Leading electrical industry bodies, including the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), are warning that plug-in solar PV units should not be widely introduced until robust safety, regulatory, and technical frameworks are established to protect consumers and the electricity network.
The ECA, Electrical Safety First (ESF), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), NICEIC, and SELECT have issued a statement making it clear that public safety must be the first principle in any rollout of plug-in solar PV units.
Whilst the organisations support wider access to cheap and clean energy, they believe these products should only enter the mass market once the necessary regulatory, technical, and product safety framework is fully in place. Without that foundation, they say there is a serious risk of avoidable hazards in homes, uncertainty for the electricity system, and lasting damage to public confidence in the energy transition.
Public safety considerations
The organisations note that it remains unclear how plug-in solar panels will interact with the millions of existing electrical installations in UK homes.
A product marketed as simple and consumer-friendly could in practice be connected to electrical installations that were never assessed for this type of product. In such cases, there could be an increased risk of fire and danger to life due to the inability of the circuit to deal with the importation of power.
The organisations note six public safety issues:
1. Bi-directional flow
Plug-in solar PV units operate differently to the conventional appliance plugged into an electrical installation. Rather than just supplying power to an appliance, with plug-in PV units, the installation now has to import power, meaning that power flow is in both directions.
This introduces technical issues that leave most homeowners unaware of the dangers. With electrical sources being applied to what we often refer to as the ‘load side’ of protective devices, Amendment 3:2024 to BS 7671:2024 addressed this very issue.
Under certain conditions, the RCD, a key protective device in the home’s consumer unit, can be compromised. It may be possible to reset, but the protective device may not operate as normal. This could be dangerous as the assumed protection will not be active.
2. Fire risk
Over 50% of UK housing stock is more than a century old. These properties may have old, damaged, or deteriorating electrical wiring, unfit to carry extra load. Without a proper electrical assessment, it is unwise to add a plug-in solar PV unit and is indeed contrary to existing British Standards, i.e. clause 5 of BS 1363-1. Plug-in solar PV units, especially multiple units, can increase the risk of localised overheating of cables.
3. Inconsistent and dangerous product standards
The Government has announced that plug-in solar panels will be made available quickly, but if products reach the retail market before a robust and enforceable UK standard is fully embedded, consumers may be exposed to inconsistent quality, unclear compliance requirements, and unsafe imports.
4. Grid capacity is vital to network resilience
One of the central safeguards in the UK electricity system is that new electricity-generating technologies are introduced in a way that network operators can monitor and manage. Industry advice has long been that new installations such as solar PV units and EV chargepoints should be notified to the local DNO because cumulative demand and generation affect local network capacity and stability.
If plug-in solar PV units are normalised as an off-the-shelf consumer purchase without a clear notification and oversight regime, visibility of what is connected to the system will be reduced at the very point when visibility matters most. The electrical industry recommends that clear guidance is given to consumers to notify the DNO, before a device becomes operational.
5. Liability and insurance questions remain unresolved
There are also serious unanswered questions about insurance and liability. If a fire or electrical fault is linked to a plug-in solar PV unit, it is not yet clear how insurers will assess cover where the product was self-installed, not declared in advance, or connected to an unsuitable electrical installation.
Consumers should not be encouraged to adopt these products before they fully understand the consequences, potentially leaving landlords, leaseholders, and insurers to manage the fallout.
6. Daisy-chaining
Consumers, seeking convenience, may use extension leads, adaptors, or multiple devices on the same circuit. Improvised installations significantly increase the likelihood of overheating and fire, as well as creating trip and fall hazards from trailing cables.
A low upfront cost must not override safety
The appeal of plug-in solar PV units is obvious: low cost, visible, and quick to deploy. But affordability alone is not a sound basis where electrical safety is concerned. If cost becomes the dominant driver, there is a danger that quality assurance, competent installation, enforcement, and consumer protection will be treated as optional rather than essential.
A poorly regulated bargain product may reduce bills in the short term, but it can also transfer risk onto households, emergency services, insurers, network operators and, ultimately, the Government. A rushed rollout could potentially weaken confidence in the energy transition.
The electrotechnical industry advocates innovation and recognises the potential role that new technologies can play in expanding access to cleaner energy, but plug-in solar PV units should not be rolled out unless and until the supporting framework is in place: clear product standards, robust enforcement, competent installation pathways, appropriate consumer guidance, and a mechanism to protect both householders and the electricity distribution network.
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