We got a 17Kwh array this year (US) and a few powerwalls and it is one of my favorite purchases. I can run nearly any amount of GPUs for free, and never worry about power outages or what temperature to set the AC to. If anyone is on the fence about Solar, I highly recommend it
UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
61–69 of 69 posts
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the UK as a consumer you can (always AFAIK) get a smart meter for free, and your retail supplier is required to offer you a non-zero rate (the "Smart Export Guarantee") for what you export back to the grid. That can be as high as about half the rate to import.
To get paid for export you will nearly always need an MCS number to show it was installed by accredited professionals. Doing it yourself, or by your local electrician or plug in solar is not something they accept. It's a bit of a racket, but in practice pay up for the professional install or no export payments.
I’m guessing this will almost certainly change once this comes in. Historically you’d need an MCS cert as a proxy for a safe/valid solar install (electrically safe I mean, followed regs etc). Now the regs say anyone can have plugin solar there’s no reason to stop consumers getting export tariffs.
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#63So it costs £400 and can shave up to £100 a year - how it was calculated? In best case scenario you'll have to hang this thing off balcony for 4 years to break even. Will it be good after 4 years? I cannot see the economics of that. If it shaves £50, then it's 8 years. How long do they last? How much maintenance costs (cleaning etc.) Sounds like a way to stuff the poor with copium device. The rich will get minted and…
I just put 2 460W panels and one of these 800W micro inverters on my shed. Total cost was just under £300 delivered, inc £15 of cabling. In the 5 weeks since it has been online (albeit in very good conditions - heat wave, summer but mounted flat on roof is suboptimal) it has generated 156kWh and saved £45 in electric costs.
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#64There is near zero actual risk. These systems have been around for a long time and are widely deployed in Europe. Circuit breakers have been around for a century and work great. You plug something in that pushes or pulls too much current and pop - disconnect. So while they are absolutely safe, there's huge FUD coming from the utilities who lose revenue AND PROFIT they were getting from you with each system. Pacific G…
How do these plug in panels prevent backfeeding in the case of a complete outage? IE: if lines are down and linemen go to work on lines with trees on them etc how can they be assured they're not energized?
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#65So it costs £400 and can shave up to £100 a year - how it was calculated? In best case scenario you'll have to hang this thing off balcony for 4 years to break even. Will it be good after 4 years? I cannot see the economics of that. If it shaves £50, then it's 8 years. How long do they last? How much maintenance costs (cleaning etc.) Sounds like a way to stuff the poor with copium device. The rich will get minted and…
I just put 2 460W panels and one of these 800W micro inverters on my shed. Total cost was just under £300 delivered, inc £15 of cabling. In the 5 weeks since it has been online (albeit in very good conditions - heat wave, summer but mounted flat on roof is suboptimal) it has generated 156kWh and saved £45 in electric costs.
Is that plug in like in the article? Any recommendations for where to buy? In the UK.
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#66There is near zero actual risk. These systems have been around for a long time and are widely deployed in Europe. Circuit breakers have been around for a century and work great. You plug something in that pushes or pulls too much current and pop - disconnect. So while they are absolutely safe, there's huge FUD coming from the utilities who lose revenue AND PROFIT they were getting from you with each system. Pacific G…
I believe that they're safe, but I don't understand how.
My circuit breaker is specced to be a bit lower than the capability of the downstream wiring. For the sake of argument let's say that the breaker is 16A and the circuit wiring is good for 20A.
Now the panel injects 8A into the circuit and suddenly I can pull 24A (16 from the circuit plus 8 from the panel), but that's through wiring that's only rated for 20A.
Does it rely on the fact that the actual amount of current from the panel is small (but continuous) and so we're likely to not push anything over the line?
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#67There is near zero actual risk. These systems have been around for a long time and are widely deployed in Europe. Circuit breakers have been around for a century and work great. You plug something in that pushes or pulls too much current and pop - disconnect. So while they are absolutely safe, there's huge FUD coming from the utilities who lose revenue AND PROFIT they were getting from you with each system. Pacific G…
How do these plug in panels prevent backfeeding in the case of a complete outage? IE: if lines are down and linemen go to work on lines with trees on them etc how can they be assured they're not energized?
The inverters are meant to come with anti-islanding to detect when it's been disconnected from the grid, which applies to both regular PV installs and a plug-in panel.
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I understand the devices correctly, the current generation of microinverters should meet all power-limit requirements and disconnect if the grid goes away.
You’re correct, but states are looking for UL 3700 compliance, which extends current anti islanding inverter protection requirements to GFCI intelligence and circuit overload protection (you can overload the branch circuit without the breaker tripping, for example). Intelligent EV chargers support these protections, this is the generation version of protections mentioned. https://electrek.co/2026/07/20/us-first-ul-37…
Thanks for the links. I hope they don't make it difficult to add batteries to these systems. You can pick up five plus kilowatt rack mount batteries relatively cheaply. It would be unpleasant if they only permitted the expensive no-user-serviceable-parts battery boxes like jackery.
Re: UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does the UK have Home Depot? maybe Castle Depot? Lorry Supply?
The UK has quite a few kinds of "Do It Yourself" stores, from somewhere like B&Q that is catering primarily for consumers through to a Screwfix who are more trade focused but still open to the public. This particular niche is one where the UK did a lot of the US-style "Business is just a large metal shed, surround it with car parking, build it miles from anywhere" whereas for a lot of other shops the UK doesn't do th…
> DIY stores are just especially suited to huge metal sheds in a way that furniture stores or grocery stores are not
Can't help but think of ikea or costco (whose international equivalent seems to be walmart)