The UK government has legalised the sale and use of plug-in solar panels, opening a new consumer retail market for household energy hardware that major retailers and the solar industry have been positioning to capture. Each plug-in kit can generate up to 800W of power, potentially supplying up to 20% of an average home's electricity use and saving households up to £110 a year on bills; retailers including Amazon, Argos, B&Q, Currys, Screwfix and Wickes have committed to stocking the products online and in stores.

Solar Energy UK is the London-based trade association for the UK solar and energy storage value chain, representing more than 400 member businesses and working toward a national target of 60GW of solar capacity by 2030.

Amazon is the US e-commerce and retail company that has committed, through its UK and Ireland operations, to selling plug-in solar products online.

Amazon UK & Ireland country manager John Boumphrey said the announcement is a practical step that gives households a simple way to generate their own power, reduce bills, and contribute to the UK's net zero goals.

The UK is following a European market Germany has already proven at scale: Germany passed one million registered plug-in balcony solar installations by mid-2025, up from roughly 500,000 a year earlier, with a compliant-system safety incident rate of zero across that installed base.

Analysts project the wider European balcony solar market to grow from around $500 million in 2025 to $1.8 billion by 2033, a roughly 15% annual growth rate, giving UK retailers a reference market for the addressable demand they are now positioned to capture domestically.

The commercial opportunity extends beyond the panels themselves: German data shows battery storage attachment rates for plug-in systems rose 97% year-on-year in 2024, with most buyers adding storage at the point of purchase rather than later, a pattern that gives retailers and installers a cross-sell path into batteries, inverters and smart home energy management alongside the base hardware.

For the sector, a mass-market consumer product that bypasses permits, inspectors and installer visits altogether represents a materially different route to market than rooftop solar has offered, and retailers who move fastest on stock and consumer education stand to capture a first-mover position in a UK market still forming its buying habits.

Source: SustainabilityOnline / Avanza Energy