The legal position
Do I need planning permission?
Not usually, though it is never automatic. A plug-in panel depends on the permitted development right, and that right comes with conditions attached: satisfy them and no application follows, miss one and an application does.
Does a wooden balcony rule it out?
Under permitted development, yes. The 27 August 2026 rewrite stopped covering plug-in solar fixed to a wooden wall, a wooden balcony or timber cladding, on houses and on blocks of flats alike. Metal or glass balustrades are treated differently.
My house is listed. Does that stop me?
Not automatically, but it turns the conversation into a planning one rather than a fitting one. A listed house needs both permission and listed building consent, and the permitted development right does not reach the grounds of a listed building or a scheduled monument at all.
When exactly did this become legal?
Great Britain from 27 August 2026, following regulations made on 16 July that year. Up to that point, BS 1363 sockets were never allowed to carry a plug from generating equipment, so nothing like this could be lawfully sold, supplied or used.
Equipment and wiring
How big is one of these?
Current draws no more than 3.5 amps and power no more than 800 VA on the mains side, within 253 volts and 50 hertz. Wire in up to four panels behind the inverter, keeping no more than two of them in series on any string, and the panels can still add up to 2000 watts between them.
Can I have two?
No, the network connection rules cap every household at one.
Can I add a battery?
No. Battery storage, whether standalone or built into the device, falls outside the approved class altogether.
How can I tell a product is compliant?
Start with the ENA Type Test Register and search the make and model there. Check the listing states both the panel wattage and the AC output, not just one, and that the box includes the manufacturer's own DC connectors and routing instructions.
What must it never be plugged into?
Never an extension lead, a multi-way adaptor, an RCD adaptor or a travel adaptor. The device marking and its instructions rule out all four.
Registering it with the operator
Who is my network operator?
National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) plc covers all three cities on our map, though we still check the operator's own postcode tool before sending anything for a specific address. Ringing 105 is free and skips our map completely.
What does the form ask for?
Your name, your email and the installation address, submitted within 28 days of the panel going in. Five to ten minutes covers it.
Does the operator have to approve it beforehand?
No, registration happens after the device is fitted, not as an application beforehand.
The 800 VA and IP55 figures trace back to the interim product specification, version 2.0, published July 2026. One device per household is the cap set by that same document, Engineering Recommendation G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1. Read 14 September 2026.
What it costs, and who has to agree
Why is there no price on this website?
Prices vary too much between kits and the socket work each house needs for a published figure to mean anything. We would rather look at your house and quote a number we stand behind.
I'm a tenant, or I lease the property.
Landlord or freeholder agreement is something you will need to arrange yourself; the regulations do not settle that question, so ask before committing to anything.
Will it change my house insurance?
Possibly. A compliant device's own instructions are required to tell you to check, so call your insurer while the device is still on order.
Need a socket outside, or a panel mounted?
Postcode and a sentence about the job. We'll come back by email.
- Nottingham
- Leicester
- Derby
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.