Which Plug-In Solar Kits Are Certified in the UK?
Plug-in solar is now legal in the UK and certified kits are on the ENA register. What certification means, what the register shows, how to check it.
Plug-in solar - a small solar kit that feeds power into your home through an ordinary plug socket - became lawful in the UK on 27 August 2026, and the register that decides which kits qualify has started to fill: the first certification landed on 18 August 2026, and compliant kits from about a dozen manufacturers have followed.
This page tracks that register. It explains what certification actually means under the new rules, what the register shows, and - the part worth bookmarking - how to check it yourself in about a minute, because it changes quickly and no third-party page updates faster than the source.
What does 'certified' actually mean here?
Three separate things have to line up, and people routinely collapse them into one.
The law. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2026, better known as SI 2026 No. 848, is the instrument that makes plug-in solar legal. Regulation 1(2) is blunt about the timing: "These Regulations come into force on 27th August 2026." They did, on schedule, and are now in force.
The product standard. The Regulations define a qualifying device partly by its output - it must have "a maximum rated alternating current output not exceeding 800 watts" - and partly by compliance with the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification (the government's minimum technical and safety standard for these products), named in the legislation as version 2, published by the Secretary of State on 16 July 2026. That specification sits alongside the government's consultation response, published the same day.
The register. The Energy Networks Association's Connect Direct type test register is the industry database where grid-connection type-test results for generation equipment are published, and it has gained a new Plug-in Solar category. It is where you can see whether a specific model has actually been through testing rather than merely claimed it.
Worth noting precisely, because it is widely garbled: the Regulations define the product by its output and by compliance with the specification, rather than by naming a register. The register matters because it is the practical, public evidence that a model has been type-tested for connection under G98 (the Energy Networks Association engineering recommendation covering small generators connected in parallel with the public network) - not because the statutory instrument points at it.
Which kits are certified right now?
The register has filled steadily since certification began. The first plug-in solar certification was published on 18 August 2026, and by 4 September 2026 observers tracking the register were reporting roughly 41 compliant kits from 12 manufacturers, with Perlight, City Plumbing, UKSOL and PatioSun among the names most often cited. Those figures come from dated secondary snapshots rather than from the register itself - it is a browser-only database with no public feed - so treat any count, including this one, as a snapshot on a particular day.
The register's first weeks also showed why checking matters. On 3 August 2026 a record was published under the new Plug-in Solar category for Anker Innovations, reference ANKER/20920/V1, model AE1032Z1-20, marketed as the Solix Solarbank 4 Pro, showing a registered capacity of 0.8kW single phase and tested against G98/G99 Issue 2. It was initially recorded as compliant; observers tracking the register subsequently reported the same reference showing as non-compliant. Anker sells the Solarbank as a plug-in solar battery, and the government consultation response states that the interim specification "applies specifically to plug-in solar products only and does not extend to other plug-in technologies, such as plug-in batteries". A storage product appearing under a solar heading, then changing status, is exactly why the register rather than the product page is the thing to look at.
How do you check the ENA register yourself?
This is the skill worth having, because it stays useful long after any tracker page goes stale.
Open the register
Go to connect-direct.energynetworks.org and find the device databases section. The generation-device search is the type test register. It is a browser-based database - there is no public API, so anything you read elsewhere is someone's manual snapshot.
Search by manufacturer, not by marketing name
Records are filed under the legal entity (for example Anker Innovations) and carry a model code that often differs from the retail name. If a search for the name on the box finds nothing, try the manufacturer and read down the list.
Check the category
Look for the Plug-in Solar category specifically. An inverter or storage product listed under a different heading has been tested for something else, and does not tell you the kit qualifies under the new rules.
Check the registered capacity
The AC figure has to sit at or below the 800 watts the Regulations allow. A record showing 0.8kW is at the ceiling; anything above it is not a plug-in microgenerator in the legal sense, whatever else it may be approved for.
Read the compliance status, and note the date
This is the field that matters, and the Anker record shows it can change after publication. Note the date you looked, because a status you screenshot today is not a promise about next month.
Why did certified kits arrive so close to the deadline?
Mostly arithmetic. The specification a device has to meet was published on 16 July 2026, and the law it sits under took effect on 27 August 2026 - about six weeks apart. Certification is not a form-filling exercise: a product has to be tested against the specification by an approved body, and the result then has to be published to the register. In the event the first certification landed on 18 August 2026, nine days before commencement, and the register has filled in stages since.
The practical consequence for a buyer has not changed. A kit sold as UK-ready is making a claim only the register can confirm, and "designed to comply" is a statement of intent rather than a test result. Uncertified kits remain on sale, and they remain illegal to plug in.
What should you check before buying?
Treat compliance claims as unverified until the register says otherwise
Phrasing like UK-ready, compliant with the new rules or designed for the 2026 regulations is marketing. A reference number and a status on the type test register is evidence.
Check the AC output, not the panel wattage
The 800 watt cap in the Regulations is on the inverter's rated AC output. A kit advertising a large panel array can still be within the law, and a kit quoting a big inverter cannot.
Know that batteries are outside this specification
The interim specification covers plug-in solar and expressly does not extend to plug-in batteries, so a storage product is not made lawful to plug in by these Regulations.
Plan the G98 notification
Connecting generation in parallel with the network is notifiable to your distribution network operator. Our terms explained guide covers what G98 involves.
Check the register on the day you order
The register is live and the Anker record shows a status can change after publication. A compliant listing you saw last month is not a promise about today, so check the exact model reference on the day you order rather than buying on trust.
Sources and how this page is maintained
Being straight about what has and has not been verified here matters more on this page than on most.
The legal points - the instrument, its commencement date, the 800 watt figure and the reference to version 2 of the specification - are taken directly from SI 2026 No. 848 on legislation.gov.uk and from the government's plug-in solar consultation outcome on GOV.UK, where the interim product specification, the government response and the impact assessment were all published on 16 July 2026.
The register status is different in kind. The ENA type test register is a live database behind a browser interface with no public feed, so the entry details above are drawn from dated public observations of the register rather than from our own automated check, and are reported with the dates on which they were seen. The register is the authority; this page is a signpost to it.
Page last reviewed: 11 September 2026, against the dated public observations above - the register itself only shows its current state through a manual browser visit. This page is reviewed monthly.
Is Plug-In Solar Legal in the UK? The 2026 Rules Explained
UK Plug-in Solar 2026: What Changed on 27 August?
Plug-in Solar Terms Explained: G98, SEG, MCS and More
