Plug-in solar in Scotland and Wales

max inverter output

800 W

max panel power

2,000 W

Edinburgh yield a year at 35°

903 kWh/kWp

Are the rules the same as in England?

Yes. Regulation 1 of SI 2026/848 extends both parts of the law to England and Wales and to Scotland, including regulation 3, the part that allows use. The government calls plug-in solar legal “across Great Britain”.

So in Scotland and Wales:

• kits are capped at 800 W AC output, with up to 2,000 W of panels (Interim Product Specification);
• the kit must be listed as Compliant on the ENA Type Test Register;
• it’s one device per household under G98, which applies across GB;
• you must notify your DNO;
• you plug straight into a fixed socket, with no extension leads or adaptors (see sockets and wiring);
• no batteries, and no timber balconies or cladding (Interim Product Specification).

Northern Ireland is different: it’s not yet legal there. See Northern Ireland.

Do you need planning permission in Scotland or Wales?

Planning is devolved, as the DESNZ Impact Assessment notes. England changed its permitted development rules to name plug-in solar (SI 2026/896), but that order applies to England only.

As of 29 September 2026:

• Scotland: we haven’t found any plug-in-specific change to permitted development.
• Wales: we haven’t found one either. The only 2026 Welsh permitted development amendment we found deals with other matters.

Until the position is clearer:

• Ask your council’s planning department before fixing panels to a wall, balcony or fence, especially in a conservation area or a listed home.
• Listed buildings need separate consent. In Wales, section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 applies. We haven’t reviewed the Scottish listed building rules, so ask your council.

Wherever you live, the product specification makes you responsible for any planning permission and listed building consent needed. For England’s rules, see planning permission.

What if you rent or own a leasehold flat?

Same as England. There’s no new right to install: you need permission from your landlord, freeholder or managing agent. See landlord permission.

Does plug-in solar work in Scotland?

Yes, though it generates less than in the south of England. These figures are from the EU’s PVGIS solar model (version 5.3), per 1 kWp of panels, south-facing, with 14% system losses:

City	35° tilt (kWh/kWp/yr)	Vertical, e.g. balcony railing (kWh/kWp/yr)
London	1,019	743
Bristol	1,023	739
Manchester	886	646
Edinburgh	903	682

Edinburgh comes out close to Manchester and about 11% below London at a 35° tilt. Vertical panels lose less in Edinburgh: they keep about 76% of the tilted yield, against about 73% in London.

What this means in practice:

• In these figures, the gap between Edinburgh and London is smaller than the gap between tilted and vertical mounting. How you mount the kit matters a lot.
• Extra panel wattage behind the 800 W inverter (up to the 2,000 W panel cap) can help more in darker months, at the cost of some clipping in summer.
• Electricity prices differ by region under the price cap, which affects savings.

We don’t have a Welsh reference city in these figures yet, so use your own postcode rather than a national average.

What to do next

• Get a figure for your postcode, direction and kit with the calculator. If buildings or hills shade you, try the shade planner.
• Work through the compliance checklist, then see kits in stock now.