Where a panel can go on your home
Your roof, wall or garden, read against the rules.
Read moreWhat changed on 27 August
Two sets of rules were amended by one instrument, SI 2026/848, made on 16 July 2026 and in force on 27 August. It lets a notified body approve a standard plug for a plug-in microgenerator, and it writes a definition of that device into the electricity safety regulations: one that generates electricity from sunlight, with a maximum rated alternating current output of 800 watts.
From that day a compliant device may be sold, supplied and plugged into an ordinary socket in England, Scotland and Wales.
Why it was not legal before
The plug and socket standard did not allow a plug to be used to connect equipment that generates electricity, and the electricity safety regulations required compliance with the general British Standard requirements. Between them those two things meant the products could not lawfully be sold, supplied or used here. The government said so in its own consultation.
The specification the device is judged against
The regulations point at a document rather than repeating the detail: the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification. Version 2.0, July 2026, is the one that counts. Version 1.0 is stamped withdrawn on every page.
- Maximum apparent power into the mains of 800 VA, and a maximum of 3.5 amps.
- Up to four panels per inverter, no more than two in series in any one string, and up to 2000 watts of panels in total.
- Past 960 watts of panel, somebody qualified is asked to judge whether the installation suits the property.
- Where the plug and socket sit outside, the socket must be IP55 or better.
- Batteries are outside it, on their own and built into a device.
Two numbers that are not the same number
Rated alternating current output of 800 watts is how the regulations draw the line. Apparent power of 800 VA is how the specification draws it. Neither is wrong and they measure different things, so a listing carrying one figure has told you half.
The planning order, the same day
England rewrote its permitted development right for solar equipment on 27 August 2026 as well, by SI 2026/896. Planning law now has its own definition of plug-in solar, and it turns entirely on how the thing connects: solar photovoltaics intended for connection to the home’s electricity installation by means of a standard plug and socket. It carries no wattage limit at all, so a device can sit outside the 800 VA product class and still be plug-in solar as far as planning is concerned.
The order also excludes plug-in solar from the right where it would be installed on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure, or on any part of the exterior clad in timber.
A stucco terrace in Leamington Spa, England. In a conservation area the restriction on a wall that fronts a highway applies to all solar equipment, not only to plug-in.
England, Scotland and Wales
The product rules and the connection rules are the same across Great Britain. Planning is not, and this is where most of the confusion comes from.
- England names plug-in solar in the order and gives limits in millimetres: 200 mm proud of a wall that abuts a highway, 400 mm elsewhere.
- Scotland runs its own classes. On a dwelling, nothing may protrude more than a metre from the wall, roof plane, ridge or chimney. Nothing in the Scottish guidance mentions plug-in solar, wooden walls or balconies.
- Wales has its own rules too. On a flat roof a panel must stay a metre back from the edge and no more than a metre above the plane, where England allows 600 mm above. The Welsh guidance does not address plug-in solar either.
We do not carry England’s answer across the border. Where a Scottish or Welsh case turns on it, the planning authority is the one to ask.
Northern Ireland is not settled
The product side of SI 2026/848 extends to the whole United Kingdom. The electricity safety side does not: it extends to England and Wales and Scotland only. The specification says application to Northern Ireland is subject to further consideration, and the government’s impact assessment says plug-in solar would only be legally permitted for use there if the Northern Ireland electricity safety regulations are also reformed, which is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. We work in Great Britain and we will say so if your address is not in it.
Questions about the law
Is the old planning rule still available?
In England, for now. Twelve months of transition run from the change to 27 August 2027, and inside that window either version of the rules is open to you.
Does a listed house rule it out?
It makes it a planning conversation rather than a shopping one. You need permission and listed building consent, and the right is unavailable in the grounds of a listed building or on a scheduled monument. Ask the authority early.
Who enforces the product rules?
They sit in product safety and electricity safety law rather than with your network operator. What you can check yourself is whether the device has a record on the ENA Type Test Register, because a manufacturer has to register it before sale.
The rest of what we do
On this page
- What changed on 27 August
- Why it was not legal before
- The specification the device is judged against
- The planning order, the same day
- England, Scotland and Wales
- Northern Ireland is not settled
- Questions about the law
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