- Plans are underway to sell solar panels for balconies in the UK
- Retailers including Amazon, Currys and Asda in discussions
- These devices should start at around £400
Although rooftop solar panels can help reduce electricity bills, installing them is a costly and complicated task – problems that new “plug-in” balcony solar panels, set to hit major UK retailers, seek to solve.
As The Guardian reports, these innovative panels simply plug into a regular three-prong outlet. Everything plugged in in the home, from refrigerators to computers, first uses solar energy before connecting to the electrical grid.
Representatives from Asda, Currys, B&Q, Amazon, Lidl, Wickes and Screwfix have just met with Minister for Energy Consumers, Martin McCluskey, to set out guidelines for the sale of these balcony solar panels. It looks like they will be widely available in the near future and are expected to start at around £400.
Official research suggests savings of around £70-£110 a year with just one panel, so you’ll need to use it for around four years before you get your money back. However, professional installation is not required, nor is a building permit. An array of solar panels on a typical roof weighs thousands of pounds.
Future
“Rechargeable panels can be transformative for renters or those on low incomes, which is why I welcome today’s conversation with household names such as B&Q and Currys showing huge support for installing panels in homes,” McCluskey said, adding that they “will help make the UK less dependent on global fossil fuel markets.”
As well as reducing your electricity bills by around 30%, you’re also helping the planet, and it’s part of a wider UK government initiative to increase solar capacity. Official figures show there were 269,000 solar installations across the country in 2025, a new record and a 37% increase from the previous year.
If you don’t want to inject captured solar energy directly into your home’s electrical circuits, you can invest in a solar battery instead. We’ve already seen reasonably priced products in this category from Lidl and EcoFlow.
There is no fixed timetable, but the aim appears to be to get these panels on sale as quickly as possible, and the UK government is currently consulting on safety guidelines. Once they appear in stores, all you’ll need is a spare outlet and some sunshine.
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