UK households will be legally allowed to buy and install plug-in "balcony solar panels" from 27 August, after the government changed the law to let major retailers sell them for the first time. Unlike conventional rooftop solar, these panels can simply be plugged into a standard wall socket to generate electricity from a balcony, terrace or shed roof, making them accessible to renters and flat-dwellers who lack rooftop access. The move is significant because it opens up cheap, self-generated power to millions of people previously excluded from home solar, at a time when energy costs are rising sharply.

Retailers including Currys, B&Q and Asda will be able to sell the systems, expected to cost at least £400 and cut energy bills by roughly £70–£110 a year, meaning a payback period of four to seven years. The panels, already common in Germany and Spain, typically have an 800-watt capacity, around a fifth of a standard rooftop system, so cannot power a home alone but can offset grid usage when the sun is out. The launch comes as record numbers of Britons install rooftop solar amid soaring global energy prices linked to the war in Iran, with 269,000 UK installations completed last year, and industry figures suggest the change could also pave the way for household plug-in battery storage.