A “Plug-In Solar” Device Type Has Appeared on the ENA Type Test Register

Filter the ENA Type Test Register to its new “Plug-in Solar” device Type today and it returns twodevices. Both are marked Non-compliant. On the register’s own wording that means ENA’s engineers have assessed them and network operators are unlikely to accept them — not that any device has been tested and failed.

Two more records exist under the same Type and are not currently coming back from that filter, so the true total is four. More on that below, because it matters if you are checking a kit yourself.

The Type did not exist when we last checked on 24 July 2026. With just over a fortnight to go before the rules take effect, the number of plug-in solar devices assessed as compliant is zero.

What the Register Shows

Pulled from ENA Connect Direct, Type = “Plug-in Solar”, on 11 August 2026.

Four records. Three manufacturers. All single phase, all 0.8 kW, all sitting at the same status — and only two of them findable through the filter a reader would actually use.

The GoodWe pair is the interesting bit. Both were originally published on 29 July under references ending /V1, and both were superseded overnight on 10–11 August by amended /A1 records. Open the old reference and the register tells you so directly. The amended records exist, carry the same Non-compliant status, and are not being returned by the device-type filter at the time of writing.

We are not going to guess why. It may be that the search index simply lags the device records. What matters for a reader is the practical consequence: run the filter yourself today and you will see two rows, not four. If you are checking a specific kit, search the manufacturer or the model rather than relying on the type filter to show you everything.

What “Non-Compliant” Means on This Register

This is where most coverage of the register goes wrong, so it is worth being careful.

Open any of these records and Connect Direct tells you, in its own words, that “this device has been assessed by ENA’s engineers as non-compliant” and that “distribution network operators are unlikely to accept this equipment on their networks”. That is a clear statement about where the device stands today. It is not a statement that the hardware failed a test.

ENA’s published guidance to its own status field puts Non-compliant inside a broader category called “Further Information Required”, and describes it like this:

This device and documentation cannot be deemed compliant at this stage. Please see the ‘Compliance Status Comments’ on the device record for more information. Once the comments have been actioned and documentation updated by the manufacturer, it will be reviewed again - in due course.

Read the two together and the picture is a staging state rather than a verdict. Not compliant today. Not something a buyer can rely on today. Expected to be looked at again once the manufacturer supplies what is missing.

One thing you cannot do is read anything further into what the public record shows. Open a device page as an anonymous visitor and the compliance sections render empty and the supporting-documents section says none have been uploaded — but that is true of compliant devices too. We checked a control: ANKER/20781/V1/A2 is assessed Compliantand its record looks exactly the same in both respects. ENA says as much itself, noting that the public view “does not reveal any manufacturer specific information regarding compliance status for individual devices” and that “the full compliance status is not shown”.

So the status field is the whole of what a member of the public gets. An empty documents section is a fact about your access level, not about the device.

We should also be honest about where the status definitions come from. They are published on ENA’s earlier Type Test Register site, which closed in April 2024 when the data moved to Connect Direct; Connect Direct does not restate them. We have asked ENA to confirm the definitions still apply and whether a device can move from Non-compliant to Compliant under the same system reference.

This Is Not an Unusual Status

One more piece of context, because the absence of it is what turns this into a scare story.

Non-compliant is an ordinary state on this register, and it is not specific to plug-in solar. In the same week, the same status sat against a run of unrelated energy storage inverters from other manufacturers — a set of Leapton units at 4 kW to 8 kW published on 7 August, and two Wanbang records at 7.4 kW and 11 kW published on 5 August. It is a normal part of the assessment pipeline, which ENA works through strictly in order of submission. Its published guidance gives a lead time of four to six weeks and says there is no fast-track option, though that figure sits on the same legacy page as the status definitions and carries the same caveat about currency.

This is also why device registration is worth understanding as a process rather than a verdict. A manufacturer submits, ENA assesses in turn, and the record moves — sometimes overnight, as the GoodWe amendments show. Installers and DNOs read these statuses every week for grid-connected PV and battery storage; the only new thing here is the device Type they now appear under.

So the story here is not that plug-in solar kits failed. It is that a fortnight out from the date the law changes, nothing has yet come through the gate — and a lot of people are about to find out what the gate actually is.

The Anker Entries That Are Not Plug-In Solar

Anker holds two register entries marked Compliant, both published 6 August 2026: ANKER/20779/V1/A3 and ANKER/20781/V1/A2.

Read the Type column. Both are Energy Storage Devices at 5 kW. They are not plug-in solar, and they say nothing about whether any Anker plug-in solar device is compliant. Anker’s plug-in solar entry is ANKER/20920/V1, the AE1032Z1-20 at 0.8 kW, and it is Non-compliant as at our pull.

A related trap sits one step further along: several of the best-known balcony solar products are battery-integrated, and those sit outside the plug-in route entirely rather than merely awaiting verification on it.

The mistake is easy to make. The register puts every device category in one table, so a green Compliant badge next to a familiar brand name reads as approval unless you check what has actually been approved. It is worth stating plainly: on the live register today, no plug-in solar device is identified as compliant.

Registration Was Never the Test

It is worth understanding why the register matters so much here, because this changed recently.

The route created by SI 2026 No. 848 requires two things of a product: an Interim Product Specification compliance declaration on the product itself, and a listing on the ENA Type Test Register that has been verified as compliant. Version 2 of the specification added that verification requirement. Being on the register is not the same as passing on it, and every entry currently under this device Type demonstrates the difference neatly.

A dedicated conformity mark for plug-in solar is only being considered. It does not exist. So when kits appear on marketplaces from 27 August 2026, the CE or UKCA marks in the listing will not tell you what you need to know, and the register will. We have set out the three checks that decide whether a kit is legal as a standalone procedure, and what the Interim Product Specification requires of a product in full.

What This Means If You Are Planning to Buy

Plug-in solar becomes lawful to sell and use in Great Britain from 27 August 2026. That date applies to compliant devices, not to every kit on sale — and the count assessed compliant is zero.

That is not a reason for gloom. There is a fortnight to go, the register is clearly active, and four submissions from three manufacturers is more movement than there was a fortnight ago. But it does mean the honest advice is unchanged: the register, not a product listing, is the thing that tells you when a kit is safe to buy under this route.

When you do connect a compliant device, notifying your distribution network operator is mandatory, and products must carry a statement saying so together with a QR code linking to the registration guidance. The obligation is settled. What is still in development is the simplified registration route, which is a different thing from the requirement itself. For how the whole legal position fits together before that date, our guide to the current rules is the fuller account.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ENA Type Test Register?

It is the Energy Networks Association’s list of generation and storage devices assessed against the connection standards that govern equipment connecting to the low voltage grid — G98, G99 and G100. Every distribution network operator uses it when deciding whether to accept a device, and installers check it before specifying an inverter. It now carries a Plug-in Solar device Type alongside PV, Energy Storage Device and the rest.

Does my plug-in solar inverter need to be on the register?

Under the new route, yes, and a listing on its own is not enough — the listing has to be verified as compliant. This is the gate that most product listings will not mention.

How long does an ENA assessment take?

ENA’s published guidance says submissions are assessed strictly in order of submission, gives a lead time of four to six weeks, and states there is no fast-track option. That guidance sits on ENA’s legacy register site, which has not been updated since April 2024, so treat the figure as indicative.

What if a device is not on the register at all?

Then it has not been assessed, and there is nothing to check. A seller who cannot give you a system reference has not been through this process.

Is a G98, G99 or G100 listing the same thing?

No. Those are the network connection standards, and a device can hold a listing assessed against them without being a plug-in solar device at all. Check the Type field on the record.

Can I claim the Smart Export Guarantee on a plug-in kit?

Generally not. SEG normally requires MCS certification, which most plug-in installations will not have, and an 800 VA device exports little in any case — self-consumption is where the value sits.