The outdoor socket
A panel outside needs a weatherproof socket rated IP55 or higher, wired onto a circuit we have checked first. That is the one part of the job an electrician has to do.
Read morePlug-in solar fitted by electricians in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.
We fit the outdoor socket, mount the panel and fill in the form for National Grid Electricity Distribution with you. If you've already bought a kit, we'll fit that. If you haven't, we'll supply one that's on the register. Give us a postcode and tell us roughly where the panel would sit.
- Every socket we fit outdoors is rated IP55 or better
- We fit kits you've bought as well as kits we supply
- The planning rules get checked before we quote
Tell us about the job
Name, email and postcode, plus a note on whether you own a kit yet and the spot you have in mind. You get an email back saying what's allowed there and what the visit would involve.
We reply by email. Your details stay with us.
What we do on a fitting visit
A visit from us covers three jobs, each with its own page below. Send your postcode when you want us to look at your own house.
What the fitting involves
One visit covers the surface check, the socket if you need one, mounting the panel where the rules allow it, and the operator paperwork before we go.
Read more
Telling National Grid
National Grid Electricity Distribution wants your name, email and address within 28 days of the panel going in, and we sit down and complete that with you.
Read moreThe outdoor socket is the part that needs an electrician
- Rated IP55 or betterA socket fixed outside has to carry this rating or better. We wire it onto a circuit we have already checked.
- No extension leadsExtension cables, multi-way adaptors and RCD adaptors are all ruled out by the device specification. A garden panel is exactly where people are tempted to use one, so the proper socket goes in before the panel does.
- One device, one householdThe product specification allows one per final circuit, but Engineering Recommendation G98 tightens that to one device per home, and G98 is the rule that counts.
Already bought a kit? We'll fit it
- Already got oneGive us the make and model before we book anything, and we check it against the ENA Type Test Register.
- Need one supplyingEvery device we supply is already on that register, so you are not taking a listing's word for it.
Roughly what it makes
Four ways to mount an 800 watt device, modelled by PVGIS for a point near Nottingham. Compare the rows, not the cities: the surface you choose changes the output far more than which of our three cities you live in.
Modelled by PVGIS at one point near Nottingham: 0.8 kWp, four mountings, 14 per cent system losses, no shade assumed. A model, not a promise, and different again from what ends up saved.
Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and the towns between
Nottingham, Leicester and Derby, plus the towns around them: Loughborough, Long Eaton, Ilkeston, Beeston and Wigston among them. Send your postcode and we will tell you straight whether it is within reach.
- Nottingham
- Leicester
- Derby
Important if you have a balcony
Timber balconies and cladding are outside England's planning rules
The permitted development right for solar equipment changed on 27 August 2026, the day plug-in solar itself became legal. Under the new order, a wooden wall, a balcony or timber cladding is excluded, whether the building is a house or a block of flats.
Fall outside the right and the only way through is a full planning application, which the government's own assessment expects to cost more than the device itself. That is why we look at the surface before we ever put a figure on the job.
SI 2026/896 amended the General Permitted Development Order for England; we went back to the instrument itself on 14 September 2026.
Paperwork for the network operator, done before we leave
All three of our cities sit inside one distribution licence area, run by National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) plc. We treat our own map as a working guide and check each address against the operator's own postcode tool before anything is sent. Ringing 105 gets you the same answer for free, anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales, without needing our map at all. We sit down and complete the form together on the day, well inside the 28-day window.
Questions people ask us
What will it cost?
There is no price list here. What it costs depends on the kit and on how much socket work your house needs, so we would rather see the house and quote you a real number.
My balcony is timber. Does that rule me out?
Under permitted development, yes: the 27 August 2026 change excludes a wooden wall, a wooden balcony and timber cladding together. Metal and glass balustrades sit outside that exclusion, so let us know what your balcony is built from and we will check properly.
How many can I have?
Just the one. The product specification would allow one per final ring circuit, but it defers to the network rules, and Engineering Recommendation G98 caps it at one per household.
Do I need planning permission?
Most of the time, no, but it turns on your surface. A plug-in panel relies on the permitted development right, which sets conditions on how far it projects, on conservation areas, on listed buildings and now on timber. Meet those conditions and no application is needed. We check yours before we quote.
Tell us about the wall, roof or garden
Give us the postcode and tell us what surface the panel would go on. We will come back with what the rules allow there and a rough figure for what it would generate. If your house is not a fit, we will tell you plainly.
Send my postcode