Plug-in solar

Plug-in solar — panels you mount on a balcony, wall or garden and connect yourself, without an installer and without touching your consumer unit. Common across Germany for years; new to Britain.

We are not recommending kits yet. Plug-in solar is not lawful to use in the UK until 27 August 2026, when SI 2026/848 comes into force, so a buying guide would be premature today. We are tracking the legal position closely and will cover products once they can actually be used here.

Guides

• Is plug-in solar legal in the UK? Current status — maintained, dated, primary-sourced. Start here.
• What changes on 27 August 2026 — what the instrument actually does, the definition in full, and what stays the same.
• How plug-in solar works — what is in the box, where the 800 W figure comes from, and why daytime usage decides whether it pays.
• Savings calculator — enter your panel size and region for an estimated annual saving and payback range.

Water is another UK home-infrastructure topic, for entirely different reasons than solar — see our UK tap water quality page if you are researching home-infrastructure rules generally.