Plug-in solar when you rent

Renters cannot normally alter the roof. Grant applications are made by the property owner, and permanent installations need the freeholder’s consent.

Plug-in solar gives tenants a portable option.

Why it works when nothing else does

It plugs into a socket. There is no structural change, no electrician, no roof access, and nothing that outlives your tenancy. It behaves more like an appliance than a permanent installation.

Before you buy: three checks in your tenancy

• Alterations clause. A freestanding kit alters nothing. A wall-mounted or railing-clamped one might, depending on the wording.
• External appearance. Some tenancies and many leaseholds restrict what may be visible from the outside, particularly on balconies.
• Communal areas. A balcony is often demised to the flat; a shared walkway or roof terrace is not, and putting anything there needs the freeholder.

If you need to ask, ask in writing and describe it accurately: a plug-in appliance, freestanding, removable, no fixings, no electrical work. Most refusals in practice come from the word “solar” conjuring scaffolding and roof penetrations rather than from the actual object.

What to buy

The same four conditions apply to you as to anyone else: see what is permitted. In short:

• inverter capped at 800 VA,
• no battery in the kit,
• the device listed on the ENA Type Test Register,
• one device per household.

For a rented property, add a fifth: buy a mounting that does not need to fix to the building. Ballasted floor stands and freestanding A-frames cost a little more than a railing clamp and remove the entire permission question.

Notify the network operator

Still required, still free, still ten minutes: how to send a G98 notification. Do it at your current address, and again if you move.

When you move

Take it. That is the advantage no landlord-installed system offers: the kit is yours, it is portable, and the three to four year payback means it will still be earning long after this tenancy ends.

Unplug, unmount, notify the operator at the new address, and let the old one know it has been removed.

What is not available to you, and why

It is worth being clear rather than leaving you to discover it:

• Grant funding. ECO4 and Warm Homes: Local Grant fund the building, and the owner applies. WH:LG can reach private rented property, but your landlord is the applicant.
• The Smart Export Guarantee. It requires an MCS-certified installation and an export meter. A plug-in kit has neither.
• The 0% VAT rate. That covers installed domestic systems, not plug-in appliances.

None of that is a reason to skip the kit. It is a reason to be sceptical of anyone who implies you can access those things through one.