Today's the Day: Plug-In Solar Is Legal in the UK

Today, 27 August 2026, is the day plug-in solar becomes legally installable in the United Kingdom for the first time. SI 2026 No. 848 — the statutory instrument that DESNZ laid before Parliament on 16 July — comes into force this morning, closing a regulatory gap that has kept UK households locked out of the "Balkonkraftwerk" market that Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland have quietly run for years. From this moment on, a UK homeowner or renter can lawfully plug a compliant 800VA solar microgenerator into a domestic wall socket and start displacing grid consumption without a G99, without an MCS-certified installer, and without a multi-thousand-pound quote.

This piece captures what is actually true from today, what has already gone live overnight, and — importantly — what the day-one buyer should do this week versus wait on.

What is now legal from today

The permissible install, in one paragraph. A single UK-market "plug-in microgenerator" per household, capped at 800VA / 3.5A total AC output, fitted with a BS 1363 three-pin plug and a 5A fuse, plugged directly into a domestic 13A socket with no extension leads, and with no battery in the plug circuit. The kit must carry UKCA (or UKCA+CE) marking, must have been type-tested to EN 50549-1 or equivalent, and the householder must submit a G98 notification to their DNO within 28 days of energising. All of this is codified in the interim product specification and reinforced by BS 7671 Amendment 4.

For a full breakdown of the plain-English rules and the two edge cases people keep asking about, see the SI 2026/848 explainer and the no-battery rule.

What went live overnight

The rollout has been staged deliberately by retailers to align with today's date. Overnight and this morning:

• B&Q has opened its plug-in solar category page listing four UK-compliant kits, with in-store stock at 240+ larger stores. The retailer stocking guide has the current list.
• Currys flipped its online listings to "available for delivery" for EcoFlow, Anker SOLIX and Bright Saver kits at 07:00.
• Screwfix started taking trade-account orders yesterday afternoon for click-and-collect from today.
• Amazon UK listings have gone live for EcoFlow's STREAM 800W Garden Ground Kit, the STREAM Balcony system, and the higher-end STREAM Ultra Pro with battery pairing. Direct Amazon UK searches: EcoFlow STREAM 800W, STREAM Balcony, STREAM Ultra Pro.
• Wickes and Lidl are following in September; Lidl's rumoured budget SKU is expected around £399 but not yet confirmed.

The EcoFlow UK launch piece has the fuller retail timeline. The short version: today is genuine day one, not a soft launch — you can walk into a B&Q this afternoon, put an 800W kit in a trolley, drive home and be generating solar this weekend.

What a day-one buyer should do

If you have been waiting for legalisation before you commit, here is the honest sequence for this week.

Today. Read the buying checklist if you have not already. Decide between a complete kit (simpler, £700–£900) and a DIY parts build (£450–£600 for JA Solar panels + Hoymiles inverter — see the DIY vs branded comparison). If you are on a balcony, read the balcony install guide; on a garden or ground mount, the tilt bracket guide.

Tomorrow. File the G98 with your DNO — you can do it before you even receive the kit. It takes ten minutes online. Notify your home insurer using the template in the insurance guide. Neither of these blocks anything, but both need to happen and getting them out of the way today removes admin from the install day.

This weekend. Physical install. On a compliant kit this is one to two hours with a screwdriver and a Phillips-head. See how to install plug-in solar for the step-by-step and first-week setup for what to expect once it is running.

Week two onwards. Start monitoring. A TP-Link Tapo P110 smart plug (£15 on Amazon UK) between inverter and wall socket gives you socket-level truth about how much you are actually generating, independent of the manufacturer's app — see the Tapo P110 review. Follow the monthly performance guide to sanity-check against the seasonal curve. Other Amazon UK accessories worth budgeting for: a Renogy adjustable tilt mount (£45) and IP68 cable glands for weatherproof cable runs.

Realistic expectations for the coming weeks

Two things worth calibrating on.

Stock will move fast. The pent-up demand from the year-long consultation period is real. EcoFlow's UK warehouse capacity for the STREAM range is around 40,000 units through end of Q3 2026 — meaningful but not infinite. If you have been waiting and today's launch confirms the decision, do not assume the SKU you want will still be in stock on 15 September. Currys, B&Q and Amazon are all likely to be sold through on the strongest configurations within two to three weeks.

Prices will not crash immediately. The German price-drop pattern suggests a 30–40% fall over 12–18 months from launch. But UK import duties, UKCA re-certification costs, and the fact that only three brands (EcoFlow, Anker, and the OEM behind Bright Saver and Craftstrom) currently have UKCA at scale, all conspire to hold pricing in the £600–£900 range through the rest of 2026. Meaningful drops arrive in Q2 2027 when more brands finish certification and retail volume normalises. If you are optimising for price alone, waiting six months is defensible; if you want the autumn generation window (September through late October still adds meaningful kWh — see September generation), buying today is the right call.

What still is not legal from today

Worth stating what today does not change, because there is inevitable confusion.

• You still cannot connect a battery inside the plug circuit. Batteries and portable power stations are permitted, but they sit outside the microgenerator connection. Why.
• You still cannot chain kits. One unit per household, hard limit. If you want more than 800W you are back into MCS-certified rooftop solar territory — see plug-in solar vs rooftop.
• You still cannot use extension leads. Direct plug-to-socket only. Extension lead rule.
• Renters need landlord permission for wall or roof fixings, but a garden mount or free-standing balcony install typically does not — see balcony solar for renters and the Renters Rights Act 2025 solar guide.
• Grants for plug-in solar are limited. The £25m government pilot for low-income households applies to a specific applicant profile only; there is no universal subsidy scheme. See grants and funding for what is actually available.

The bigger picture

Today is the culmination of a slow-motion policy shift that began with the government announcement in March 2026, moved through BS 7671 Amendment 4, the DESNZ consultation in July, and finally the 22 July government response that set today's date in law. The story is not that the UK figured out a novel technology — the hardware has existed since 2018 in Germany — but that we finally caught up with the regulatory frameworks our neighbours built years ago. If you want the timeline of why it took so long, the why UK took so long piece has the political history.

For a plug-in solar owner in the UK today, though, the history matters less than what happens next. Panels are hitting sockets across the country this week. Your neighbours will probably notice — and ask — before Christmas.

Is plug-in solar legal in the UK from today?

Yes. From 27 August 2026, SI 2026/848 makes plug-in microgenerators up to 800VA / 3.5A legal for domestic installation in the UK, provided the kit meets the interim product specification (BS 1363 plug, 5A fuse, no extension leads, no battery in the plug circuit, one unit per household) and the householder files a G98 notification with their DNO within 28 days of energising.

What can I buy in UK shops today?

B&Q, Currys, Amazon UK and Screwfix all have UK-compliant plug-in solar kits available for delivery or collection from today. Wickes and Lidl follow in September. EcoFlow, Anker SOLIX, Bright Saver and Craftstrom are the four main brands with UKCA-certified kits in the UK market on launch day, with prices ranging from around £500 for a Bright Saver 400W entry unit up to £1,499 for the EcoFlow STREAM Ultra Pro with battery.

Do I still need to tell my DNO if I install today?

Yes. G98 notification remains mandatory within 28 days of energising the kit, regardless of when you install. The notification is free, takes about ten minutes online, and protects you if there is ever any dispute with your distribution network operator about the connection. See our G98 step-by-step guide for exactly what to fill in.