SI 2026/848 explained: what the regulations actually say
Three regulations, two amended instruments, and a legal reference to a specification frozen at a particular version. It is a much narrower change than the coverage suggests — and one of its regulations does not extend to Northern Ireland.
It is a narrow enabling instrument, not a plug-in solar act.
Regulation 2 amends the Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 to “provide for the approval of standard plugs intended to be fitted to or supplied for use with plug-in microgenerators”. Before it, such a plug could not be approved at all.
Regulation 3 amends the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 so that where the source of energy is a plug-in microgenerator, “it must not be installed or operated unless it complies with the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification”.
That is the whole of it. Everything else people describe as “the new plug-in solar rules” comes from the specification or the government response, not from the law.
Regulation by regulation
| Regulation | What it does | Extends to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citation, commencement and extent. In force 27 August 2026 | England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland |
| 2 | Amends the Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 — adds an approval route at regulation 8, and inserts the definitions | England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland |
| 3 | Amends the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 — inserts definitions at regulation 1(5) and modifies regulation 22(1)(c) | England and Wales and Scotland only |
Regulation 2: the plug problem
This is the amendment that made the product possible.
BS 1363 is the British Standard for 13 A plugs and sockets, and it prohibits the use of plugs to connect electricity-generating devices to socket-outlets. A plug-in solar device does exactly that. So the plug on such a device could not conform to BS 1363, and under the 1994 Regulations a plug that does not conform to the standard could not be approved.
Regulation 2 inserts a new paragraph into regulation 8 permitting approval where:
- plugs of that type do not conform to BS 1363 only because of the provision prohibiting that use
- the plugs otherwise conform to BS 1363
- the device complies with the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification
- the manufacturer can ensure production conforms to the approved samples
Read those four conditions together. The plug must be an ordinary BS 1363 plug in every respect except the one that made it impossible; the device it is fitted to must meet the specification; and production must be controlled.
This is why “plug-in solar is legal now” is a misleading summary. What became lawful is a particular kind of approved plug on a particular kind of compliant device. A plug fitted to something outside that description is in exactly the position it was in before.
The definition that does the work
The instrument defines a plug-in microgenerator as a device that:
- generates electricity from the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity
- has a maximum rated alternating current output not exceeding 800 watts
- is intended to be connected by a standard plug and socket to a low voltage consumer’s installation
- is designed to operate in parallel with a distributor’s network
- is not designed to import electricity for storage, other than for permitted control or auxiliary functions
Four consequences follow directly from that wording, and each of them is a question people ask:
Solar only. “Direct conversion of sunlight” excludes a plug-in wind turbine or anything else. This is a solar instrument.
Storage is excluded in the definition itself. The exclusion of battery-integrated products is not merely a scope decision in the specification — it is written into what the law recognises as a plug-in microgenerator. See why batteries stay excluded.
Watts, not volt-amperes. The instrument says 800 watts of rated AC output. The specification says 800 VA. Those are different quantities — see the 800 W limit.
Grid-parallel, by design. The device must be designed to operate in parallel with a distributor’s network, which is precisely why the network operator’s rules — G98 — remain in play alongside the law.
The definition borrows “consumer’s installation”, “distributor”, “low voltage” and “network” from the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 rather than defining them afresh.
Regulation 3: the installation requirement
Regulation 2 governs what may be sold. Regulation 3 governs what may be installed and operated.
It inserts the same definitions into regulation 1(5) of the 2002 Regulations and modifies regulation 22(1)(c) so that a source of energy must either comply with the relevant British Standard requirements, if it forms part of a low voltage installation, or comply with the Interim Product Specification, if it is a plug-in microgenerator.
The Explanatory Note puts the effect plainly: where the source of energy is a plug-in microgenerator, “it must not be installed or operated unless it complies with the Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification”.
So compliance with the specification is not a voluntary quality mark. It is the condition on both halves — the plug may be approved only if the device complies, and the device may be installed and operated only if it complies.
Regulations 1 and 2 extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Regulation 3 extends to England and Wales and Scotland only — because the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 do not apply in Northern Ireland.
The practical reading is that the plug approval route is UK-wide, while the installation and operation requirement in regulation 3 is Great Britain only. What requirement applies instead in Northern Ireland is not answered by this instrument, and we have not been able to answer it from the documents we have. Treat any confident claim about the Northern Ireland position — in either direction — as something to check.
The specification is referenced by version
This is the detail we would most want a retailer or a journalist to notice.
The instrument does not refer to “the Interim Product Specification” as a living document. It defines it as version 2, published by the Secretary of State on 16 July 2026.
That has a consequence. If DESNZ publishes a version 3, it does not automatically become the specification the regulations point to — the definition names a version and a date. A change to what the law requires would need the instrument amended, or the reference otherwise updated.
It also means the version question is not pedantry. A product certified against version 1 — the draft published for consultation on 16 June 2026 and now withdrawn — is not certified against the document the law names. Version 1 circulated widely during June and July, so this is a live risk in early listings rather than a theoretical one.
Where the specification can be obtained
The Explanatory Note states that the specification is published at
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/plug-in-solar, and that a hard copy may be obtained
free of charge by writing to the department. A full impact assessment is published with an
Explanatory Memorandum alongside the Regulations on legislation.gov.uk.
Both of those are worth knowing. The specification is a free public document, so nobody selling you a kit needs to characterise it for you — you can read what it requires.
What the instrument does not do
Worth stating explicitly, because each of these is asserted somewhere:
- It does not set a limit on how many devices a household may have. It limits the output of a single device. The per-circuit question lives in the specification and in G98 — see the 800 W limit.
- It does not create an exemption from network notification. G98 is an Energy Networks Association engineering recommendation and is untouched by it.
- It does not touch planning. See conservation areas.
- It does not create any entitlement to export payments. See SEG and plug-in kits.
- It does not address plug-in batteries or other plug-in technologies.
- It does not override a tenancy agreement or a lease. See renting and leasehold.
Sources
- The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/848)
- The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/1768)
- The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2665)
- Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification, version 2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Sorry to hear that. What was the problem?