From Schuko to BSI: Germany's Plug-In Solar Path and What the UK Route Looks Like Next

I was on EcoFlow's UK product page for the STREAM Ultra Pro last week, comparing kits for a friend, when a line near the foot of the listing stopped me. The notice read, almost in passing, that UK plug-in solar regulation is expected in the coming months, that the current STREAM Series ships with open-end cables to fit the existing rules, and that plug-in cables will be released once the new regulation comes into effect.

That is a retailer of EcoFlow's size, on a public product page, telling buyers two things at once. The current product is sold hardwired-ready, in line with what the UK actually permits today, and the company expects the regulatory ground to shift, with enough confidence to flag a future product variant and a future buying moment. It is the most public retailer signal yet on where the trade thinks the UK is heading.

This piece sits with that signal. Germany's Schuko path is the closest analogue we have to where the UK might go, so I want to walk it from policy announcement to consumer outcome. Then look at the UK position today and ask the question that EcoFlow's wording implicitly raises: does BSI product certification paired with G98 notification, plus the existing wiring regulations, give the UK everything Germany unlocked in 2024, or is something missing?

1. Germany's Schuko path, the policy angle

Germany did not arrive at plug-in solar by accident. The headline event was Solarpaket I, a primary energy package passed by the Bundestag and signed off by the Bundesrat in May 2024. It set three plug-in solar changes that mattered:

1. The maximum AC output of a plug-in kit rose from 600W to 800W, matching the European technical norm.
2. Connection via the Schuko plug, the standard German two-pin domestic plug, was authorised for plug-in solar systems, ending years of grey-zone status.
3. Registration was simplified. Buyers no longer had to navigate the Marktstammdatenregister within a tight window, and the network operator was notified through a streamlined route.

Solarpaket I did not stand alone. It worked alongside VDE-AR-N 4105, the German low-voltage connection rule, which is the technical equivalent of the UK's ENA EREC G98. VDE-AR-N 4105 was already in force, and what Solarpaket I added was the legislative authority for the Schuko-plug method itself. The product side, the network-connection side, and the user-facing registration side all moved in concert.

The lesson, for anyone reading regulatory tea leaves, is that Germany's path was a chain, not a single switch. A primary law (Solarpaket I), a technical connection rule (VDE-AR-N 4105), and a registration simplification all had to be in place. The product specification confirmed what a compliant kit must look like; the law confirmed what the user could legally do with one.

2. Germany's Schuko path, the consumer angle

For a German buyer the experience changed in three stages.

Before May 2024. Plug-in solar sat in a grey zone. Many sellers offered kits and many households installed them, but the legal route was contested. The 600W cap was tighter than the European 800W norm, and the Schuko-plug method, while widely practised, was not authorised in primary law. A cautious consumer either waited or accepted some legal uncertainty.

After May 2024. The experience consolidated. Buy a kit with a microinverter that meets the European product specification, register the system with the network operator under the simplified route, plug into a Schuko socket on a circuit that meets the existing wiring standard, and the install is done. The registration takes minutes, not weeks. The legal route now matches what most users were already doing in practice.

The shift was not a green light to "plug anything in anywhere". It was a clear definition of which products, which connection method, and which notification process the law would recognise. Once that definition existed, the market moved quickly.

3. The result, by early 2026

The headline number for plug-in solar (Steckersolar) in Germany passed one million installed units in 2025, per Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW Solar) trade-body data, with a meaningful share of installs on rented balconies. Annual installs in 2025 ran at hundreds of thousands of units. Crucially, the rollout was disproportionately renters in flats and apartments, the demographic most poorly served by traditional rooftop solar.

The UK, by comparison, has a market with around ten retail brands active and a tiny installed base. The product is available; the framework that lets buyers install it without booking a CPS-registered electrician is not.

4. The UK position in May 2026, where the standards actually sit

Three documents matter for plug-in solar in the UK in 2026, each doing a different job:

• BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, the IET Wiring Regulations, Amendment 4, published 15 April 2026. Governs electrical installations. Does not authorise plug-in via a 13A socket outlet.
• BS 1363-1:2023. Defines UK 13A plugs, sockets and adaptors. Treats sockets as power outlets, not as inlets for externally generated power. Not currently amended to cover backfeeding.
• BSI plug-in solar product standard, expected July 2026. A product specification at the kit level: inverter behaviour, labelling, anti-islanding, safety testing. Does not, on its own, change BS 1363 or BS 7671.

Alongside these, ENA EREC G98 governs the connection of small generators (up to 16A per phase per installation) to the public low-voltage network. G98 is a notify-after-install route for type-tested equipment and already covers most 600W and 800W plug-in kits at the network-connection level.

The compliant route in the UK in May 2026 is straightforward, even if less convenient than "plug it in". Buy a kit with a microinverter on the ENA G98 type-test register, hire a CPS-registered electrician (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, Stroma or equivalent) to hardwire it into a dedicated final circuit on the consumer unit, and submit G98 notification before energising. That route is fully compliant today and remains compliant after July 2026 whether or not the BSI standard publishes on time.

5. Does BSI product certification, paired with G98 notification, satisfy the requirement?

Now to the central question. Here is the German chain again, and the UK chain mapped against it:

The picture as of 31 May 2026 has moved since I first sat down to write this piece. Web-verified primary sources confirm three things that were missing from the standards reading above. First, DESNZ issued a written ministerial statement on 15 March 2026 confirming the legalisation of plug-in solar in the UK, with the public announcement on 24 March 2026. Second, BS 7671 Amendment 4, published 15 April 2026, updates Section 712 to authorise plug-in solar via a standard plug for kits meeting the forthcoming BSI plug-in solar product standard, up to 800W AC peak. Third, DESNZ announced a £25m low-income pilot on 21 April 2026, paired with the legalisation. So the equivalent of Solarpaket I exists; it just took a different shape (a DESNZ statement plus a BS 7671 A4 carve-out rather than a single primary-legislation moment).

So on a current standards reading: BSI product certification (when it publishes) plus G98 notification plus the existing BS 7671 A4 plug-in carve-out covers the full chain. What is left to happen is BSI publishing the product standard (expected July 2026) and the first kit being certified to it. Until that happens, no certified plug-in solar kit yet exists.

The trade view (electricians and standards specialists familiar with the file) was that the UK could reach the German end point without rewriting BS 1363 from scratch, via a sufficiently rigorous product certification plus a targeted exception or amendment confirming that a certified product on a sound, RCD-protected circuit may use a plug-in inlet route. That trade view has now been substantially confirmed: BS 7671 A4 Section 712 is the targeted exception, and the BSI plug-in solar product standard (expected July 2026) is the certification mechanism.

What is still ahead, as of 31 May 2026: BSI must publish the product standard, the first kit must be certified to it, and the Ofgem-amended G98 must take effect (consultation Q3-Q4 2026, effect 2027). Until BSI publishes, no kit can yet be certified, so EcoFlow's wording ("Once the new regulation comes into effect") is now most naturally read as "once BSI publishes and the first plug-in cables can be lawfully sold against a certified kit". The retailer side, not the regulatory side, is what now constrains the timeline.

6. Reading the EcoFlow signal

EcoFlow's UK product page for the STREAM Ultra Pro is, as far as I have seen, the most public statement from a major retailer about the UK regulatory direction. Three things sit inside that wording.

First, EcoFlow is explicit that the current product complies with existing regulations. Open-end cables are what an installer needs for a hardwired connection by a CPS-registered electrician. That is the compliant route in 2026, and EcoFlow is not pretending otherwise.

Second, the company expects the regulation to change, with enough confidence to flag a future product variant. Plug-in cables are not on sale at the time of writing, but EcoFlow has reserved a buying moment for them. This is a designed-for-the-future product. The kit is engineered with the assumption that it will pass the BSI certification and that some form of regulatory unlock will follow.

Third, the phrase "the coming months" is doing real work. EcoFlow could have written "the coming years" if the company expected a long wait. The wording suggests an expected window of weeks or months, not a year or more. That maps onto the BSI publication date (expected July 2026) and the trade view that a regulatory clarification could follow shortly after.

What EcoFlow is not saying, and this matters for accuracy, is that the regulation has been published, that the date is known, or that anyone is on the record from the UK Government confirming the timetable. EcoFlow is reading the same signals the rest of the trade is reading and acting commercially. They are positioning to be ready, not declaring that the regulation has happened.

7. What I think is actually happening

Two things would invalidate the trade read above. First, a delay or substantive change to the BSI publication: if BSI's plug-in solar product standard slips or publishes with a narrower scope than expected, the retailer signal weakens. Second, a Government decision to require BS 1363 itself to be amended rather than a targeted clarification: that would move the timeline out by years, since BS 1363 is a long-established consumer-safety standard with broad implications beyond plug-in solar.

I will track both on the BSI 2026 Tracker, and the moment any primary source on this moves, this article and that tracker will be updated within seven days.

8. What I am doing about it personally

I keep the BSI 2026 tracker page updated as primary sources move. I am holding my own kit purchase until the BSI standard publishes, so the kit I buy can be tested against the UK product specification rather than the European one. I am tracking what major retailers (EcoFlow, Anker, Hoymiles, Plenticore) put on their UK product pages, because they are reading the same signals the rest of us are.

Three things I would suggest if you are thinking about a kit now:

1. If you can wait until July or August 2026, you can buy a kit that meets the UK product specification, and your installer's certificate can reference it. That is a tighter audit trail for your insurer and any future buyer of the property.
2. If you cannot wait, the compliant route via a CPS-registered electrician with a hardwired connection is fully compliant in 2026 and stays compliant whatever happens with the regulatory clarification. The kit you buy today does not become illegal in 2027.
3. Bookmark the BSI 2026 tracker. I update it within seven days of any primary source moving.

9. Common questions

• Did Germany's Solarpaket I make plug-in solar legal overnight?
  It clarified the legal route. Plug-in solar was sold and installed in Germany before Solarpaket I, but the legal status of the Schuko-plug connection was contested. Solarpaket I, in force from May 2024, ended that grey zone, authorised the Schuko connection method, lifted the AC ceiling to 800W, and simplified network-operator registration.
• Why does the UK not just copy Germany's approach?
  The UK's plug and socket standard (BS 1363) and wiring regulations (BS 7671) are different documents to Germany's, and the UK regulatory process moves through BSI, the IET, DESNZ, and where primary law is required, Parliament. The trade view, as of May 2026, is that the UK can reach the same end point through a BSI product certification plus a targeted regulatory clarification, without rewriting BS 1363 from scratch. That route is not yet confirmed.
• What does EcoFlow's UK product-page note actually mean?
  EcoFlow expects a UK regulatory change that will permit plug-in connection for BSI-certified kits, and has designed the STREAM Series to be ready for that change. The current product ships with open-end cables for the existing compliant route (hardwired install by a CPS-registered electrician). Plug-in cables are not yet on sale and will become available once the regulatory change is in effect.
• Does BSI product certification plus G98 notification satisfy the requirement on its own?
  On a standards reading, BSI product certification plus G98 notification addresses two layers of the regulatory chain that Solarpaket I set in Germany. BS 7671 covers a third. What is missing, as of 31 May 2026, is the equivalent of Solarpaket I, a primary regulatory act authorising the connection method via the existing socket standard. The trade view is that this last piece could be added without rewriting BS 1363 from scratch. That is a direction, not a decision.
• Should I buy a kit now or wait?
  That is a judgement call. The kit you buy today does not become illegal in 2027. Waiting until the BSI standard publishes (expected July 2026) means you can buy a kit that meets the UK product specification, and your installer's certificate can reference it. I am personally waiting for that reason.

10. Sources

• UK Government press release, 24 March 2026: "Government to make plug-in solar available within months" (formal commitment to update G98 and BS 7671 to allow <800W plug-in solar to domestic mains sockets without an electrician, with tailored safety standards)
• EcoFlow UK product page, STREAM Ultra Pro listing, captured 28 May 2026
• BMWK (Germany): Solarpaket I press releases and explanatory notes
• VDE-AR-N 4105 technical connection rule
• Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW Solar): balcony solar adoption data
• BSI: BS 1363-1:2023, specification for 13A plugs, socket-outlets and adaptors
• IET: BS 7671 Wiring Regulations (18th Edition) Amendment 4:2026
• Energy Networks Association: ENA EREC G98 (small generator connection)
• Plug Solar Hub: BSI 2026 Plug-In Solar Tracker
• Plug Solar Hub: BS 7671 and Plug-In Solar in the UK
• Plug Solar Hub: Germany's Balcony Solar Boom and the UK Picks

If a source above moves or is updated, this post will be updated within seven days. Substantive corrections are logged on the changelog. Email [email protected] if you spot an error or have a primary source to add.

Related reading: BSI 2026 Tracker · BS 7671 and Plug-In Solar · Germany's Balcony Solar Boom · Ofgem's July 2026 Price Cap Rise · Complete UK Guide