Federal law lets renters and poor folks buy small solar panels.
H.R. 10851 — Socket Full of Sunshine Act · Filed by Robert Menendez (D-NJ) · Introduced Oct 19, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
The bill stops power firms from blocking small plug-in solar panels. These panels make up to 1,200 watts of power. The bill gives $100 million from 2027 to 2032 to help low- and middle-income folks buy panels. Rebates go up to $1,000 per panel. The bill tells the Consumer Product Safety Commission to write safe rules in 60 days. It tells the Federal Trade Commission to make a label showing power saved.
Who it affects
Renters and home owners can put small solar panels on their land now. They do not need to ask the power firm first. Low- and middle-income folks get money to help pay for panels.
One thing to notice
Landlords can set rules about where panels go and must get notice. This could let some landlords stop tenants from using them.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Oct 19, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 19, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- rebates — Money the government gives back to help pay for things.
- Consumer Product Safety Commission — The federal group that makes sure goods are safe to use.
- Federal Trade Commission — The federal group that stops unfair business acts.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (11,876 characters) on Oct 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,388 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-21.
“Federal law lets renters and poor folks buy small solar panels.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10851/simple Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.