Could plug-in options mean now is the time to go solar?

Solar installations have hit nearly 172,000 since the start of 2026, with increases across every UK nation, official figures show.

July was the third-highest month on record for solar installations across the UK, with nearly 28,000 completed across homes, businesses and large-scale projects. The two higher months were March and June this year.

The release earlier this year of more affordable plug-in solar panel units, coupled with continued rising energy prices, is expected to see even more people turn to the sun to help with their energy bills.

Joanna Oloan, Knowledge Manager at the Energy Saving Trust said: “We are seeing a lot more enquiries around solar - the biggest reason for that is the cost of electricity, so people are doing anything they can to reduce their bills. People also want to reduce their carbon emissions which makes solar appealing.

“What’s changed in recent years is the increasing electrification inside homes. Ten years ago the impact of solar would have been limited, but now there’s more people working from home, there’s an increasing uptake on electric cars and there’s all the electric devices we use.

“The high price of electricity means you see the benefit quicker. When first export tariffs came out it wasn’t making a difference, but now smart tariffs are really changing the economics of solar.”

The surge is being driven mainly by rooftop solar, according to figures from the Environment Department, accounting for more than seven in ten of all installations in July.

In August UK retailers were allowed to start selling plug-in solar panels, following legal changes introduced by the government.

“Plug-in panels are designed for people where rooftop installation is not an option, either because you don’t have a suitable roof or because the installation price is unaffordable,” Joanna said. “Really at the moment that is going to be people with garden space or suitable balcony or outdoor space, so it’s not ideal for everyone.”

The kits can be placed on balconies or fences and feed directly into the home electricity network, and are now on sale at Argos with Currys, B&Q, Screwfix and Amazon set to follow suit.

The aim is to open solar power up to a much wider group of people. Rooftop solar installations are suitable for building owners with a suitable space, which limits who can take up the opportunity.

They are also expensive - while the average installation has dropped from around £20,000 to £7600 that’s still a sizable investment.

The cost of plug in units, by contrast, is around £450 on average. That is already a significant drop on the £760 cost of early models and the expectation is that as more products are certified the price could come down further.

As a smaller unit it has a much smaller impact - the typical plug-in is limited to around 800 watts, while a typical rooftop installation is 4.5kw. Less capacity means less of a saving, so how much can a plugin save you on your bills?

“We had a quick look at the figures,” said Joanna. “If you have a fairly sunny location a household in Sterling could save around about £100 a year on their energy bill. So it’s still four years roughly to pay off the cost of the device.

In Germany residents have a legal right to own solar, which helped make it easier for more people to install plug-ins.

That is not the case in Scotland however, where planning permission could still be required in some buildings.

“We’ve not heard anything from the Scottish Government on this yet but the UK government have set solar as a permitted development, meaning most people would have the right to plug in solar,” said Joanna.

“There is a safety consideration - you want some controls so people aren’t just putting them up wherever - but at the same time some relaxation of the law might be needed to encourage more people to use it..”