I have one since December that i had put together by myself because of the railing dimwnsions. 630W, very good orientarion, on a sunny day produces around 2,5-3kWh. And that is in the winter. It should pay itself in max 3 years. I can only recommend it.
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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One big problem with plug in solar (or batteries) is that they deliver more power than should be available, behind the fuses.
With an 800W panel, an appliance could draw about 3.5A more before tripping the breaker, which can cause problems.
It's not very likely, but it's also not the case that governments are just reluctant for no reason. These things being installed poorly is also quite a problem, Germany has had more than a few smashing down from a balcony.
That's why the power you are allowed to install is limited. And also why they shut down without powet in the socket. The safety issue was a big concern and it took years of deliberation in Germany to get to that point. You can be assured that if something like that is allowed in Germany, it is pretty safe. The safety bodies are watching these issues with hawk's eyes, and these are professionals which know what they are doing and which move things into a good direction.
Honestly I am surprised why these things are not much more popular in any region where you need climatization in summer - they deliver power when it is most needed, and grids are at risk to fail.
The UK though has the added spice of the uniquely unsafe ringmain wiring standard, in which 24A cable in the wall is protected by a 32A breaker at the distribution panel. It's only "safe" if the load is evenly balanced around the ring, and the ring isn't broken (that's why UK plugs need fuses in them - to make it harder to severely unbalance the ring by pulling 32A out of a single socket, and equally to try and protect the appliance cable if a short or similar tries to.)
I've not sat down with a pen and paper to work out how having a generator somewhere on the ring affects things - presumably the authorities have...
800W is just 3.5A so probably can be managed
They are cool, although there are risk connected to using them. In some cases an appliance can draw more power than the circuit is rated for without tripping a circuit breaker.
They are not legal in Norway, and with all houses being made out of wood it makes sense, but I guess the risk in UK or Germany is lower.
They also can pose a risk for linemen and electricians. A circuit can remain powered even if the breaker or load break switch is disconnected. That is, unless they have a feature which disables power output automatically when grid power is lost?
A circuit can remain powered even if the breaker or load break switch is disconnected.
They are specifically designed so that this does not happen.
BTW part of the UKs standards for household wiring comes from a time where the idea was to heat with electricity from nuclear power. Which is one reason why each appliance also has an extra fuse in their respective wall plug - not a bad design.
That is not why UK plugs have a fuse in them. UK plugs have a fuse in them because the wiring standards date from a time when the UK was trying to save money and copper because of the war, so they allow for the fuse in the breaker panel to be higher rated than the actual wiring in the wall.
The fuse in the plug is to prevent a broken device, or overloaded power strip, drawing the full current the breaker will allow, causing the in-wall wiring and/or appliance cables to burn.
It's a terrible design.
The UK plug is one of the best around. It's only downside is that it's chunky. By putting the fuse in the plug, the protection can be customised to what is attached.
It also is designed to be almost impossible to fall out of a wall socket. As well as mandating the pin connection order and safety shielding. The sockets are also gated, stopping children sticking stuff into them.
Based on my electrical engineering course the UK has one of the weirdest wiring standards in the world, having some of the shittiest baseline wiring and subsiquently trying to make up for it with some of the most stringent regulations around protection devices such as RCDs and additional fuses.
They are also weirdly patriotic about their plugs. Suggesting that BS1363 was driven by necessity of poor wiring standards rather than being a gift from God to her chosen people is tantamount to standing in the street and pissing on the Union Jack.
(Source: Am British. Well, was. BS1363 plugs are very nice. But honestly, Schuko is fine as well. They're just plugs.)