Plug-in solar becomes legal in the UK on 27 August 2026. That has been settled since 16 July 2026, when the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published its consultation response, the final Interim Product Specification and the statutory instrument all on the same day. We covered that announcement in detail in our report on the legalisation date.
What is much less well understood is what actually changes on the day itself. A fair amount of what has been written since July implies that on 27 August 2026 the market simply switches on — kits in shops, panels on balconies, export payments flowing. That is not what the legislation does. This page is the plain version: the things that genuinely change, the things that stay exactly as they are, and the one thing you still will not be able to do.
The Law, in One Paragraph
SI 2026 No. 848 — formally The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2026 — was made on 16 July 2026 and comes into force on 27 August 2026. It does two narrow things. It amends the Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 so that a plug designed for a plug-in microgenerator can be approved, which the existing plug approval route did not allow. And it amends the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 so that a plug-in solar device meeting the specification can lawfully be connected to the distribution network through a socket. Two legal barriers, both removed for compliant products, and nothing else.
What Becomes Legal on the Day
- Selling a compliant plug-in solar device in the UK. Retailers can list and stock kits built to the specification. That is what the seven named retail partners — Amazon, Asda, B&Q, Currys, Lidl, Screwfix, Wickes — have been preparing for.
- Using one at home. A compliant device can be plugged into an ordinary socket outlet and left generating, by the householder, without an electrician wiring it in.
Not "run as many kits as you have circuits"
The final specification does replace the draft's one-per-household limit with one device per household final ring circuit — a change 61% of consultation respondents backed. It is not the limit that binds you on 27 August 2026, and the specification says so itself:
“While this specification permits one device per final circuit, GB network connection requirements also apply. As of publication, current network requirements Engineering Recommendation G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 2026restrict this to one device per household, which applies unless and until that is amended.”
So the practical position from 27 August 2026 is 1 device per household, however many socket circuits you have. Two rules apply at once and the tighter one wins.
The important nuance: legality attaches to the product, not to the act. Plugging in a kit that does not meet the specification is no more lawful on 27 August 2026 than it was the week before. The date opens a route; it does not amnesty everything already on sale.
What “Compliant” Actually Means
The final specification is the technical rulebook. A device that wants to use the plug-in route must, among other requirements:
- output no more than 800VA with AC current capped at 3.5A, single phase only
- have no more than 2,000W of DC panels connected to the microinverter — a limit retained from the draft and flagged as under review
- terminate in a factory-fitted BS 1363 plug with a fuse of no more than 5A and partially insulated pins
- leak no more than 5mA of residual DC current — a new limit, added so that older AC-type residual current devices are not desensitised
- contain no integrated battery storage
- comply with BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 — the Wiring Regulations as amended by Amendment 4, published 15 April 2026
- be verified as compliant on the ENA Type Test Register, not merely registered on it, and carry an Interim Product Specification compliance declaration on the product
Those last two are the buyer's tools. If you can see a declaration on the box and find the device verified on the register, it is in scope. If you cannot, it is not — regardless of what the listing claims. Our compliance checker walks a kit through every one of the rules.
What Does Not Change on 27 August 2026
This is the half of the story that keeps getting lost. None of the following is affected by the new regulations:
- Batteries stay outside the framework. The plug-in route covers panels plus a grid-following microinverter. Products with integrated storage — which is most of the premium kit sold in the UK today — cannot use it. We set out the consequences in our analysis of the battery exclusion.
- The Smart Export Guarantee is untouched. SEG still requires MCS certification of the installation, which a consumer-fitted plug-in device cannot obtain, and no simplified export route has been confirmed. Plug-in solar remains a self-consumption product — see our guide to SEG and balcony solar for what that means in money terms.
- Conventional solar rules carry on unchanged. Rooftop systems, wired-in balcony installations, MCS installers, G98 and G99 applications: all exactly as before. Nothing in SI 2026 No. 848 touches them.
- Permissions are still permissions. Planning rules, listed-building and conservation-area restrictions, leasehold covenants and tenancy agreements are all unaffected. A legal product still has to go somewhere you are allowed to put it.
- BS 7671 still applies to your installation. The specification requires the device to work safely with a compliant wiring installation. It does not make an unsafe or badly maintained installation safe — which is precisely the point five electrical industry bodies made in June.
The Network Notification Question
Notification is mandatory. This gets reported as an open question, and it is not one. The specification requires every compliant product to carry a statement that notification to the distribution network operator about connection and disconnection is mandatory, together with a link to instructions on how to do it. It separately requires clear information on the current registration and deregistration obligations, including a QR code directing you to the relevant guidance and registration process.
What is outstanding is the simplifiedregistration route — the mechanism that would make notifying painless for an ordinary household. It was not published alongside the specification and is, on the government's own account, still in development. That is a statement about the process, not about the duty: “the simple route is not ready” does not mean “you do not have to notify”. Use the existing process until the simplified one appears. Our G98 notification guide explains it, and we will update it when the simplified route is published.
The One Thing You Still Cannot Do
Buy a verified kit. As at our last check on 11 August 2026, the ENA Type Test Register listed no verified plug-in solar devices at all. The final specification was only published on 16 July 2026, roughly six weeks before the in-force date, and type testing against a new specification takes time. None of the seven named retailers has announced a launch date.
That is not a scandal — it is what the sequencing was always going to look like — but it does mean the sensible answer to “should I buy now?” is no. We keep the position under review on the certification tracker and in our retailer readiness report.
What to Do Between Now and Then
- Work out whether it is worth it for you.The government's own estimate is £70–£110 a year against an expected kit price of £400–£600. Run your own numbers through the savings calculator rather than the headline figure.
- Sort permissions early. If you rent or hold a lease, that conversation takes longer than the purchase does.
- Plan around one device. Network rules cap the household at 1 regardless of how many socket circuits you have. Knowing which circuit your sockets are on is still worth doing — it tells you where the device will sit, and where you would stand if G98 is ever amended.
- Work out how you will notify your DNO. It is mandatory, and the simplified route is not ready yet.
- Ignore anything marketed as approved today. Nothing is, yet.
For the full sequence of announcements, consultations and regulations that got us here, see the UK plug-in solar regulation timeline, and is balcony solar legal in the UK? for the standing legal position.
Sources: DESNZ, Plug-in Solar: Regulatory Amendment and Interim Product Specification — Government Response (16 July 2026), via gov.uk; SI 2026 No. 848 via legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is plug-in solar legal in the UK right now?
Not yet. The law that legalises it — SI 2026 No. 848 — was made on 16 July 2026 but does not come into force until 27 August 2026. Until that date the existing rules apply, and the compliant way to add solar is a wired installation carried out by a qualified electrician and notified to your distribution network operator.
What exactly becomes legal on 27 August 2026?
The sale and use of a plug-in solar device that meets the final Interim Product Specification, connected to the home through an ordinary BS 1363 socket. Legality attaches to the product rather than to the act of plugging something in: a kit that does not meet the specification is no more legal after the date than before it.
Do the new rules cover batteries or battery-integrated kits?
No. The plug-in route covers solar panels plus a grid-following microinverter only. Products with integrated battery storage — and plug-in batteries generally — sit outside the framework entirely and can still only be installed by the conventional wired route.
Will I be able to get the Smart Export Guarantee for a plug-in kit?
Almost certainly not. The Smart Export Guarantee still requires MCS certification of the installation, and a consumer-installed plug-in device cannot obtain it. No simplified export route has been confirmed. Treat plug-in solar as a self-consumption product and size it around the electricity you actually use during daylight hours.
How many plug-in solar kits can I have?
One, whatever the size of your home — and this is the point most coverage gets wrong. The final specification does permit one device per household final ring circuit rather than one per household, but it notes that GB network connection requirements apply as well, and that Engineering Recommendation G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 2026 restricts this to one device per household "unless and until that is amended". Two limits apply at once and the tighter one wins, so extra socket circuits do not currently entitle you to extra devices.
Do I still have to tell my network operator?
Yes. Notification to your distribution network operator about connection and disconnection is mandatory, and the specification requires every compliant product to say so on the product itself, with a link to instructions and a QR code directing you to the registration and deregistration guidance. What is still outstanding is the simplified registration route, which is in development — not the obligation to notify.
Can I buy a compliant kit today?
Not as far as we can establish. A compliant device must carry an Interim Product Specification declaration and be verified as compliant on the ENA Type Test Register — and the register listed no verified plug-in solar devices when it was last checked on 11 August 2026. Anything advertised today as "government approved" is ahead of the facts.
Related reading
One Kit Per Circuit: The Rule Change Buyers Miss
The final UK spec limits you to one plug-in solar device per power circuit, not per household. What a power circuit actually is, and how many kits a typical UK home can take.
Three Weeks Out, Still No Compliant Kit on Sale
Plug-in solar becomes legal on 27 August 2026, but the ENA register is empty and none of the seven named retailers has announced a launch date. Why you should wait.
Five Electrical Bodies Warn Over Plug-In Solar Rollout
The ECA, Electrical Safety First, the IET, NICEIC and SELECT issued a joint statement urging caution on plug-in solar. What they actually said, and how much of it the final rules addressed.
Approved Plug-In Solar Kits UK: Certification Tracker (2026)
Which plug-in solar kits are verified for the UK's 27 August 2026 rules? Live tracker of ENA register status by brand, plus the day-one buyer's checklist.
Is Balcony Solar Safe? UK Electrical Safety Guide
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