Plug-in solar electrical safety study

Testing of representative plug-in solar systems to assess compatibility with UK domestic electrical installations.

Plug-in solar electrical safety study

Details

Representative plugin PV devices were tested to evaluate their safe operation within UK domestic electrical installations. The assessment combined standards-based analysis with laboratory testing and representative simulation of UK domestic circuits, examining a range of operating conditions and fault scenarios across different device types. The results show that plugin PV systems can operate safely within the tested conditions, with stable behaviour, effective protective device operation, and no evidence of sustained unsafe energisation or unacceptable thermal effects.

Some variation in product performance was observed, particularly in areas such as export limitation behaviour and electromagnetic compatibility, indicating that product quality is not uniform across the market and that a UK-specific product specification would be beneficial. The study also identifies a set of recommendations for deployment, including product requirements, consumer guidance, and a simplified registration approach to support safe and proportionate rollout.