When will plug-in solar batteries be allowed in the UK?

Why would a battery make plug-in solar more useful?

Plug-in solar makes most of its electricity in the middle of the day. If you’re out at work, your home might only be using a little at that time: the fridge, the router, a few things on standby.

Whatever your home isn’t using at that moment flows out to the grid. With plug-in solar, you usually won’t be paid for it. Export payments under the Smart Export Guarantee need an MCS-certified installation, and the government expects that won’t apply to most plug-in kits, at least at first.

A battery would let you keep some of that daytime electricity and use it in the evening, when you’re home and the kettle, oven and TV are on. The government’s own impact assessment says home storage would “enhance the benefits of plug-in solar”, and the lack of batteries was one of the issues people raised most often when it consulted on the new rules.

Why were plug-in solar batteries left out of the new rules?

The plug-in solar route that started on 27 August 2026 is deliberately narrow. It covers approved, solar-only kits of up to 800W that plug into a normal socket. Our guide to the rules explains what it allows.

Every approved kit has to meet the government’s product specification. That specification says it doesn’t apply to plug-in battery systems, or to plug-in solar kits with a battery built in. Approved kits must also carry a warning that they’re not intended to be connected to, or used with, a battery system.

The government’s reason is that batteries raise “additional technical and regulatory considerations” that weren’t assessed when the plug-in solar rules were drawn up. The safety work behind the new route looked at solar kits plugged into UK sockets, not batteries. Batteries bring their own questions, including fire safety and how they behave on home wiring.

Home battery or plug-in battery: what’s the difference?

They can look similar, but they connect to your home in different ways, and only one is allowed today. For the full picture, see our guide to plug-in batteries in the UK.

A home battery that can send electricity into your home’s wiring counts as a small generator. That means your local network operator has to be told about it, which your installer normally does for you. Larger systems need the network operator’s approval before they’re connected.

When will plug-in batteries be allowed?

There’s no confirmed date. The government hasn’t said when, or whether, plug-in batteries will be allowed.

What it has done is start the work that would need to come first. In September 2026 the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero put out a tender for a safety study of plug-in batteries with an output of up to 800W. According to the tender notice, the study will look at the fire and electrical safety of plug-in batteries sold in other countries, test a handful of products, and recommend the technical and regulatory changes that would be needed to allow them to be used safely and legally.

The contract is expected to run from November 2026 to the end of March 2028. That’s the timetable for the study, not a date for plug-in batteries to go on sale. Any change to the rules would come after it, and the government hasn’t committed to one.

What is the industry asking for?

Some in the energy sector want things to move faster. The energy organisation Regen has called on the government to commit to a date for plug-in batteries, carry out a rapid safety study and back a new product safety standard. Those are Regen’s recommendations, not government policy.

What can I do today?

1. Use plug-in solar on its own. An approved kit still cuts what you buy from the grid whenever you use electricity while it’s generating, for example by running the washing machine in the day. Is plug-in solar worth it? covers who it suits.
2. Want storage now? Look at a conventionally installed battery. An installer can fit a home battery on its own or with rooftop solar, connect it into your home’s electrics and tell your network operator.
3. Already have a home battery, or planning one? Speak to your installer before adding plug-in solar, because approved kits must warn that they’re not intended to be used with a battery system.
4. Don’t buy a plug-in battery expecting it to become legal soon. There’s no date, and there’s no guarantee that products made for other countries will meet whatever UK requirements are eventually set.

Buying plug-in solar? Check the exact model is listed as compliant before you pay.