Renters may be able to use plug-in solar panels after safety review

Renters will be able to use solar power to cut their energy bills for the first time under government plans to allow plug-in panels for balconies and rooftops.

Balcony solar power panels have boomed in Germany, Spain and other European countries, and Germans can now buy individual panels for less than £200.

However, under UK regulations plug-in panels are not allowed. That may now change with the start of a safety review on Monday by Ed Miliband’s energy department.

Almost all of the 1.5 million homes with solar power were equipped by professional installers fitting them to rooftops. They also install equipment including inverters to convert direct current generated by panels into the alternating current used in homes. An average solar power installation can cost about £6,100, according to Energy Saving Trust.

By comparison, the balcony solar kits can be simply hung over balcony railings and plugged into a conventional socket. Prices in Germany are as low as €200 (£170) each for individual panels, though a complete kit can range up to €2,200 for a premium system that generates far more electricity. The packages have a microinverter built in.

The safety concern is due to differences in how UK and German homes are wired and how sockets are connected to fuse boxes. Testing will be needed to ensure that the devices are safe under all possible fault conditions when plugged into a UK socket.

The authorities have allowed the panels in several other European countries without widespread issues. Almost half a million were installed in Germany last year alone, official figures show. They are increasingly popular in the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain.

One of the attractions of the plug-in panels is that, unlike ones fixed to rooftops, they can be easily removed and moved to a new property. They also open up the option of solar power for people who are renting their homes. They can be added to terraces and sheds, as well as balconies.

However, it may be a while before British renters can buy the plug-in panels. The government’s “solar roadmap” document talks only of “unlocking opportunities for plug-in solar over the next few years”.

Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said: “Through solar, we are rolling out the quickest to build and one of the cheapest forms of energy for families to start saving hundreds on their energy bills, all whilst helping tackle the climate crisis.”

Homeowners in the UK with solar panels have had a financial boost this year from the sunniest spring on record. The amount of electricity generated from solar power in the first five months of the year was up 42 per cent on last year, to an all-time high.

Households will have saved money by consuming the energy and some early adopters will have gained even more from lucrative feed-in tariffs that pay as much as 42p per unit of electricity.

Other elements of the government’s “solar roadmap” include plans to mandate solar panels on new car parks, to provide shade and generate renewable electricity for the car park owners. New homes will also be required to have solar panels installed from 2027 onwards, as part of Miliband’s goal of tripling solar power capacity by 2030.

Household electricity prices in Britain are almost four times higher than gas, the worst ratio in Europe. Last week the government’s advisers, the Climate Change Committee, urged ministers to close the gap, to make green technologies such as electric cars and heat pumps more attractive.

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