Plug-in solar became legal in Great Britain on 27 August 2026SI 2026/848
Plug-in Solar BritainThe plain answer

Engineering Recommendation G98

You have to tell them. It takes minutes.

Not your energy supplier. The company that owns the wires in your street, which depends on where you live rather than who you pay.

What you do, and when

  1. 01

    Work out who your operator is. There are fourteen licence areas in Great Britain and your supplier has nothing to do with it. The table below is a starting point, and every operator has a postcode checker.

  2. 02

    Fit the device. Check the socket is sound first, and that anything outdoors is rated IP55 or better.

  3. 03

    Complete the form within 28 days. Your name, email address and the installation address. The government expects it to take five to ten minutes.

The government's impact assessment describes this as registration of product use with distribution network operators in Great Britain. Northern Ireland is not part of this system.

The fourteen licence areas

Three of these catch people out, because the boundaries do not follow the regions people think in.

Scotland has two
Scottish Hydro-Electric Power Distribution in the north, SP Distribution in the south and centre.
The North West is split
Electricity North West covers North West England, but SP Manweb covers Merseyside and Cheshire alongside North Wales.
The South East spans two
South Eastern Power Networks and Southern Electric Power Distribution divide it between them.
Northern Ireland is outside it
Northern Ireland Electricity Networks operates there, under G98/NI, and the position for plug-in solar is unresolved.

We are checking each area against the operators' own postcode checkers before we publish a postcode lookup. Until that is done, use your operator's own checker rather than ours.

Need an electrician for the socket?

An electrician fitting the socket will usually know the local operator and the process.

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.

We reply by email. We do not pass your details to panel sellers.