Illustrative image
Railing mount
Two-panel balcony railing kit
Two panels hang on a metal balcony railing, held by the kit's own brackets. One microinverter sends up to 800W into your flat through a weatherproof outdoor socket.
- Up to 800W into your home
- For metal railings
- One per household
This kit
Coming soon- Price
- Price TBC
- Dispatch
- Date to be confirmed
- Limit
- One kit per household
Before you join
Check your balcony and building can have it, and whether you need a yes from your landlord or freeholder.
What's in the box
- Two solar panels
- A microinverter that turns their power into mains electricity and caps what goes into your home at 800W
- Railing brackets made for the kit and registered as part of it
- A mains cable with a plug, to go straight into a weatherproof outdoor socket
That's what every registered kit of this type includes. We'll list the exact contents, panel sizes and weights once we've chosen the kit.
Specifications
The fixed points are below. Everything marked "to be confirmed" arrives with the kit we choose.
- Output into your home
- Up to 800W (799VA)
- Panels
- Two. Power to be confirmed
- Panel size and weight
- To be confirmed
- Microinverter
- To be confirmed
- Brackets
- For metal railings. Railing sizes to be confirmed
- Cable and plug
- To be confirmed
- ENA Type Test Register
- We'll only sell a model listed as Compliant
- Warranty
- To be confirmed
- Where it can be used
- England, Scotland and Wales
Railings it fits
Railing kits are made to clamp to metal railings: round or square bars, or a metal frame with a top rail. The panels hang on the railing and face out to the sun.
Glass balustrades need brackets the kit's maker approves for glass. We'll say on this page whether the kit we choose has them.
A full-size panel hung lengthways takes about 1.8m of railing, so two take about 3.6m. Try the fit check with your own measurements.
Never fix panels with cable ties, rope or straps, only the kit's own brackets. Timber balconies can't have plug-in solar at all. Our list of balconies that can't have solar has the rest.
Before you order
Tick each of these first. If one's a sticking point, ask us.
- Your balcony isn't timber, and your building has no timber, ACM, MCM or HPL cladding and no wall remediation under way or planned.
- Written permission from your landlord, or from the freeholder or managing agent if you own on a lease. Our permission letters do the wording.
- A weatherproof outdoor socket within reach of the kit's own cable. No extension leads or adaptors. If there isn't one, an electrician can fit it (ask permission first if you rent or lease).
- Modern RCD protection in your fuse box. If you're not sure, have an electrician check it.
- Tell your home or contents insurer before you put it up.
- Register the kit free at myplugin.solar before you first use it.
- One kit per household, and never with a home battery.
Delivery
We'll deliver to your door anywhere in England, Scotland and Wales. Plug-in solar isn't allowed in Northern Ireland, so we don't send kits there, or to the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Panels travel flat in a large box. Before you order, check it'll fit in your lift or round the turn of the stairs. We'll give the box size and weight here before ordering opens. Our delivery page covers concierges, lifts and stairs.
When ordering opens, you'll be able to cancel at any time before dispatch for a full refund, and for 14 days after delivery.
Questions about this kit
When can I order?
Once we've chosen the kit and checked it's listed as Compliant on the Energy Networks Association's Type Test Register. Join the list on this page and we'll email you first. We don't take any money until then.
Will it fit a glass balustrade?
Only with brackets the kit's maker approves for glass. We'll say clearly on this page whether the kit we choose has them.
Do I need an electrician?
Not to plug it in. You need a weatherproof outdoor socket within reach of the cable, and modern RCD protection in your fuse box. If you don't have those, an electrician can fit the socket or check the fuse box. If you rent or lease, ask permission before a new socket goes in.
How much power will it make?
It can send up to 800W into your flat at any one time. What it makes over a year depends on which way your balcony faces and the angle of the panels. We'll publish figures for the exact kit.
Can I add a battery later?
No. The rules say plug-in kits must not be used with a home battery.
