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Plug-in solar reaches the US with first UL 3700 inverter
Hoymiles has launched the first US plug-in solar microinverter certified under UL 3700, a new safety standard for outlet-based solar systems.
Image: Engadget
Hoymiles has released the HiFlow Pro in the US, marking the first plug-in solar microinverter to comply with UL 3700, the new national safety standard for these systems.
The product is aimed at a smaller, more renter-friendly version of solar power: setups that can feed energy through a standard household outlet instead of requiring a full rooftop installation. As Electrek noted, microinverters themselves are not new, but the HiFlow Pro stands out because it is the first in the US to meet the recently adopted federal safety rules.
UL 3700, adopted in December 2025, is the first North American safety standard for plug-in photovoltaic energy systems, sometimes called balcony solar. One of the central safety concerns with these products is that they send electricity into a socket rather than drawing power from it. During an outage, that could push electricity back into the grid and put utility crews restoring service at risk.
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The new standard is meant to address that, setting requirements to prevent accidental backfeeding and other overload-related hazards.
Plug-in solar still is not enough to power an entire apartment, but it can cut dependence on the grid without the cost or complexity of a larger solar installation. With a federal standard now in place, this category could become more viable for renters and apartment dwellers who have largely been shut out of traditional residential solar.
Frontier Editor
Dan is our resident futurist, covering electric mobility, space exploration, and the smart home. He's interested in atoms just as much as bits. Whether it's a new battery chemistry, a reusable rocket, or a protocol that finally makes IoT devices talk to each other, Dan breaks down the engineering that pushes humanity forward.
via Engadget
