar, and VPPs

California has advanced four solar power bills through key legislative committees, including Senate Bill 868 by Senator Scott Wiener to permit plug-in balcony solar systems up to 1,200 W, Assembly Bill 1813 by Assemblymember Christopher Ward to reform community solar, and two virtual power plant bills by Senator Josh Becker (Senate Bills 913 and 914) requiring the California Public Utilities Commission to establish a valuation framework for behind-the-meter battery storage. The bills aim to revive the state's solar industry and reduce electricity costs.

California Solar Power Bills Move Forward to Support Balcony Solar, Community Solar, and VPPs Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription https://cleantechnica.substack.com/subscribe , on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cleantechnica , or on Stripe https://cleantechnica.fundjournalism.org/contribute/ . Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week https://cleantechnica.com/2026/07/14/10/ despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.A few bills have moved forward in California that would advance solar power in the state in various ways. The state was long a leader in solar power legislation and growth, but that changed when the Golden State changed its net metering policy. Perhaps things will swing back in the other direction if these four bills moving through the legislature become laws in the state. They could — and should — also help to get electricity costs under control, which have skyrocketed in California for a handful of reasons. The three bills related to plug-in solar aka balcony solar , community solar, virtual power plants, and smart meters. PV Magazine https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/08/17/california-advances-slate-of-community-solar-balcony-solar-and-virtual-power-plant-bills/ summarizes the bills as follows: Plug-in Solar: “Senate Bill 868, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, advanced out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and heads to the Assembly floor. The legislation clears regulatory hurdles for plug-in balcony solar systems up to 1,200 W. The bill allows residents to plug small systems into standard household outlets, bypassing traditional utility interconnection applications and local permits.” Community Solar: “Assembly Bill 1813, authored by Assemblymember Christopher Ward, passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and moves to the Senate floor. The bill reforms the state’s stalled community solar landscape by directing regulators to value community solar and storage using the California Public Utilities Commission’s Avoided Cost Calculator.” Virtual Power Plants: “Two Virtual Power Plant bills authored by Sen. Josh Becker advanced out of Assembly Appropriations. Senate Bill 913 requires the CPUC to establish a valuation framework for behind-the-meter battery storage systems exporting energy to the grid during peak stress. The bill pairs with a pending CAISO proposal that allows customer-sited batteries to qualify for Resource Adequacy based on their full export potential, rather than limiting valuation strictly to on-site load reduction.” If California gets all of these bills across the line, perhaps the solar industry will rise again in the state. It would definitely be a strong step or three in the right direction, and would diversify where and how solar power is installed in the state. Aside from large-scale solar power plants and conventional home solar, the state would get “balcony solar” smaller scale solar than rooftop solar , community solar between rooftop and utility-scale solar , and widely integrated solar and storage through virtual power plants basically the largest scale solar . California’s not done yet, and the future is bright and electric, as our friend David Waterworth https://cleantechnica.com/author/davidwaterworth/ often says. Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries https://cleantechnica.substack.com/subscribe , sign up for our daily newsletter https://mailchi.mp/cleantechnica/daily-newsletter , and follow us on Google News https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqLQgKIidDQklTRndnTWFoTUtFV05zWldGdWRHVmphRzVwWTJFdVkyOXRLQUFQAQ Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here https://cleantechnica.com/contact/ . Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day https://mailchi.mp/cleantechnica/daily-newsletter . Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week https://mailchi.mp/cleantechnica/weekly-newsletter if daily is too frequent. CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here https://cleantechnica.com/cleantechnica-editorial-ethics/ . CleanTechnica's Comment Policy https://cleantechnica.com/cleantechnica-comment-policy/