A certified plug-in solar kit in the UK costs between £599 and £989 today, which is the full range of ENA G98-registered systems currently on sale. Budget roughly £400 to £1,200 all in: the kit itself, plus mounting hardware if it is not bundled, plus £150–£350 if you pay someone to fit it rather than doing it yourself. The G98 notification to your network operator is free. Batteries are a separate purchase and sit outside the plug-in rules entirely.
Prices below are retailer list prices checked by hand against the same eight certified systems that drive today's ledger. They are not pulled from an affiliate feed, and they move — the date at the top of this page is the date we last checked.
How much does a plug-in solar kit cost?
| Kit | Price | Panel W | Cost per watt |
|---|---|---|---|
| UKSOL Pro Compact 515W — 1P hybrid | £599 | 515 | £1.16 |
| UKSOL Pro Compact 460W — 1P ground-mount | £699 | 460 | £1.52 |
| UKSOL Pro Duo 890W — 2P hybrid | £849 | 890 | £0.95 |
| UKSOL Pro Duo 890W — 2P ground-mount | £849 | 890 | £0.95 |
| UKSOL Pro Plus 1030W — 2P hybrid | £899 | 1,030 | £0.87 |
| UKSOL Pro Max 1260W — 2P hybrid | £989 | 1,260 | £0.78 |
| UKSOL Pro Advanced 920W — 2P hybrid | POA | 920 | — |
| Perlight PowerPlug MAX 465 — panel-ready | POA | 465 | — |
The shape of that table is the useful part. Cost per watt falls as kits get bigger, from £1.52 down to £0.78. The frame, the microinverter, the cabling and the shipping cost roughly the same whether you hang one panel or two, so the second panel is much cheaper than the first. If your budget stretches to £849 rather than £599, you are getting 73% more panel for 42% more money.
What is the real total cost?
The kit price is not the whole bill. Here is what actually leaves your account.
| Item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certified kit | £599–£989 | Panels and microinverter; check whether mounting is included |
| Mounting hardware, if extra | £40–£150 | Balcony brackets, wall fixings or a ground frame |
| Outdoor-rated extension, if needed | £15–£40 | Only if the socket is not within reach of the supplied lead |
| Installation, if not DIY | £150–£350 | Half a day for two people; more for facade or height work |
| G98 notification | £0 | Free, direct to your DNO, about twenty minutes |
| Landlord or freeholder consent | £0–£250 | Some managing agents charge an administration fee for a licence to alter |
| Annual running cost | £0 | Occasional cleaning; no servicing requirement |
The two line items people forget are the freeholder administration fee — which can be surprisingly large for a leasehold flat — and the mounting, which some listings quote separately. Ask before you buy, not after.
DIY or paid installation?
A certified plug-in kit is designed to be fitted without an electrician. That is the entire point of the August 2026 change: the device plugs into a standard socket, and the compliance work has already been done at type-test stage. For a ground-mounted kit in a garden, DIY is genuinely straightforward and saves you £150–£350.
Paying someone makes sense when:
- You are drilling into a facade you do not own, and want the work documented.
- The mounting position is above ground-floor level, or on a rail you cannot safely reach.
- Your freeholder or landlord wants a competent person's sign-off as a condition of consent.
- You would rather someone else handled the G98 notification along with the fitting.
None of that changes the legal position — it changes who carries the risk of a panel coming off a wall in a gale. If you want quotes for the fitted route, we can pass your postcode to installers covering your area.
How does this compare with rooftop solar?
Rooftop solar is a different product at a different scale, and it is worth being blunt about it. A full rooftop array costs several thousand pounds, generates several times as much, and requires a certified installer — typically MCS-registered if you want to access export payments and the usual consumer protections. Plug-in solar is not a cheap version of that. It is a different thing: a few hundred pounds, no installer, no scaffolding, and you can take it with you when you move.
That portability is the underrated part of the economics. A £599 kit that moves house with you does not have to pay back within one tenancy.
What about batteries?
Batteries are outside the scope of the plug-in rules, and that is a real gap rather than an oversight we can talk around. The Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification governs generation. A device that stores energy and re-exports it later is not within that scope, which is why battery-based products such as the Anker SOLIX Solarbank 2 AC and the Zendure SolarFlow 800 do not appear on the register as compliant plug-in devices despite being sold in the UK.
The practical consequence for cost: you cannot currently buy a lawful plug-in kit that banks the midday surplus for the evening. Everything your panels make has to be used as it is made, or it goes into the grid unpaid. That is the single biggest constraint on what plug-in solar can save you, and it is why self-consumption matters so much in the payback maths.
Is it worth the money?
The government's estimate is £70 to £110 a year for an 800W system, or up to 20% of an average home's electricity use. Set against the range above, that is a payback between roughly five and fourteen years — before you adjust for orientation, shading and when you are actually at home using power.
Our honest position: at £599 for the cheapest certified kit, plug-in solar is a reasonable purchase for a south- or south-west-facing site where someone is home during the day. On a north-facing balcony in a flat where everyone works out of the house, it is not, and no amount of kit selection fixes that. The full working is in plug-in solar payback: how long to break even?
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK — Households can save as plug-in solar panels come to market — the £70–£110 annual saving estimate and the 20% of household electricity figure.
- SI 2026 No. 848 — the instrument that made plug-in solar lawful in Great Britain from 27 August 2026.
- ENA Connect Direct — the type-test register that determines which kits are certified.
- MCS — the certification scheme for installed renewable systems, relevant if you are comparing against rooftop solar.
- Energy Saving Trust — independent guidance on domestic generation and running costs.
- Retailer list prices, checked manually. Not an affiliate feed.
Frequently asked questions
How much do plug-in solar panels cost in the UK?
Certified kits cost between £599 and £989. Allowing for mounting hardware and optional installation, a realistic all-in budget is £400 to £1,200. The G98 notification to your network operator is free.
What is the cheapest plug-in solar kit?
The UKSOL Pro Compact 515W at £599 — a single panel with a microinverter and hybrid mounting. It is the lowest-priced device holding a compliant entry on the ENA G98 type-test register.
Does the price include installation?
No. Kit prices are for the hardware. A certified plug-in kit is designed to be fitted without an electrician, so many buyers pay nothing extra. If you would rather it were fitted for you, expect £150 to £350 for a straightforward job.
Are bigger kits better value?
Per watt, yes. Cost per watt falls from £1.52 on the smallest ground-mount kit to £0.78 on the 1,260W system, because the inverter, frame and shipping cost much the same whichever you buy. The second panel is always cheaper than the first.
Is there a grant for plug-in solar?
There is no dedicated grant for plug-in solar kits. Government support schemes are aimed at installed, certified systems — typically MCS-registered rooftop solar and heat pumps. Check the current position on GOV.UK and with the Energy Saving Trust before assuming either way.
Can I add a battery to a plug-in solar kit?
Not within the plug-in rules. The interim product specification covers generation, not storage, so battery-integrated units are not certified as plug-in devices. Any electricity you do not use as it is generated goes to the grid unpaid.
Are there running costs?
Effectively none. There is no servicing requirement and no consumable. Occasional cleaning helps output on a wall or balcony that collects dust or salt.
Will it add value to my property?
Treat it as an appliance rather than an improvement. A plug-in kit is not fixed to the building in the way rooftop solar is, and its real advantage is that you can unbolt it and take it with you when you move. Do not buy it expecting it to show up in a valuation.