What the fitting involves
The socket, the panel and the form.
Read morePlugging one in is not electrical work
The specification these devices are approved against is written for products "intended for installation and operation by ordinary persons," so plugging one in is not classed as electrical work. A one component device comes with its inverter fitted and its direct current wiring already joined up. With a two component kit, joining the panel to the inverter is the only step left for you.
Altering or testing the wiring already in your walls is a different matter, and that is our job, not yours. Where the circuit needs its overcurrent protection device swapped, the instructions on a compliant device say plainly that only a qualified electrician should touch it.
Outdoors means IP55 or better
You can site the inverter and the plug and socket indoors or out. Choose outdoors and the socket needs an IP55 rating or better, which is the job we hand to a local electrician: a weatherproof socket in the right spot, wired onto a circuit that can take it.
If the direct current cable has to run from outside back into the house, the manufacturer is required to supply the connectors and the routing instructions for it. We confirm a kit includes both before we agree to fit it.
What it must never be plugged into
The specification states this twice over: once stamped on the device itself, and again in its instructions.
- No extension cables.
- No multi-way adaptors.
- No residual current device adaptors.
- No travel adaptors.
A garden panel is the classic case where somebody reaches for an extension lead. We put the proper socket in first, and the panel follows once that is done.
One device, one household
One device per final ring circuit is what the product specification itself allows, before it hands over to the network rules. Engineering Recommendation G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 is the tighter of the two, and it caps a household at one device altogether.
Panels and output are two different numbers
The mains side of a compliant device is capped at 800 VA and 3.5 amps. The panels wired into it can still total as much as 2000 watts, and past 960 watts of panel the specification calls for a professional to assess whether the house can actually take it.
Tell your insurer
Somewhere in a compliant device's paperwork is a line telling you to check your own insurance cover. It only takes a short call, and it is worth making before the delivery van does.
More about the socket
Who pays for the socket?
You pay the electrician directly for that part, at their own quoted price. We add nothing on top and take no cut of it.
Could the cable just run through a window to an indoor socket?
You can have the device outside with the plug and socket kept indoors, provided the manufacturer's own connectors and routing instructions are used for the cable coming in. What is not allowed is closing that gap with an extension lead instead.
My wiring is older. Is that a problem?
It can be. Older wiring was raised again and again in the government's own consultation as the genuine fire risk with these devices, so we have the circuit checked before anything gets plugged in, wherever across our three cities you are.
More about the fitting
On this page
- Plugging one in is not electrical work
- Outdoors means IP55 or better
- What it must never be plugged into
- One device, one household
- Tell your insurer
- More about the socket
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