On 24 March 2026, the UK government announced that domestic plug-in solar panels would be available to buy and self-install “within months”.

This could allow millions more households – and in particular flats with a balcony – to reduce their energy bills by generating solar electricity.

In this guide, we’ll give you the latest on when these changes will come into force, whether plug-in solar panels are worth waiting for, and which homes should (and shouldn’t) get a system.

Plug-in solar panels aren’t available yet, but traditional solar & battery systems are a proven and popular way of significantly cutting energy bills, with more than 1.6 million homes having already made the move.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with rooftop panels and a battery, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

What are plug-in solar panels?

Plug-in solar panels, also known as ‘plug and play’ solar panels, can be self-installed and plugged directly into a mains socket – like most other electrical devices.

This allows households to reduce their energy bills by generating free solar electricity, all without having to pay an installer.

These systems are especially good for people who can’t get rooftop solar – perhaps because they live in a flat or rented accommodation – but have a balcony or garden they can use.

They don’t meet the current safety regulations for electrical installations in the UK, and therefore require the assistance of a qualified electrician – but this is changing (more on this below).

Plug-in solar is already a common sight in Europe, and particularly in Germany.

More than 1.5 million households in Germany have installed their own systems , with around 500,000 new devices installed per year.

When will plug-in solar panels be available in the UK?

It’s not clear exactly when plug-in solar panels will be available for UK households to buy and install, with the government just saying it’ll happen “within months”.

Lorna Wallace-Smith, of solar manufacturer EcoFlow, said that “seeing these systems available in stores by summer would be a major win for households”, but this isn’t a firm date either.

You can technically buy plug-in solar panel kits online right now, but plugging one into your mains socket is currently against regulations.

To be safe, you’d currently have to hire an electrician to hardwire the system to your consumer unit (more on this below).

When they are available, you’ll be able to get these systems from EcoFlow, as well as retailers like Amazon and Lidl. All these companies have worked with the government to bring plug-in solar to the UK.

Who can get plug-in solar panels?

Once the government has updated the regulations around plug-in solar panels, all households should be able to buy and install these systems themselves.

There are around 285,000 flats with balconies in England alone , whose residents could benefit enormously from this rule change.

And considering more than 80% of households in Britain have a private garden or outside space, most people in the country should have somewhere they can install a plug-in system.

However, plug-in solar panels will probably only be a good idea for people who have otherwise been unable to go solar.

If you own your property and have enough roof space, traditional rooftop solar panels are a much better option (more on this below).

How do plug-in solar panels work?

A plug-in solar panel system usually consists of two panels that you can hang over your balcony, after securing them in place with brackets or hooks.

You could also put a system on your terrace, patio, garden, or even suspend it on a wall.

Whatever location you choose, just make sure your panels are as unobstructed by shade as possible, to maximise their electricity production.

Each set of plug-in solar panels comes with a microinverter that connects to your panels and plugs into a mains socket. In contrast, most rooftop systems use a standard string inverter.

This does mean you’ll either need a socket outside, or to find a way to feed a wire through your home’s wall, so the microinverter can plug into an inside socket.

Your system will be productive throughout the day, as the photons present in sunlight dislodge electrons in your panels’ silicon atoms, generating Direct Current (DC) electricity.

This electricity flows through your microinverter, which converts it into Alternating Current (AC) electricity and feeds it to your home via the mains socket.

The UK is modelling its approach on the German standard, which sets an 800-watt (W) AC output limit on the microinverter. A typical German system uses two 400-450W panels and one 800W microinverter.

How much do plug-in solar panels cost?

A standard system with two 400W panels and a microinverter costs around £500.

You’ll almost certainly find more expensive models as well, especially if you’re trying to install a system on a concrete or glass balcony.

£500 isn’t cheap, but it’s certainly a lot less than the cost of rooftop panels and a battery, which is around £11,000 for a typical household.

How much can you save with plug-in solar panels?

You can save more than £100 per year with plug-in solar panels.

A plug-in solar panel is unlikely to produce as much energy as a roof-mounted panel, since all the most common installation locations – a balcony, outside space, or wall – don’t usually come with the optimum angle of 40°.

But EcoFlow has said its standard system, with two 400W panels and a microinverter, “can help you save up to £115 per year on energy costs.”

And the government has told Sunsave that you can reduce your energy bills by up to £70-£110 with plug-in solar panels.

With kits costing about £500, you should break even in roughly five to nine years – and that payback period will shrink if energy bills continue to rise.

Savings with a proper rooftop solar & battery system are significantly better though, so it’s worth considering this instead if you own your home and have a suitable roof (more on this below).

What regulations are changing?

The government is updating the regulations so that people can self-install plug-in solar panels without having to pay an electrician.

The current regulations allow you to get a plug-in solar panel system today, but to install it, you’ll need to hire an electrician to set up a ‘dedicated circuit’.

Your microinverter would still connect to your home, but instead of slotting into a standard plug socket, it’d require its own circuit.

This is disruptive and expensive, since it means finding and paying an electrician, who’ll charge you for all the additional gear they install in your home – which could include an upgraded consumer unit.

They would also need to send a G98 notification to your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) – the organisation that runs the hardware supplying your area of the UK with electricity – which will take them some extra time.

The current wiring regulations (BS 7671) were created with the assumption that domestic electricity, travelling through standard wires, only flows in one direction: from the grid, through your meter, to your home.

Plug-in solar breaks that assumption, causing safety issues – but thankfully, Germany has already solved this problem.

What are the new rules?

Germany discovered that by keeping the inverter’s wattage limit to a low enough level – 800W, currently – the risks are manageable within standard domestic wiring.

It’s estimated that the British Standards Institution (BSI) will publish the UK’s new product standard for plug-in solar panels in July, but there's no firm date yet.

The UK is explicitly modelling its approach on Germany, which permits systems of a certain size to connect to household mains without a dedicated circuit, with the safety burden shifted onto the inverter.

Manufacturers must ensure inverters don't push more electricity than wires can handle, include a feature that shuts them down in a power cut (‘anti-islanding’), and guard against plug prongs electrocuting anyone when they’re unplugged.

If these boxes are ticked, households will be able to plug in a microinverter that’s no larger than 800W. Your panels, however, could add up to more than 800W, as installers will usually recommend your inverter be 80% to 90% the size of your system.

Plug-in solar vs rooftop panels

While a plug-in solar panel system could save you more than £100, a typical home with rooftop solar panels and a battery could cut your bills by more than £1,100 per year.

In fact, the average home could reduce its electricity bills by 86% with a solar & battery system, which is based on a sample of over 150 systems installed by Sunsave in 2024.

This is partly because rooftop systems include many more panels – often between 10 and 12 – rather than just two, and also due to roofs usually offering better conditions for solar production (e.g. a better angle and minimal shade).

A larger system with better-positioned panels means more electricity, which you can use to replace a substantial chunk of the power you buy from the grid.

You can also sell all your excess electricity to the grid by using one of the best export tariffs, which you can’t do with plug-in systems, since they’re not included in the Smart Export Guarantee. 

Your battery will help you maximise your returns, especially as you can use it to take advantage of time-of-use tariffs and virtual power plants.

So if you own your property and have suitable roof space – and you can afford it – traditional rooftop panels and a battery are a much better choice than plug-in solar.

If you’re wondering how much you could save with a rooftop solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

Are plug-in solar panels worth it?

Plug-in solar panels are a great way to cut your electricity bills if you can’t go solar in any other way.

They’re increasingly popular in Germany, and make sense for anyone who has some outside space and an available nearby socket, can afford the roughly £500 price tag, and can’t currently get rooftop panels.

You can also easily take them with you when you move.

It’s not clear when retailers like Lidl and Amazon will start selling them in the UK, but summer 2026 is the current estimate.

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