Executive Summary
- Five industry bodies – the Electrical Contractors’ Association, Electrical Safety First, the Institution of Engineering and technology, NICEIC and SELECT – have warned against potential safety fears from plug-in solar
- Bi-directional flow, fire risk, inconsistent product standards, and maintaining grid capacity for network resilience are among the safety risks cited
- The government announced support to roll out plug-in solar panels in March, available from certain retailers within months
Several industry organisations representing electrical safety, engineering standards and technical competence across the electrotechnical sector have warned there are ‘serious’ safety issues that must be addressed before adoption of plug-in solar PV units.
In March, the government announced a move to roll out plug-in solar panels, to be available in shops within ‘months’ through retailers such as Lidl and Amazon. Yet the joint statement from the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), Electrical Safety First (ESF), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), NICEIC, and SELECT, argues that it remains ‘unclear’ how plug-in solar panels will interact with existing installations in UK home, particularly in older properties where wiring may have deteriorated.
“Whilst we support wider access to cheap and clean energy, these products should only enter the mass market once the necessary regulatory, technical and product safety framework is fully in place,” the organisations note. “Without that foundation, there is a serious risk of avoidable hazards in homes, uncertainty for the electricity system, and lasting damage to public confidence in the energy transition.”
There are six public safety issues identified by the organisations, including bi-directional flow, fire risk, inconsistent and dangerous product standards, liability and insurance questions, and daisy-chaining. Another risk is how grid capacity is vital to network resilience and that this is take into account with new electricity-generating technologies.
“Industry advice has long been that new installations such as solar PV units and electric vehicle charge points should be notified to the local distribution network operator (DNO) because cumulative demand and generation affect local network capacity and stability,” the organisations note. “If plug-in solar PV units are normalised as an off-the-shelf consumer purchase without a clear notification and oversight regime, visibility of what is connected to the system will be reduced at the very point when visibility matters most.
“The electrical industry recommends that clear guidance is given to consumers to notify the DNO, before a device becomes operational,” the statement adds, noting the risk was ‘not theoretical.’ “At scale, small installations can produce material consequences for network planning, safety and resilience.”
