Plug-in solar panels have gone on sale in the UK for the first time, with Argos this week becoming the first major retailer to stock the DIY systems, giving households that cannot fit rooftop panels a route to generating their own electricity.
Amazon, Currys, B&Q and Screwfix are expected to follow within the coming weeks, with prices starting at about £400 to £500 depending on the capacity of the system. The kits are aimed squarely at people living in flats or rented homes without access to a roof, a group that has so far been shut out of home solar power.
The devices are already popular in Spain and Germany, where they are known as Balkonkraftwerk, or balcony power plant, because they can be plugged into a standard wall socket to generate power from a balcony, terrace, shed roof or any other outdoor space. Ministers say around 500,000 systems were installed in Germany last year alone.
Sales in Great Britain became lawful from Thursday under a government change to plug and socket safety regulations, and the government says a typical household could save up to £110 a year on its electricity bill.
The solar power flows directly into the property’s electrical circuit to run appliances, reducing the amount of electricity a household needs to buy from the grid. Each system must be registered so that Great Britain’s National Energy System Operator can gauge how the cumulative effect of the panels could cut the need for gas-fired power or imports.
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