Plug-in solar becomes legal today and OVO is giving five kits away for free

• Today, plug-in solar goes on sale in Great Britain for the first time. OVO marks the moment with a prize draw for its Beyond members.
• OVO also confirms that it will launch a full plug-in solar offer to customers in the coming months. 

London, 27 August 2026: From today, households in Great Britain can legally plug in solar panels  straight into a socket at home. This update to legislation allows Brits to purchase kits of up to 800W to connect through a standard three-pin plug.

To mark the milestone, OVO is giving away five plug-in solar kits to its Beyond customers. The draw opens today and closes on 17 September. Any OVO customer can join Beyond for free in the OVO app and the competition is free to enter.

Plug-in solar has seen growing popularity in mainland Europe, where in Germany, more than a million kits are installed. A typical kit consists of two panels on a rack mount with a small inverter. It costs around £500 to buy and can save a household about £100 a year. It needs no roof, no scaffolding, and no installer and it can be unplugged and taken along when someone moves house.

Solar for people who can’t put panels on a roof

Until now, rooftop solar has largely been the preserve of homeowners with the right roof and the money to pay for it. Plug-in solar opens up renewable generation to a whole new set of customers. It suits renters, those living in flats and homes with a small garden or patio.

The kit works behind the meter. The electricity it makes powers whatever is running in the home at the time, such as a fridge, a laptop, or a dishwasher during the day. There is no export and no feed-in payment, so the savings come from buying less electricity from the grid.

Scott Duncan, Head of Domestic Exports commented:

“For years, getting solar has meant being a homeowner and being able to finance a sizable investment. Plug-in solar opens up clean energy to a much bigger audience and that’s why we are so excited that it’s available in the UK from today.

“To celebrate this pivotal moment, we’re giving OVO Beyond customers the chance to win 5 plug-in solar kits. And we’ll be launching more plug-in solar offers later this year.”

How to enter

• The draw is open to OVO Beyond members in Great Britain
• OVO customers who aren’t yet on Beyond can join free in the OVO app, then enter
• Entries close at 23:59 on 17 September 2026
• Five winners each receive a plug-in solar kit, completely free
• Full terms and conditions here

About Beyond

Beyond is OVO’s free-to-join rewards programme for OVO customers with a smart meter who pay via Direct Debit. To date, OVO Beyond customers have banked a total of 35.5 million EV miles and 165,000 solar panels, and unlocked 2.9 million hours of free electricity and 231,870 months of free heat pump heating.

For OVO customers looking to join Beyond, find out more on our dedicated webpage.

ENDS

Notes to editors

For more information, please contact: media@ovo.com

About the kit

• Two panels on a rack mount with a micro-inverter, connecting to a standard three-pin 
• No export and no feed-in payment – the electricity is used in the home as it is generated

About OVO

In 2009, OVO was born to make energy better for people and the planet. Today, OVO is trusted by around four million customers with their home energy.

OVO is putting its efforts into what will make the biggest difference for customers, concentrating on what has always been its core offering: making energy simpler, greener and cheaper. It will achieve this via simplifying its portfolio, with customers and their home energy at its core. This progress can only happen with a mission OVO remains committed to: to power human progress with clean affordable energy for all, with the aim to decarbonise our customers’ supply by 2035.

OVO’s multiple awards include the Best Place to Work for Women in The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work 2023, which also saw the company coming in the Top 10 for Very Big Organisation.

OVO also won Company of the Decade at the BusinessGreen Leaders’ Awards 2020.

OVO key facts

• UK Customers: four million 

• People: 4,500 colleagues with sites in London, Bristol and Glasgow. 

• Customer service

• • • Over 190,000 5* reviews on Trustpilot for energy supply.
    • £190m support offered to customers in need since 2022.

• Rewarding customers

• • Beyond: Over 770,000 customers have signed up to OVO Beyond
    • Over 35 million EV miles banked with 3 million redeemed
    • Over 165,000 solar panels banked
    • 231,870 months of free heat pump heating banked
  • Charge Anytime over: £29 million saved to date by customers.
  • Solar and heat pumps: Thousands of heat pumps and solar systems installed in UK homes.
  • World leading trials: 320+ OVO customer trialists on the world’s first and largest domestic vehicle-to-grid trial, run by us. 
  • Rewarding trials: Over £3.5 million in credit through Power Move, for using energy at greener times.