A plug-in PV system deployed on a balcony.
Image: Verbraucherzentrale NRW/Jörg Sutter
The UK government has committed to legalizing plug-in balcony solar, while bringing forward its annual auction of utility-scale renewables in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Energy Minister Ed Miliband announced that the plug-in solar kits, similar to those on the German market, will soon be available in the UK, in a bid to boost the deployment of residential PV. It follows the UK government’s summer 2025 commitment to explore plug-in PV as part of its Solar Roadmap policy.
Bringing forward the eighth CfD auction to July was described by Solar Energy UK as having the biggest impact on the deployment of renewables. The trade association claimed the earlier auction would help push “expensive natural gas” out of the electricity grid. CEO Chris Hewett said events in the Middle East “have underlined the importance of freeing the UK economy from dependence on oil and gas as quickly as possible.”
“We look forward to engaging with the government as soon as possible about the introduction of new regulatory standards for plug-in technology and the details of the next CfD auction,” Hewett said.
The seventh CfD round saw a record number of secured solar contracts – for a total of 4.9 GW of capacity at a clearing price of GBP 0.065 ($0.088) per kWh. Awarding a significant volume of contracts to utility-scale PV projects in the next allocation round will be critical to achieving the UK government’s deployment target of at least 45 GW of solar by 2030, up from 21.8 GW of PV deployed by January 2026, according to the latest preliminary government data.
Solar Energy UK also welcomed the commitment to plug-in solar, noting that the technology has been deployed effectively in leading European markets such as Germany and the Netherlands – although the association’s addition of conventional household roof arrays with battery storage provided consumers with greater savings on their home running costs.
New grants and interest-free loans for solar, battery storage and other home energy upgrades are expected soon in the UK as part of the government’s $20 billion Warm Homes plan, which the Energy Secretary says will also be brought forward in light of the conflict in the Middle East.
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