Plug-in solar became legal in Great Britain on 27 August 2026. The rules that arrived with it rule some homes out, including most timber balconies. Four questions will tell you where you stand, before you spend anything.
1. What kind of home is it?
2. Where would it go?
3. What is that surface made of?
4. Do you own the property outright?
Before 27 August 2026 these products could not legally be sold, supplied or used in the UK at all. One statutory instrument changed that, and it set the limits everything else follows from.
The instrument is The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2026. It came into force on 27 August 2026 and defines a plug-in microgenerator as one that generates electricity from the direct conversion of sunlight with a maximum rated alternating current output not exceeding 800 watts. Read the instrument
Northern Ireland is not settled. The connection rules that make this work in Great Britain come from Engineering Recommendation G98, which applies to Great Britain only. Northern Ireland uses G98/NI, and the government has said applying the product specification there is subject to further consideration.
The permitted development right for solar equipment was updated on the same day the law changed. It is the part almost nobody mentions, because it says no to the thing the whole market is selling.
Within the projection limits, this is the straightforward case. Up to 200 mm where the surface abuts a highway, up to 400 mm elsewhere.
The updated rules exclude plug-in solar fixed to wooden walls, balconies and timber cladding. Almost every advert for these calls them balcony solar.
Planning permission and listed building consent are both needed, and advice should be sought before anything is ordered.
You have until 27 August 2027 to choose, because for that year the version of the right that stood the day before the change is still available to you. Planning Portal
The limits come from two places: the product specification sets what the device may be, and the network connection rules set how many you may have.
Source: Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification, Version 2.0, July 2026. Note that an earlier Version 1.0 is stamped withdrawn and still circulates.
This is a condition of the connection rules, not an optional registration. In Great Britain it is a short form and it takes minutes.
Find out who your operator is. It is not your energy supplier. It is the company that owns the wires, and it depends on where you live rather than who you pay.
Fit the device. Plug it in, having checked the socket is sound and that anything outdoors is rated IP55 or better.
Complete the form within 28 days. Your name, email address and the installation address. The government expects it to take five to ten minutes.
Great Britain only. Northern Ireland's connection requirements come under G98/NI and are not yet settled for these products.
Plenty of homes need one. An outdoor socket has to be IP55 or better, and if the circuit's protective device has to change, that is qualified electrician work by law.
Tell us the postcode and what the surface is and we will put you in front of someone local who has actually read the new rules. If your answers show the permitted development right does not cover you, we will say so instead of sending anyone out.