r/PlugInSolarUK

I’m a little confused around uk standing and plug-in solar.

Has it been made legala with the guidelines updated for 800w systems or is it still in guidelines / industry talks?

Does anyone know whether the older Shelly 3EM will work with the Stream Ultra?

Not the Shelly Pro 3EM, the "just" Shelly 3EM.

Web search seems to default to assuming Pro version so I thought to ask users here.

Thank you!

It's possibly a daft question, though I vaguely recollect someone posting a picture of a proof of concept somewhere on a solar-based subreddit. However, I know there are DIY solutions one can plug and play off the shelf so to speak, but has anyone gone that step further and created their own battery using, for example, Victron products?

Plug in Solar is already a small investment, but I imagine that for some, the battery is a step too far in terms of an initial cost and it had me thinking.

One of the biggest unknowns when planning plug-in solar on a balcony isn't the panel

it's the buildings around you. Most solar calculators assume an open horizon, but in towns and cities neighbouring flats, offices and trees can significantly reduce the amount of direct sunlight reaching a panel. I built a free browser-based shadow simulator to help visualise this by allowing you to place a marker on your exact balcony, select your floor height and explore how surrounding buildings affect sunlight throughout the year.

The tool provides 3D direct sunlight windows, a month-by-hour heatmap and a shading-adjusted generation estimate that can be used alongside PVGIS yield calculations. It's intended to help set realistic expectations before installation, particularly for apartment dwellers and renters where shading can be the deciding factor. The model also clearly highlights its assumptions and limitations rather than presenting false precision.

I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from anyone with plug-in solar or rooftop PV. Does it reflect your real-world experience, and what additional features would make it more useful for planning?

You can try it here: https://plugsolarhub.co.uk/shadow-simulator

Has anyone seen record generation this week, or did the extreme heat actually reduce your output?

Would love to hear about your system size, your best day this week, and whether the sunshine lived up to expectations or the high temperatures brought some unintended consequences.

In the process of renovating the garden and have put up 3 pergola posts.

Had an idea that I could put 2x 2m solar panels on top( length and width are possible for my pergola space), run the cables up to house wall. They would face south with zero shade blocking the sweet sweet PV energy.

Here, install with some rudimentary weather protection, a 1.92kW battery and hybrid inverter. I know a lot of systems are IP6x rated for outdoor locating.

Drill hole into house and plug it in.

My goal is to fill battery with solar, discharge at night, and then also use, if needed, cheap overnight tariff to top up the battery.

Is there a DC coupled inverter available in the UK? I've read about the Zendure range but they don't seem to be available in the UK.

What panels and inverter and battery setup would you recommend?

I would need a UK ENO certified something so I can notify DNO with a G98.

Is there a battery and inverter combo that's DC coupled and legit for ENO and DNO notification?

I see the Ecoflow range is marketing strongly, but aren't they all AC coupled, so there would be losses in the conversion from AC to DC and back again?

Saw the news about the grid last night — 1.9GW shortfall warning, red weather alert — and ended up just leaving my balcony setup running to see how it held up. Fridge, a couple of chargers, small fan. Ran it for a few hours without touching the mains. Didn't fall over, which honestly surprised me a bit.

I'd set up a basic plug-in kit on the balcony railing a few months back, nothing elaborate — just a couple of lightweight panels and a power station. South or south-west-ish facing, not perfect, but decent enough.

Now I'm wondering how much further I can push it, particularly around storage. I've seen some systems in Europe that use a controller to tie an existing power station into a proper balcony grid setup(like Balco Transfer Hub), rather than buying a whole new unit. Anyone know if anything equivalent is actually available here with proper UK compliance yet, or is it still mostly a European thing for now?

What are you lot actually running as flat dwellers — especially anything that holds up through the grey months? Always good to hear what's working in real UK conditions rather than spec sheets.

I’ve already got a pre installed grid tied battery and solar set up. For reference the battery and house inverter is the Alpha ESS b3 plus.

I regretted originally not getting more battery capacity installed & now I can no longer easily source the battery add ons for my setup, so a plug in solar/storages setup will n paper seemed the easiest but I’m struggling to find writeups on how a plug-in setup would work with my existing kit.

I’m likely to go the lazy route and get a ecoflow stream setup of some capacity and enough panels to feed it and run a few power hungry computers off of the stream and any spare load to go back into the house.

What I’m trying to understand is what will happen when the power ecoflow is supplying to the house? Will my alpha house battery drain first and then any extra capacity be taken from the ecoflow? Will the ecoflow drain first? Will it all explode?! I realise as well any monitoring/ct clamps will need to be placed in the correct places.

What I want to happen is the house battery gets drained first, but if the load on the house battery is too high, the ecoflow will help, and then if the load is too high for both the grid picks up the rest until both batteries are empty.

Thanks for any help! I have a good amount of technical knowledge but with this sort of set up want to aim for as much ‘plug and play’ as possible.

Roof is 4 inch thick reinforced concrete so fine to drill straight in to, and I'd prefer brackets over ballast due to aesthetics.

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Looking to be able to angle them, but not planning to adjust seasonally. Purchase links welcome, but looking for as cheap as is safe ideally.

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Thanks in advance!