Plug-in solar kits in the UK compared

Who suits a plug-in solar kit?

A plug-in solar kit suits you if you have space for its panels and use electricity while they generate. In the calculator’s south-facing vertical London example, a 164 W base load uses 374 kWh of the 596 kWh generated annually, worth £99 a year.

A smaller kit is an option when panel space matters more than maximum output. UKSOL describes its 460 W Compact as suitable for smaller gardens or patios; it has an inverter rated up to 800 W AC.

An ordinary solar-only kit is not the right choice if your priority is power during a grid outage. EcoFlow’s STREAM microinverter bundle has no outage socket, and a battery product is not automatically covered by the plug-in solar rules.

What should you compare before buying?

Compare the exact kit’s register status before its price or brand name. The ENA register contained 121 Compliant and 13 Non-compliant plug-in solar entries when checked on 14 October 2026, so appearing on the register alone is not enough. Use the approved-kit reference to check the model and configuration.

Panel power and inverter output are different specifications: the legal ceiling is 800 W AC, not a panel-power limit. Octopus Energy’s registered bundles pair 460 W or 920 W of panels with an inverter rated up to 800 W AC. Its press release dated 1 October 2026 gave starting prices of £450 and £650 respectively; both were sold out when checked on 14 October 2026.

Compare what the price includes, particularly panels and mounting. UKSOL’s registered Compact has 460 W of panels and costs £599 on its official site, checked 14 October 2026. EcoFlow’s STREAM bundle has 1,000 W of panels and up to 800 W AC output for £549 on its official store, checked 14 October 2026, but its register status is unconfirmed; other registered EcoFlow configurations do not confirm this bundle.

• Check the complete kit, not just the inverter brand.
• Match the mounting configuration to your intended location.
• Keep unconfirmed products separate from Compliant registered kits.

What could a London kit save?

The calculator gives £99 a year for an 800 W kit mounted vertically and facing south in London. It estimates 596 kWh of annual production, with 374 kWh used at home under a 164 W base-load assumption. That is 63% of generation used at home, with no payment assumed for exports.

Changing the calculator’s mounting angle to 30° gives 812 kWh a year and £119 in annual savings. These are calculator estimates, not promised results for a particular kit. Use the calculator for your address rather than applying the London result to every balcony.

The example uses Ofgem’s electricity rate of 26.32 p/kWh for 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2026. That is the Great Britain average for Direct Debit customers. Ofgem’s cap does not apply in Northern Ireland, where you need to enter your own unit rate.