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What Changes on 27 August 2026? UK Plug-In Solar Law Explained

As of 31 July 2026, plugging a solar kit into an ordinary household socket is still not lawful in the UK. That changes on 27 August 2026, when a new statutory instrument commences — but only for a narrowly defined category of product, connected in a specific way, within specific limits. This page sets out exactly what SI 2026/848 changes, what it leaves untouched, and what is genuinely still unresolved. Nothing here is a hands-on test of any product; it is a plain-English reading of the legislation, the government’s own consultation response, and the technical specification it published alongside it.

The short version

The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2026 — SI 2026/848 — was made on 16 July 2026, laid before Parliament on 17 July 2026, and is due to commence on 27 August 2026. From that date, a specific category of product called a “plug-in microgenerator” will become lawful to connect to a standard UK household socket, provided it meets a technical specification the government published alongside the instrument. Before that date, doing the same thing remains a breach of product-safety and electrical-safety regulations, regardless of what any retailer or marketplace listing implies.

What SI 2026/848 actually does

The instrument works by amending two existing pieces of regulation together. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 (PSSR) has, until now, prevented a standard BS 1363 plug — the type fitted in every UK socket — from being approved for connecting a device that generates electricity, because the standard assumed plugs only ever draw power. SI 2026/848 creates a narrow route for a notified body to approve a plug built and tested specifically for this reversed use, on condition that the device it is attached to meets the new technical specification. Separately, it amends the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (ESQCR) so that, for this category of device only, compliance with that same specification substitutes for demonstrating compliance through the ordinary route. Together, the two amendments open a conditional exception; they do not remove electrical-safety regulation from plug-in solar, they redirect it through a purpose-built product specification instead of the general framework that was never designed to accommodate a socket-connected generator.

The government’s consultation on this ran from 16 June to 30 June 2026 and drew 466 responses. Eighty-five percent of respondents who answered agreed with the proposed product specification, and seventy-eight percent thought the timeline was workable. The government published its response, confirming it would proceed, essentially alongside the statutory instrument in the second half of July 2026.

The “plug-in microgenerator” definition, in full

SI 2026/848 defines the category of device the exception applies to with some precision, and every part of the definition matters:

  • It generates electricity by the direct conversion of sunlight — solar only. Wind, hydro or any other plug-in generation technology is out of scope.
  • Its maximum rated AC output does not exceed 800 watts, measured at the inverter’s output terminals — not the wattage of the solar panels feeding it.
  • It is intended for connection to a low-voltage household installation via a standard plug and socket.
  • It is designed to operate in parallel with the distributor’s network — meaning it synchronises to the grid rather than running independently of it.
  • It is not designed to import electrical energy for the purpose of storing energy for later supply, other than for its own internal control or auxiliary functions.

That last point is worth stating plainly because it is one of the most commonly misreported details of this reform: battery storage is excluded from the UK definition. A device with an integrated battery, or a battery bolted onto a plug-in solar kit to store surplus daytime generation for evening use, does not meet the legal definition of a plug-in microgenerator and gets none of the benefit of this exception, however small the battery. The government’s own technical specification says this explicitly, and its consultation response records that plug-in battery products were considered and deliberately left out of scope — not overlooked. Many respondents to the consultation pushed back on this and asked for battery-integrated products to be included; the government’s answer was that they “raise additional technical and regulatory considerations which have not been assessed as part of this work,” and that it will keep developing evidence on them separately. If you want stored solar power from a socket-connected device, that is a different regulatory conversation, unresolved as of this writing.

The technical specification behind the definition — the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification, version 2.0, published in July 2026 — adds further detail underneath the headline 800 W figure. The specification allows up to 2,000 W of total solar panel capacity behind that 800 W inverter ceiling (panels routinely produce less than their rated output, so oversizing the panel array relative to the inverter is normal practice, not a loophole). It flags that installations with more than 960 W of panel capacity should get a professional assessment of the existing wiring first. And, importantly, it permits one plug-in solar device per individual household electrical circuit — but says plainly that the separate network rule that currently governs grid connection, Engineering Recommendation G98, still restricts installations to one device per household in total “unless and until” G98 itself is amended, and no date for that amendment exists yet. In practice, that means a household should expect to be limited to a single device at launch, regardless of how many circuits it has.

What an IPS-compliant product looks like

Because the exception only applies to devices meeting the Interim Product Specification, recognising a compliant product matters. The specification requires several things a buyer can actually check:

  • A permanent marking on the product declaring compliance with the specification, alongside the manufacturer’s name and contact details, model and serial number, and rated values (voltage, frequency, maximum current, rated power).
  • A non-rewireable, moulded BS 1363 plug fitted with a BS 1362 fuse rated no higher than 5 amps, with partially insulated pins.
  • Registration on the Energy Networks Association’s Type Test Register before the product is placed on the market — the specification is explicit that simply submitting a device for registration does not, by itself, count as demonstrating compliance; it has to be assessed and confirmed.
  • A label stating that only one inverter, up to 800 VA, should be plugged in per circuit (with the G98 household caveat noted above), and that notification to the distribution network operator is mandatory.
  • A prominent warning against connecting the device via an extension lead, multi-way adaptor, RCD adaptor or travel adaptor — none of which are permitted uses.
  • Anti-islanding protection: the inverter must automatically disconnect from the mains within 100 milliseconds of losing the grid supply, and the voltage exposed at the plug pins must fall below 34 V within that same window.

The government has not, at this stage, created a dedicated conformity mark comparable to the CE or UKCA mark specifically for plug-in solar — it says it will consider one as part of future standards work, not this interim phase. For now, the declaration of compliance and Type Test Register listing are what a compliant product should carry.

What stays exactly the same

It is worth being explicit about what SI 2026/848 does not touch, because some of this gets blurred in coverage of the reform:

  • BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, is unchanged in its general application. Amendment 4 to BS 7671, published by the IET and BSI on 15 April 2026, is a genuinely separate piece of work: it introduces a new chapter covering stationary secondary battery installations — home battery storage — and does not mention plug-in solar or socket-connected generation at all. This is a widely repeated error across UK content on this topic and is worth correcting directly: Amendment 4 did not legalise plug-in solar, and does not create an “800 W permitted” exception in the wiring regulations. The instrument that does that work is SI 2026/848, and the general wiring standard a professional electrician works to for everything else in your home is untouched.
  • Landlord and leaseholder permission requirements are unchanged. The reform does not grant tenants or leaseholders any new right to install anything. The government’s consultation response is explicit that renters, leaseholders and residents of managed buildings will still need to obtain whatever permissions their tenancy, lease or building management arrangements require before installing a device, and that consumer guidance will say so.
  • DNO notification is still required. Grid-connected generation, however small, still has to be notified to your Distribution Network Operator under Engineering Recommendation G98. That obligation does not disappear because the device is small and plugs into a socket.
  • There is still no export payment route for these devices. Nothing in SI 2026/848 changes how the Smart Export Guarantee works, and plug-in solar devices — unmetered for export, and not installed by an MCS-certified installer — do not become eligible for it.
  • Insurance is a matter for the homeowner to check, not something the regulations resolve. The government’s own guidance tells users to check, before installation, whether the device affects home or building insurance arrangements — that check is not made redundant by the product being lawful to sell.

What is genuinely still unsettled

Some parts of this reform are not yet finished, and it is more honest to say so than to imply the picture is complete:

  • The amended G98 wording that would allow more than one device per household is not yet published. The Interim Product Specification technically permits one device per circuit, but says this is subject to the existing G98 restriction of one per household continuing to apply “unless and until” G98 is amended — with no date attached to that amendment as of writing.
  • Consumer guidance is due at commencement but had not been published as of this writing. The government has repeatedly committed to producing plain-language guidance — covering circuit identification, RCD/RCBO testing, mounting, DNO notification and more — to be available when the regulations come into force. Whether it lands exactly on 27 August 2026 or shortly after is not yet confirmed.
  • Application to Northern Ireland is unresolved. The specification notes that G98 applies to Great Britain only, that Northern Ireland has its own separate connection requirements (G98/NI), and that applying the specification there “is subject to further consideration and may require amendment.”
  • The interim specification is explicitly a stopgap. The government has said it will begin work on a longer-term British Standard to succeed the Interim Product Specification, but that work has not produced a timeline yet.
  • Testing of how these devices interact with older protective devices (RCDs/RCBOs) is ongoing. The specification sets an interim 5 mA residual DC current limit as a precaution and says the government is carrying out further testing to check whether that figure is sufficient on older UK installations, with the limit subject to review once that testing concludes.

Where that leaves things today

As of 31 July 2026, the only lawful way to have solar generation feeding into a UK home through the electricity supply is a hardwired installation, fitted to a dedicated circuit by a registered electrician and notified to the network operator under G98 — the plug-and-socket route is not yet available at all. From 27 August 2026, that changes for products that meet the Interim Product Specification and carry the marking and registration this page describes; it does not change for battery-integrated products, for devices without that registration, or for anything connected via an extension lead or adaptor. Anyone buying before commencement, or buying a product that does not carry the compliance marking described above, should treat the plug-and-socket route as still closed to them.

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