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Top N · 2026

Balcony solar panel: what it really gives an apartment

A 400–800 W panel on a south-facing balcony in Kyiv produces 26–52 kWh a month, and 12–23 kWh in December. We explain what you can legally install in an apartment, how to get the condominium association’s approval and which kits make sense.

OBZOR editorial

Solar panels on the balcony of a city apartment block in autumn, with a power station on the floor

In short

  • An 800 W panel hanging vertically on a south-facing balcony in Kyiv produces about 620 kWh a year, or 52 kWh a month on average. It produces the most in September (69 kWh) and the least in December (23). A 400 W panel produces half as much: 310 kWh a year, 26 a month. These figures come from the European Commission’s PVGIS calculator.
  • An east- or west-facing balcony gives a third less than a south-facing one. In winter the gap is even wider: in December such an 800 W panel produces only 6–8 kWh.
  • A balcony panel barely reduces your electricity bill. At the tariff of UAH 4.32/kWh, which applies until 30 April 2027, 620 kWh are worth about UAH 2,680 a year. The point is backup power during outages, not savings.
  • The simplest legal option for an apartment is a power station with one rigid 450–465 W panel. On 27 October 2026 such a panel cost from UAH 4,949, or about UAH 10.6 per watt. A folding panel costs UAH 100–130 per watt.
  • A microinverter plugged into a socket is already a generating installation in your network. Under the Distribution System Code you must notify the grid operator in writing, and you need reverse-flow protection so that energy does not go into the grid. When grid voltage disappears, a grid-tied inverter shuts off, so during an outage a microinverter without a battery gives you nothing.

Top N

  1. Rigid 450–465 W panel for an existing power stationThe cheapest way to charge a station from the sun: about UAH 10.6 per watt (465 W JA Solar at Sanlarix). Does not connect to the apartment’s wiring.4,949 UAH
  2. 1 kWh station and 465 W panel (Bluetti Elite 100 V2 and JA Solar)Ready-made backup for an apartment: 12–60 V solar input up to 1,000 W, so one JA panel fits voltage-wise. In summer the panel fully charges the station in a day, in December less than halfway.37,206 UAH
  3. 2 kWh station and 465 W panel (Bluetti Elite 200 V2 and JA Solar)Twice the reserve for long outages, and a cheaper kilowatt-hour of capacity: about UAH 26.7 thousand versus 31.5 thousand for the 1 kWh model.60,324 UAH
  4. EcoFlow STREAM Ultra balcony storage and two panelsA 1.92 kWh battery in an IP65 housing with four solar inputs. Connects to the apartment’s wiring, so you need to notify the DSO and have reverse-flow protection.62,585 UAH
  5. 200–220 W folding panel (EcoFlow 220W)Needs no mounting: put it out during the day, take it in at night. But over UAH 100 per watt, ten times more than a rigid panel.22,849 UAH
  6. 800 W microinverter without a battery (EcoFlow STREAM 2) and two panelsThe cheapest kilowatt-hour, but only while the grid has power: during an outage the inverter shuts off. You need to notify the DSO and have reverse-flow protection.23,427 UAH

How much a balcony panel really produces

We calculated the output in PVGIS 5.3. It is a free calculator from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre that uses satellite solar radiation data for 2005–2023. The location is central Kyiv. Losses in cables, the inverter and from panel heating are taken at the standard 14%. The calculator does not see shade from the balcony above, a neighbouring building or trees, so real output will be lower.

Panel position (Kyiv)Per year, kWhMonthly averageDecemberJuneSeptember
800 W, vertical, facing south62052235569
800 W, 60° tilt, facing south84270259488
800 W, vertical, facing east4303686241
400 W, vertical, facing south31026122834
400 W, 60° tilt, facing south42135124744
400 W, vertical, facing east2151843120

The table shows three things.

  • A vertical panel works best in spring and autumn. In summer the sun is high and strikes it at a sharp angle, so in June it produces less than in September. Tilting the panel to 60° raises summer output by about 70%, while winter output barely changes.
  • What matters most is which way the balcony faces. An 800 W panel on a west-facing balcony produces 429 kWh a year, on an east-facing one 430, on a south-facing one 620. In December east and west give 6–8 kWh a month.
  • The city matters less than the balcony. The same vertical 800 W panel on a south-facing balcony produces 612 kWh a year in Lviv, 630 in Kharkiv and 680 in Odesa.

What this means for an apartment

Take a typical kit: one 465 W panel and a 1 kWh station. If the panel hangs vertically facing south, PVGIS says it produces on average 0.44 kWh a day in December, less than half a charge of such a station. In June it gives 1.07 kWh a day, and with a 60° tilt 1.83. So in summer the station can fully charge in a day, while in winter the panel only tops it up a little between outages.

The money is easy to work out. The household tariff is UAH 4.32/kWh, and the government has kept it until 30 April 2027. At this tariff a vertical 465 W panel produces about UAH 1,555 worth of energy a year, and an 800 W one UAH 2,680. That assumes you use everything produced and ignore the station’s charge and discharge losses. With savings like these, a kit with a UAH 37 thousand station would take more than 20 years to pay back. So a balcony panel is best seen as a way to recharge backup power, not as an investment.

If you want solar to noticeably cut your electricity bill, you need a rooftop system of several kilowatts. We looked at what 5 and 10 kW systems cost in our review “How much solar panels cost in 2026”.

What you can mount on an apartment block balcony

Ukraine has no separate law on balcony solar panels. So it matters exactly where the panel goes.

  • Inside a balcony or loggia. If the panel does not extend beyond the balcony slab and does not alter the facade, a separate permit is usually not needed. That is what Solar Ggroup told OBOZ.UA in August 2026. This is the view of a market player, not a legal rule.
  • Outside: on the railing, the facade or the roof. Under the Law “On the Specifics of Exercising Ownership Rights in an Apartment Building”, the building’s enclosing structures, i.e. walls, facade and roof, are common property of the co-owners. How common property is used is decided by the co-owners’ meeting or the condominium association (OSBB). So a panel mounted outside the balcony should be approved in writing before you buy it.
  • Construction permits. Since 28 January 2026, under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 77, solar power plants on roofs and facades do not require permit documents. But an apartment building needs a building inspection report. It is drawn up by a certified specialist and must state how the system will affect the strength of the structures. Only private and country houses can do without the report.

A rigid 465 W panel weighs 21–22 kg and measures 1762 × 1134 mm. The mounting must hold that weight in the wind. EcoFlow’s own balcony mounts cost from UAH 4,729 to UAH 11,709 at “Allo”, but before buying check what panel size and weight they are rated for.

What you can legally connect to an apartment’s wiring

The connection method determines whether you have to deal with the grid operator at all.

The panel charges the station, and appliances run from the station’s sockets. The station is not connected to the apartment’s wiring and feeds nothing into the grid. Chapter 4.12 of the Distribution System Code governs generating installations connected to the internal network, so in our view it does not apply to this setup. It is the simplest option both for the neighbours and for the regional power company.

A microinverter or balcony storage unit plugged into a socket. This is already a generating installation in the apartment’s internal network, and the Distribution System Code offers two routes for it:

  • Without selling to the grid. A consumer has the right to install a generating installation without the ability to export energy to the grid. But technical means that prevent export are required, for example a smart meter or a generation limiter. You must notify the distribution system operator (DSO) in writing using the form in Annex 11 to the Code. You can submit it through your personal account on the DSO’s website. No separate paid connection service is needed.
  • Selling the surplus. Then you become an active consumer. You need bidirectional metering, a single-line diagram and automation that shuts off the inverter when grid voltage disappears. The DSO must inspect the installation free of charge within five working days and seal the protection.

An important practical detail: when grid voltage disappears, a grid-tied inverter must automatically disconnect from it. The Code explicitly requires this of installations that export energy to the grid. So a microinverter without a battery gives you nothing during an outage. Balcony storage units such as EcoFlow STREAM have their own battery-powered sockets. A STREAM Pro owner writes in the comments to the Root Nation review that he uses exactly those during blackouts.

Ranking of options for an apartment

We ranked the options by how useful each is to an apartment during outages and how much legal hassle it involves. Prices are the lowest offers as of 27 October 2026 at “Allo”, Sanlarix and on Hotline (links in the sources). Marketplace offers come from different sellers, so another seller’s price may be noticeably higher.

  1. One rigid panel for a station you already have. A 465 W JA Solar costs UAH 4,949, a 465 W Trina Vertex-S UAH 5,229. Before buying, check the station’s solar input. The JA panel’s open-circuit voltage is 40.2 V, and the Bluetti Elite 100 V2 input is rated for 12–60 V, so one such panel fits. Two in series would give over 80 V, which the input cannot handle.
  2. A 1 kWh station and a 465 W panel. The Bluetti Elite 100 V2 (1,024 Wh, solar input up to 1,000 W) costs from UAH 32,257 at “Allo” and from UAH 28,500 on Hotline. Together with the JA panel it comes to about UAH 37 thousand.
  3. A 2 kWh station and a panel. The Bluetti Elite 200 V2 (2,073.6 Wh) costs from UAH 55,375. A kilowatt-hour of capacity is cheaper here than in the 1 kWh model: about UAH 26.7 thousand versus 31.5 thousand. The solar input is the same, 12–60 V and up to 20 A, so a second JA panel (short-circuit current 14.65 A) in parallel would exceed the current limit.
  4. EcoFlow STREAM Ultra balcony storage. A 1.92 kWh battery in an IP65 housing, four solar inputs totalling up to 2,000 W, an 800 W AC output to the apartment’s wiring (specifications from the Root Nation review). At “Allo” it costs from UAH 52,687, about UAH 62.6 thousand with two panels. It is the most convenient balcony solution, but it connects to the apartment’s wiring, so you need to notify the DSO and have reverse-flow protection.
  5. A 200–220 W folding panel. It needs no mounting: you can put it out on the balcony during the day and take it in at night. But the 220 W EcoFlow costs UAH 22,849–27,999 on Hotline, i.e. over UAH 100 per watt, 10 times more than a rigid panel.
  6. An 800 W microinverter without a battery. The EcoFlow STREAM 2 Microinverter costs from UAH 13,529 at “Allo”, about UAH 23.4 thousand with two panels. It gives the cheapest kilowatt-hour, but only while the power is on. The connection is the same as in item 4.

YASNO also sells ready-made balcony kits. Kosht.media reported in April 2026 that the kits are built on EcoFlow equipment, the owner installs them himself following instructions, and the basic kit costs from UAH 20 thousand. Check the contents and price with the company itself.

Checklist before buying

We looked at which panel brands have the best independent test results in our ranking “Which solar panels are best for the home”.

See also

Sources

  1. PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre — output calculation for Kyiv (50.45° N, 30.52° E), Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa: 0.4, 0.465 and 0.8 kW panels, 14% losses, SARAH3 database for 2005–2023. API query, e.g. 800 W vertical facing south, run on 27.10.2026.
  2. Law of Ukraine “On the Specifics of Exercising Ownership Rights in an Apartment Building” No. 417-VIII — Art. 1 (common property), Art. 10 (decisions of the co-owners’ meeting); version as of 27.10.2026.
  3. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 77 of 28.01.2026 — solar plants on roofs and facades without permit documents, building inspection report; also the government news release of 28.01.2026.
  4. Distribution System Code (NEURC Resolution No. 310), Chapter 4.12, clauses 4.12.1–4.12.5 — consumers’ generating installations; version as of 27.10.2026.
  5. Buhgalter911: UAH 4.32/kWh tariff until 30 April 2027 (08.10.2026).
  6. OBOZ.UA: a solar panel in an apartment, comment by Solar Ggroup (03.08.2026).
  7. Kosht.media: balcony solar systems from YASNO (29.04.2026).
  8. Root Nation: EcoFlow STREAM Ultra review (29.09.2025) — specifications, operation during outages.
  9. BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 and Elite 200 V2 — manufacturer specifications (checked 27.10.2026).
  10. Sanlarix: JA Solar JAM54D40-465/LR (UAH 4,949, specifications) and Trina Vertex-S 465 W (UAH 5,229), 27.10.2026.
  11. “Allo”, prices on 27.10.2026: Bluetti Elite 100 V2, Bluetti Elite 200 V2, EcoFlow STREAM Ultra, EcoFlow STREAM 2 Microinverter, mounts EcoFlow Lattice Balcony and Concrete Balcony.
  12. Hotline, price ranges on 27.10.2026: Bluetti Elite 100 V2, EcoFlow 220W Solar Panel.