Two of the better-known names in balcony solar brought battery products towards the UK market in September, and both had to make the same point: these are not plug-in devices.
What the plug-in route actually covers
The government’s interim product specification defines a plug-in solar device as a solar generating system that connects to a home’s electrical installation through a standard plug and socket, and sets the boundary firmly at 800 VA of AC output, one device per household, and no battery storage. A product that stores energy is outside the scope, whatever its marketing looks like. Our summary of the position is on the UK legal status page.
That does not make home batteries illegal, or even unusual. It means they take the ordinary route: an installation designed and connected by a qualified electrician, notified to the distribution network operator, and signed off under the wiring regulations.
Anker’s Solarbank 4 Pro
Anker opened UK pre-orders for the SOLIX Solarbank 4 Pro at £1,699, with a 5 kWh BP5000 add-on battery at £1,299. Coverage on 29 September made the constraint explicit: homeowners “still cannot complete installation on their own, because a registered electrician must connect the unit to a home’s consumer unit”. Anker’s microinverter-only products are a different matter — see what the register says on our Anker SOLIX page.
Hoymiles’ HiBattery
Hoymiles put it in almost the same terms for its HiBattery 4020 X: “Under current UK requirements, battery storage systems such as HiBattery are not covered by the plug-in solar framework as a plug-in solar device, but they can still be hardwired into the consumer unit as an installed electrical system.” Its plug-in offering for the UK is the microinverter line, the HiFlow 800 and HiFlow Pro 800, both rated at 800 VA.
What it means for UK buyers
- “Plug-in” is a legal category, not a marketing word. If a product stores electricity, the plug-in route does not apply to it, however it connects.
- Budget for the installation. A hardwired battery needs an electrician, and that cost is not on the product page. It also changes the payback sum entirely.
- Do not add a battery to a plug-in kit yourself. A compliant kit is listed on the register as a specific combination. Adding storage takes you outside both the listing and the rules — see plug-in solar with battery storage.
- Check the kit itself is listed. Whatever the brand, the test is whether that exact model appears as compliant on the ENA register.