Considering plug-in solar at home? Electrical experts say to watch for these 6 safety risks

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Several industry groups have expressed concern about the safety of plug-in solar.
• Issues range from the risk of fire and shock to trip hazards and falling solar panels.
• If in doubt about your installation, consult a licensed electrician.

There’s been a lot of excitement recently about the potential of plug-in solar and how cheap, self-install kits could help households save money. But industry groups in the UK have raised a number of concerns about the safety of these kits and urge consumers to proceed with caution.

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Several industry groups — including the Electrical Contractors’ Association, Electrical Safety First, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and certification bodies NICEIC and SELECT — have issued a joint warning about the technology, with concerns focused on six areas in particular. 

What is plug-in solar?

Before I get to the concerns, here’s a quick plug-in solar primer. 

Plug-in solar works by connecting solar panels to a small device called a microinverter. This takes the DC power from the solar panels and uses that to transform the electricity into AC and feed it into the household’s supply via a regular household plug that’s been plugged into an AC wall outlet. 

2. Fire risk

Another issue is fire risk. The group warns that over half of the UK’s housing is more than a century old and packed with old, damaged, or deteriorating electrical wiring that’s not up to the job of carrying extra load. They warn that plug-in solar adds to the risk of localized overheating of cables, especially if multiple units are used.

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3. Poor quality hardware

The group also expressed concern about cheap products with inconsistent quality and unclear compliance requirements flooding the market. For example, some kits are being marketed with flattened cables designed to pass under doors or through openings not designed for electrical equipment — the sort of thing that a home DIYer might think is OK but would raise an eyebrow with a qualified electrician. 

4. Grid safety

The group is also concerned that there is no way for network operators to monitor and manage power generated by plug-in solar units. This could affect local network capacity and stability, as well as how quickly microinverters would shut down, feeding power into the household system in the event of the power being shut down.

5. Insurance and liability

Also raised was the thorny issue of liability. How are insurers likely to react to damage caused by self-installed hardware connected to unsuitable electrical equipment? The warning highlighted the lack of clarity over the potential financial risks for landlords, leaseholders, and insurers.

6. Poor installation

Finally, the group is aware of the nonsense that consumers can get up to with extension leads, adapters, and other gadgets, and how doing things on the cheap or for convenience (which a lot of amateur DIYers are guilty of) could create trip and fall hazards from badly routed cables or injuries resulting from badly fitted solar panels on balconies falling off into busy streets.

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“A poorly regulated bargain product may reduce bills in the short-term, but it can also transfer risk onto households, emergency services, insurers, network operators and, ultimately, government,” the group warns, adding that a “rushed rollout could potentially weaken confidence in the energy transition”.

Separately, others in the industry have raised concerns that the solar panels could introduce a plethora of combustible materials and new ignition sources as well as additional weight loads to balconies and external surfaces of buildings, especially high-rise structures.