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S688 • 2026

Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar panel systems.

Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar panel systems.

Energy
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Smith, Bob
Last action
2026-03-02
Official status
Transferred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar panel systems.

Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar panel systems.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar panel systems.
  • Topic: Environment and Energy Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-02 New Jersey Legislature

    Transferred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee

  2. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee

Official Summary Text

Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar panel systems.
Topic:
Environment and Energy
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
S688

SENATE, No. 688

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator BOB SMITH

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senator Diegnan

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires Commissioner of Community Affairs to amend
or supplement State Uniform Construction Code concerning use of balcony solar
panel systems.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning construction and electrical guidance for
modification for use of balcony solar panel systems and supplementing P.L.1975,
c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� a.� For the purposes of
this section, "balcony solar panel system" means a device or system
that: (1) consists of one or more solar systems, an inverter, cables, cords,
conductors, connectors, couplers, enclosures, attachment plugs, power outlets,
switches and controls, interfaces, associated apparatus to make energy
generated by solar panels available through a plug for connection to the final
circuit for use by an end user; (2) inhibits the feeding of power generated by
the balcony solar panel system back into the power grid; and (3) has dimensions
not exceeding 50 inches by 30 inches, or a surface area of 1,500 square inches.

���� b.� The Commissioner of
Community Affairs shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure
Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), a balcony solar panel system
addendum to, or may propose amendments to revise, the electrical subcode or
other appropriate model code adopted pursuant to the "State Uniform
Construction Code Act," P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.), for the
purpose of establishing adequate and appropriate standards to provide guidance
concerning wiring or modification of homes to accommodate the use of
commercially available balcony solar panel systems.� The guidance shall include
standards for the use, in New Jersey, of balcony solar panel systems designed
for use in the United States, and standards for the modification or adaptation
of home electrical systems for the use, in New Jersey, of balcony solar panel
systems that were designed for use in countries other than the United States.

���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would require the
Commissioner of Community Affairs to provide guidance concerning wiring or
modification of homes to accommodate the use of commercially available balcony
solar panel systems, as defined in the bill, through either: (1) adopting a
balcony solar panel system addendum; or (2) proposing amendments to revise the
electrical subcode or other model code adopted pursuant to the State Uniform
Construction Code Act.

���� Balcony solar panel systems,
also referred to as "plug-in solar panels," are small, commercially
available solar panel systems which can be plugged into a wall electrical
socket.� However, due to international variation in electrical socket voltage,
certain balcony solar panel systems designed for use in countries other than
the United States may not be safe for use in New Jersey without modification or
adaptation to the home.