You cannot plug a solar battery into a socket under the UK’s plug-in solar rules. The route that opened on 27 August 2026 covers generation only: panels and a microinverter, feeding whatever is running in your home at the time. A battery system is not illegal, but it needs a conventional installation by an electrician.
Two brands known for batteries now sell kits that are verified without one. As at 13 November 2026, the ENA register listed 6 Zendure kits (a SolarFlow 800 microinverter with panels and brackets) and 2 EcoFlow kits as compliant plug-in solar devices. Those exact kits can go into a socket. Add a battery and they can’t. Our register tracker lists them.
The exclusion is in the law, not just the specification
SI 2026 No. 848 defines a “plug-in microgenerator”, and the plug-in route only applies to devices inside that definition. Its fifth limb requires that the device:
is not designed to import electrical energy from a low voltage consumer’s installation for the purpose of storing energy for later supply, other than for control or auxiliary functions permitted by the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification
That limb is narrower than “no batteries”: it catches grid charging. The broader exclusion is the specification’s scope clause, which says it “does not apply to other technologies including but not limited to … Plug-in battery systems; Plug-in solar PV devices integrated with battery systems”. A product outside the specification has nothing to comply with, so it cannot use the route however it charges.
The specification also requires a compliant kit’s instructions to warn against using it with a battery energy storage system. So bolting a separate battery onto a verified, battery-free kit takes the installation outside the route too.
Which products this catches
| Product | Into a 13 A socket | Installed by an electrician |
|---|---|---|
| EcoFlow STREAM 5000 and the STREAM battery units | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| EcoFlow STREAM Ultra X and STREAM Ultra | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| EcoFlow STREAM Pro, AC and AC Pro compared | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 Pro | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| Zendure SolarFlow with a battery added | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| Jackery Navi 2000 | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| DJI Power 2000 in grid-tied mode | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| Aferiy PS240 | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
| Indevolt PowerFlex 2000 (not sold in the UK) | No (battery-integrated) | Yes |
The exclusion attaches to the configuration, not the brand. A maker can have a battery system that is shut out and a battery-free kit that is verified, which is exactly where Zendure and EcoFlow are now. Check the model on the register, never the badge.
“But it’s on the ENA register”
The register holds many device types in one table. A battery system can be listed Compliant as an Energy Storage Device, which means it meets the network connection rules for that kind of product. It does not mean it can be plugged into a socket. The plug-in route needs a Compliant listing under the Plug-in Solar device type, plus the compliance declaration on the product. Anker is the common example: its compliant listings are storage devices, and as at 13 November 2026 it had no record under the Plug-in Solar type.
Installing a battery the conventional way
The same hardware can be wired in by an electrician to BS 7671, with the network operator’s connection process followed in full rather than the plug-in device route. Nothing about that is unusual. What it changes:
- Cost. You pay for an electrician’s time and certification on top of the hardware, which belongs in any payback sum.
- Permanence. It is a fixed installation and does not move with you.
- Consent. A renter or leaseholder usually needs the landlord’s or freeholder’s agreement for fixed work. For many people that is the deciding factor.
Some battery units also offer an off-grid socket that runs appliances directly, not through the home’s wiring. That use sits outside the grid-connection rules altogether, but it is a different thing from cutting your bill through a socket.
Is a battery worth it?
A plug-in kit only saves money on electricity you use while it is generating. If your home is empty through the day, much of a sunny day’s output goes unused, and that is the gap a battery fills by moving daytime generation into the evening. If someone is home in the day, or you run the washing machine and dishwasher on a timer around midday, you capture more without one. Our self-consumption guide and savings calculator will show whether the extra cost of a properly installed battery pays back for you.
Why storage was left out
A device capped at 800 VA that switches off when the grid fails is a bounded problem, and G98’s anti-islanding rules already answer the grid-safety question. A device that also charges and discharges on its own schedule brings thermal behaviour and fire safety into scope, which needs its own work. The specification is explicitly interim. No date has been published for a storage route, and we will not guess one.
If you already own a battery kit
Nothing here stops it working. What has become clear is how it has to be connected. Our guide for people who have already bought a kit goes through the checks. For export payments, see SEG without MCS: every route needs paperwork an electrician signs.
Questions
Can you add a battery to plug-in solar?
Not within the plug-in route. The specification does not apply to battery-integrated products, the statutory definition excludes devices designed to import electricity to store for later supply, and a compliant kit's instructions must warn against pairing it with a battery. A battery system can still be installed conventionally by an electrician.
Are plug-in solar batteries legal in the UK?
Owning and using one is not illegal, but it cannot be plugged into a 13 A socket under the plug-in rules that took effect on 27 August 2026. It has to be wired in by an electrician with the network operator's process followed, like any other solar battery.
Is there a verified plug-in solar kit from EcoFlow or Zendure?
Yes, battery-free ones. As at 13 November 2026 the ENA register listed 6 Zendure and 2 EcoFlow plug-in solar kits as compliant, none with a battery. Those exact kits can go into a socket. Adding a battery takes them off the plug-in route.
What happens to plug-in solar in a power cut?
A compliant device switches off. Anti-islanding protection stops a generator energising a network someone may be working on, so a plug-in kit is not a backup supply. Some battery systems offer an off-grid socket, but that is a feature of a conventionally installed product.
When will plug-in batteries be allowed?
No date has been announced. The specification is interim and storage was left for later work. We will update this page when the government publishes something dated.