Anyone looked into plug-in-solar
UK plug-in solar becomes legal on 27 August 2026 — but there's a catch almost nobody's flagging
The regulations (SI 2026/848) were made 16 July and come into force 27 August 2026. They create a new route letting you plug a solar generator straight into a normal socket, without an electrician, provided it's:
solar-only, max 800W AC output
connects via a standard plug and manufacturer-supplied lead
runs in parallel with the grid
Here's the bit that's easy to miss: devices with a battery are excluded. Anything designed to store power for later still needs a proper wired installation, same as before. That matters because most of the "plug-in solar kits" already on UK shelves (EcoFlow STREAM and similar) have a battery built in — so they're not actually the kits the new law covers.
A few other things worth knowing before buying anything:
It's one device per household right now, not per circuit
No planning permission needed in England (except listed buildings/conservation areas)
No certified compliant products exist yet as far as I can tell — worth checking the ENA G98 register before buying anything marketed as "now legal"
I put together a longer checklist + countdown if it's useful: pluginsolarcheck.co.uk/plug-in-solar-uk-rules