Legal in Great Britain since 27 August 2026
Balcony solar panels, now legal in the UK
Make your own electricity from a balcony. You can now plug a solar kit into a normal socket, but only a kit verified on the ENA register. We check the register every week, read every retailer's price, and put it all on one board with the date.
New to this? Our guide to plug-in solar panels in the UK covers the rules, prices and savings in one place. Independent, no sponsored rankings, every claim dated and sourced.
IllustrationVerified kits you can buy today
Cheapest first. Retailer prices read 30 Sept 2026.
Balcony solar in the UK, the short version
What is balcony solar?
One or two solar panels and a small inverter that plug into an ordinary 13 A socket. The panels hang on a balcony railing or sit on a wall, a flat roof or the garden, and the power they make is used by whatever is running in your home at the time. In the UK it's mostly called plug-in solar; here is how it works.
Is it legal in the UK?
In England, Wales and Scotland since 27 August 2026, for a kit verified on the ENA Type Test Register: 120 kits at our 8 Oct 2026 check. Anything else still needs an electrician. The legal position, and the different rules in Northern Ireland.
What does a kit cost?
The cheapest verified kit we found was £336 at City Plumbing, price read 30 Sept 2026. Two-panel kits cost more, and a battery adds an installer. What balcony solar costs, and where to buy a verified kit.
How much will it save?
The government puts it at £70 to £110 a year for an 800 W kit with no battery. The real figure depends on the direction your panels face and how much of the output you use as it's made. Balcony solar savings, or run the calculator.
What are the rules?
One plug-in kit per household for now, no battery inside the device, and you tell your network operator once it is connected. Find your DNO by postcode, then follow the G98 form guide.
I rent, or live in a flat
You notify the network operator yourself, and the landlord isn't part of that. Fixing anything to the building is a separate question, so read your tenancy or lease and ask first. Balcony solar for renters and solar panels for flats.
What a kit is worth to you
Ofgem cap from 1 October: 26.32p per kWh, VAT-free until March.
£70 to £110
a year, the government's own estimate for an 800 W kit with no battery.
£335
saved in one year by one owner with a STREAM Ultra battery on fence-hung panels. His data, published daily. See the video →
Run your own numbers
Postcode, panel direction, daytime use. Real PVGIS irradiance data.
This week on the register
Records come and go. We pull the register every week and write down what moved, with the reference numbers.
IllustrationGet an email when a kit passes, or a price drops
One email a week at most. The register moved three times in a fortnight in August; this is how you keep up without checking.