The rules
Since when has plug-in solar been legal to use?
The regulations were made on 16 July 2026 and took effect on 27 August that year, across the whole of Great Britain. Up until then, the standard covering plugs and sockets had no allowance for a plug fitted to something that generates electricity, which is why nobody could sell, supply or use one lawfully before that date.
Do I need planning permission?
Often not, but the right it relies on is conditional. Meet the projection limits and stay clear of conservation areas, listed buildings and timber surfaces, and there is no application. Fall outside any of those and there is one.
Can I put one on a balcony?
Depends what it is made of. Since the 27 August 2026 change, a wooden balcony, a wooden wall or enclosure, and any timber cladding are all shut out of the route, on a house or a block of flats alike. Metal and masonry balconies are not touched by that exclusion, so tell us the material and we will tell you where you stand.
Is there a transitional period?
Yes. A twelve month window runs to 27 August 2027, during which a house can follow either the rules as they stood before 27 August 2026 or the new ones.
The kit
What size are we talking about?
Small, on the electrical side: 253 volts, 50 hertz, and a hard ceiling of 800 VA and 3.5 amps reaching the mains whatever panels are attached. Those panels can stretch to four on one inverter, no more than two wired in series per string, adding up to 2000 watts between them.
Can I have two?
No. The network rules hold it to one device per household regardless of how many final ring circuits the house has.
Can I add a battery?
No. Storage sits outside what the specification approved in August, whether it is a standalone battery or built into the device.
Can I look up compliance myself before buying?
Give us the make and model and we will look it up on the ENA Type Test Register while quoting the job, or search it there yourself if you would rather see it first.
The socket and the visit
Do I need an electrician to plug it in?
No. The devices are approved for anyone to plug in themselves. Testing or altering the house wiring behind the socket is the part that needs one.
What rating does the outdoor socket need?
IP55 or better, wherever the plug and socket sit outside the house.
Why can't I use an extension lead?
It is banned twice over in the specification, once as a marking on the device and once in the instructions, alongside multi-way, RCD and travel adaptors.
The operator, money and insurance
Who is the network operator here?
National Grid Electricity Distribution (West Midlands) plc covers Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. Ring 105 from anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales if you would rather skip checking a map.
Why is there no price on this site?
A figure that varies from house to house the way the kit and the socket work do is not one we are willing to print and stand behind. The nearest thing to a British number in the government's own paperwork is a European price range, not a shelf price, so we would rather quote your actual job.
I am renting, or I hold a lease rather than owning outright.
Get the landlord's or the freeholder's sign-off before any of this starts. It is a gap the framework leaves open: the government's own response to its consultation names exactly this as something holding uptake back.
Does my home insurance need to know about this?
It could. The instructions supplied with a compliant device are required to tell the owner to check, so it is worth the phone call before the kit is fitted.
Want a socket fitted, or a panel put up?
A postcode and a line about the job is enough. We'll email you back.
- Birmingham
- Coventry
- Wolverhampton
- Black Country
Tell us the job
We need a name, an email and a postcode, and it helps to know if a kit has been bought and where it's meant to go. The reply comes by email with what the rules say about that spot.
We reply by email and keep your details to ourselves.