We supply and fit plug-in solar panels for homes anywhere in England.

England has nine regions and nine electricity licence areas, and its planning guidance is the only one in the UK that names plug-in solar. Pick your region, tell us your postcode and the spot you have in mind, and we'll come back with your operator, the rules, and a realistic figure.

Rules checked before a quote, every time
We're not on any manufacturer's payroll
Where it won't work, we say so and stop there

Check my postcode Find your region

Brick terraced houses with timber lined balcony recesses at Trent Basin in Nottingham

In the photographNottingham

Wall typeBrick and timber

RegionEast Midlands

Your postcode and your region

Name, email, postcode, the region you're in, and where the panel would go. We email back with your operator, the rules for that spot, and what it should make in a year.

What happens nextWe answer by email and nobody else sees your details. No commission, ever.

England's planning rules name plug-in solar, and leave out timber balconies and cladding

The permitted development right for solar on a house or a block of flats was rewritten on 27 August 2026.

A device fixed to a wooden wall, to timber cladding or to a balcony falls outside the new rules. If that is what you have, the right does not reach it and you would need planning permission.

The rest of the rules are about size and position. We check them for you before anyone quotes, because a device on the wrong surface is a planning application, not a purchase.

A pitched roof keeps the panel under the ridge, no more than 200 mm off the slope.
A flat roof holds everything within 600 mm clear of the roof.
A wall facing a highway allows 200 mm of projection, and every other wall allows 400 mm.
Conservation areas and World Heritage Sites rule out any wall that fronts a highway.
If the building is listed you need planning permission and listed building consent, so ask the council early.

The old rules stay available until 27 August 2027. Either version is allowed in the meantime, the one in force before that date or the new one.

A timber deck with timber posts and a slatted timber screen in a back garden — A timber deck and screen in a back garden. Timber walls, timber cladding and balconies are the surfaces the new rules leave out.

Three things we arrange

Three jobs, the same in every region. You can ask for one of them or all three.

Stone built semi detached houses on Place Road in Fowey, Cornwall

A surface and planning check

We look at the surface you have in mind and tell you whether the permitted development right reaches it.

What we check

Checked againstThe 2026 rules

You getA yes or a no

A white four way extension block with UK sockets lying on a carpet

Fitting, and an outdoor socket

You can plug the device in yourself. If the socket has to be outside, an electrician near you fits one that is rated for it.

How fitting works

Outdoor socketIP55 or better

Per householdOne device

A row of Victorian red brick terraced houses on Devana Road in Leicester

Which operator to tell

We name the network operator for your postcode and fill in the notification with you once the panel is in.

Find your operator

Notify within28 days

Free call105

Pick your region

Each region has its own network operator and its own figure for what a panel makes in a year. The bars compare an ideal south facing roof pitch across England.

North East

Northern Powergrid (Northeast) plc

734 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall558 kWh

Garden frame727 kWh

North West

Electricity North West Limited, and SP Manweb plc in Merseyside and Cheshire

689 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall505 kWh

Garden frame684 kWh

Yorkshire

Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc

736 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall550 kWh

Garden frame729 kWh

East Midlands

National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) plc

760 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall564 kWh

Garden frame754 kWh

West Midlands

National Grid Electricity Distribution (West Midlands) plc

752 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall555 kWh

Garden frame746 kWh

East of England

Eastern Power Networks plc, part of UK Power Networks

802 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall594 kWh

Garden frame795 kWh

London

London Power Networks plc, part of UK Power Networks

795 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall582 kWh

Garden frame789 kWh

South East

South Eastern Power Networks plc and Southern Electric Power Distribution plc

897 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall645 kWh

Garden frame890 kWh

South West

National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West) plc

822 kWh a year on an ideal roof pitch

South facing wall594 kWh

Garden frame816 kWh

The licence areas here are a working map. Confirm yours on your operator’s own postcode checker, or call 105 free from anywhere in England and you will be put through to the right one.

How much a panel makes in each English region, and why position matters more

These are modelled figures for an 800 W device with 14 per cent system losses and nothing shading it. The range covers all nine English regions.

Houses with roof panels above a long open lawn on Porthia Road in St Ives, Cornwall

A roof pitch facing south

The best of the three, at about 35 degrees. It is also the one most likely to need a scaffold and an electrician.

Across England689 to 897 kWh a year

A granite lodge with a lawn and a gravel drive at Victoria Gardens in Truro, Cornwall

A frame on open ground

A frame in the garden at about 30 degrees comes within roughly 1 per cent of the roof figure, and you can reach it without a ladder.

Across England684 to 890 kWh a year

New red brick terraced houses along a street at Fairham in Nottingham

Flat against a wall

A vertical south facing wall gives roughly 70 to 75 per cent of the roof figure. An east or west wall drops to roughly half.

South wall, across England505 to 645 kWh a year

A region is not a point, so treat these as a ceiling rather than an expectation. Shade from a tree or a neighbour’s roof takes more off than the difference between two regions.

What happens after you send the form

Four steps, in this order.

You send your details

Postcode, region, and what the surface is made of.

We check the rules

We tell you whether the permitted development right covers that surface at your house.

You get a price for the work

An electrician near you quotes for the socket and the fitting if you need either.

We notify your operator

Within 28 days of it going in, a short form goes to the operator with your name, email and address.

White rendered semi detached houses on Bridge Street in St Blazey, Cornwall

Your postcode and region are enough for us to begin

You get the answer for that surface, the operator for your postcode, and the yearly figure for your region. That includes hearing no when the answer is no.

Check my postcode