Your situation
Plug-in solar for flats
Can you fit plug-in solar to a flat? Output by balcony direction, the permissions you need from your landlord or freeholder, and the building rules.
PVGIS solar data
The numbers
Estimated yearly output of a typical 890 Wp kit (800W cap), from PVGIS solar data for each place. Get yours.
| Setup | London | Manchester | Edinburgh |
|---|---|---|---|
| South-facing, vertical (balcony railing) | 661 kWh | 575 kWh | 607 kWh |
| East-facing, vertical | 464 kWh70% of the first row | 408 kWh71% of the first row | 405 kWh67% of the first row |
| West-facing, vertical | 444 kWh67% of the first row | 395 kWh69% of the first row | 399 kWh66% of the first row |
| North-facing, vertical | 180 kWh27% of the first row | 173 kWh30% of the first row | 166 kWh27% of the first row |
In most flats a balcony railing is the only place a plug-in kit can go, so the direction your balcony faces decides most of what you’ll get out of it. The figures above compare a vertical kit facing each way from your location.
Rules and permissions
You need the building owner’s permission. Plug-in solar is legal to use in Great Britain, but it doesn’t give you a right to fix anything to a building you don’t own. The DESNZ product specification says users “are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions from the property owner, landlord, freeholder, managing agent or relevant authority prior to installation”, including agreeing who pays for what (IPS §8.3.1). The government adds that “decisions on whether to approve requests are a matter for landlords, freeholders or councils” (DESNZ). If you rent, see plug-in solar for renters. If you own a leasehold flat, see plug-in solar for leasehold flats.
Some buildings are ruled out. Kits must not be installed on timber balconies, timber cladding, ACM, MCM or HPL cladding systems, or on buildings undergoing external wall remediation work (IPS §5.8). If your block has had cladding works or a fire-safety survey, ask your managing agent what the external walls are made of.
One kit per flat. G98 allows one plug-in device per household (Ofgem). Each flat with its own consumer unit counts as a separate household (IPS §3.3), so neighbours can each have one.
Planning in England. Plug-in solar on a block of flats is permitted development, except on a listed block or on wooden walls, balconies or enclosures or timber-clad parts. In a conservation area, nothing may go on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a road. Balcony kits must not stick out more than 0.2 m on a road-facing side, or 0.4 m elsewhere (SI 2026/896). Listed buildings may need listed building consent (Listed Buildings Act, s.7). We found no plug-in-specific planning change for Scotland or Wales, so check with your council there.
Register the kit with your DNO before, or within 28 days of, plugging it in. See how to register.
What to look for
- Shade from the building itself. Balconies above yours, side walls and neighbouring blocks can shade a railing for much of the day. Our figures assume open sky, so a lower-floor or recessed balcony may get noticeably less.
- A mounting that suits your railing. Check the kit’s hooks or clamps fit your railing’s profile and thickness, and that the mounting is designed to stay fixed without relying on cable ties or straps, which the specification doesn’t allow on their own (IPS §8.3.2).
- A route to a socket. The plug must go straight into a fixed wall socket, with no extension lead. Check the kit’s cable reaches one without being trapped in a door or window.
- Your consumer unit. Check you have modern RCD protection. See sockets and wiring.
- Size against daytime use. Most of the value comes from power you use as it’s generated. In a small flat with low daytime use, a smaller kit may pay back faster.