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City Plumbing Plug-In Solar Kits: Prices, Models & Verdict (2026)
This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This does not influence our recommendations — we call out weaknesses as plainly as strengths.
City Plumbing is a trade merchant, not a solar brand, and it is currently the largest single supplier of legally socket-installable plug-in solar in the UK. It holds 13 compliant listings on the ENA G98 Type Test Register — more than any other manufacturer — and sells complete kits to the public, without a trade account, from £336 including VAT.
That combination is rare. Most of the brands on the register are distributor listings you cannot actually buy. Of the brands people search for, Anker still holds no compliant Plug-in Solar listing at all, so the socket route is closed to it. Zendure's solar-only SolarFlow 800 became compliant on 21 September 2026 and EcoFlow's two solar-only plug-in kits on 22 September — but for neither have we yet confirmed a UK retail page for those exact configurations, which is precisely what City Plumbing does offer.
Last checked: 18 September 2026. Register figures pulled directly from the ENA API; prices read from cityplumbing.co.uk the same day.
Our certified kit finder searches all 72 register records by brand or model, so you can confirm the exact SKU in your basket is listed compliant.
Quick Facts - Register status: 13 compliant Plug-in Solar listings (18 September 2026) — the largest listing on the register - On sale to the public: 7 kits, no trade account needed - Price range: £336–£951.60 inc VAT - Cheapest 2-panel 800W kit: DMEGC 930W at £444 inc VAT — the cheapest certified two-panel system we have found in the UK - Collection: free click and collect from 350+ branches, or delivery - Notification: these are solar-only, socket-connected kits, so they register at myplugin.solar in about two minutes
The Short Answer
If you want a certified plug-in solar kit you can legally install yourself, today, at the lowest price in the UK, City Plumbing is where it is. The kits are unglamorous — DMEGC or Jinko panels on a Hoymiles HiFlow microinverter, with Fastensol mounting hardware — and there is no app ecosystem, battery, or brand story. What there is: the right certification, a national branch network, and prices roughly £150–£250 below the dedicated plug-in brands.
The catch is that these are trade-counter products sold through a trade website. Panel dimensions matter more than they do with a consumer brand, delivery is a two-man job on the larger kits, and nobody is going to hold your hand through balcony mounting.
What's Actually On Sale
Prices read from cityplumbing.co.uk on 18 September 2026, inclusive of VAT. Note that City Plumbing displays ex-VAT prices by default — the toggle is at the top of the page, and it is easy to misread a kit as 20% cheaper than it is.
| Kit | Panels | Price inc VAT |
|---|---|---|
| DMEGC 465W Hoymiles HiFlow | 1 panel | £336.00 |
| DMEGC 515W Hoymiles HiFlow | 1 panel | £348.00 |
| DMEGC 930W Hoymiles HiFlow | 2 panels | £444.00 |
| DMEGC 930W Hoymiles HiFlow (all black) | 2 panels | £456.00 |
| DMEGC 1030W Hoymiles HiFlow | 2 panels | £468.00 |
| UKSOL Pro Compact 460W ground mount | 1 panel | £670.80 |
| UKSOL Pro Duo 890W ground mount | 2 panels | £951.60 |
Every kit uses an 800W AC microinverter regardless of panel wattage. The panel figure is DC capacity: a 1030W kit does not produce more than 800W at any instant, it simply spends more of the day at or near the cap, which is why the bigger kits generate more over a year despite the same inverter.
13 listings, 7 kits
The gap between the register and the shelf is worth understanding. The register lists each panel-and-inverter combination separately, including single-panel variants added on 8 September and the HMS-800-2WB inverter variants, so 13 records collapse into 7 purchasable products. A listing is not a promise that the product is stocked — always check the specific SKU is both listed and in the basket.
What You Get in the Box
City Plumbing sells these as complete kits rather than components, which is the point:
- 1 or 2 solar panels (DMEGC or Jinko, all-black or silver frame)
- Hoymiles HF-800-WB or HMS-800-2WB microinverter, 800W AC
- Fastensol mounting hardware
- Plug-and-play cable with a 13A plug fitted
What is not included: a battery (none of these kits has one), balcony-specific railing brackets on the wall-mount kits, or an extension lead. The two UKSOL kits are ground mount only — they are designed to stand on a patio or lawn, not hang from a balustrade.
What It Saves
A south-facing 800W system in London generates roughly 860 kWh a year. At the October 2026 Ofgem cap of 26.32p/kWh and a realistic 75% self-consumption rate, that is about £170 a year.
| Kit | Price | Rough annual saving | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMEGC 465W (1 panel) | £336 | ~£85 | ~4.0 years |
| DMEGC 930W (2 panel) | £444 | ~£170 | ~2.6 years |
| DMEGC 1030W (2 panel) | £468 | ~£175 | ~2.7 years |
| UKSOL Pro Duo 890W | £951.60 | ~£165 | ~5.8 years |
The single-panel kits halve the generation but nowhere near halve the price, because the inverter and mounting hardware are the same either way. If you have room for two panels, the two-panel kits are materially better value — a 2.6-year payback against 4.0.
These use London irradiance and a 75% self-consumption assumption. Our payback calculator takes your postcode, orientation and occupancy pattern instead.
Those figures assume you are home enough during daylight hours to use three quarters of what you generate. A commuter household with nobody home from 8am to 6pm typically self-consumes 40–50%, which pushes the 930W kit's payback out to around 4.5 years.
The Legal Position
All 13 City Plumbing listings are Plug-in Solar device-type entries marked compliant, which is the specific status that carries the socket self-install route created by SI 2026/848 on 27 August 2026. In practice that means:
- You can plug the kit into a standard 13A socket yourself. No electrician, no Part P notification.
- You must still notify your network operator within 28 days. Because the device is on the register, this is a myplugin.solar registration of about two minutes, not the full G98 form.
- The 800W limit is per household, not per kit. One plug-in solar device, maximum 800W.
A compliant listing under a different device type does not transfer. EcoFlow and Anker hold compliant entries under PV or Energy Storage Device; none of that opens the socket route, and every battery-integrated kit is excluded from it permanently. Zendure is now a partial exception — its solar-only SolarFlow 800 gained six compliant Plug-in Solar entries on 21 September 2026, while its battery products remain excluded.
Our G98 / DNO checker asks two questions and tells you whether to register at myplugin.solar or file a full G98 — then finds your network operator by postcode.
Where It Falls Short
It is a trade website. Prices default to ex-VAT, product pages assume you know what an HF-800-WB is, and the listings do not tell you whether a panel will fit your balcony. Measure first: the two-panel kits are roughly 3.5m wide laid side by side.
No battery, no upgrade path. These are solar-only kits. Adding storage later means either a separate AC-coupled battery or replacing the inverter — and a battery-integrated system falls outside the myplugin.solar route entirely.
Mounting is generic. Fastensol hardware is designed for ballasted ground and flat-roof installs. For balcony railings you will likely need to source brackets separately, and rented balconies bring their own constraints.
Delivery on the bigger kits. The two-panel kits ship as a two-man delivery or click and collect. A 930W kit in a van-sized box is not a one-person carry up a stairwell.
City Plumbing vs the Alternatives
| Cheapest certified 2-panel | Sold direct to public | Battery option | |
|---|---|---|---|
| City Plumbing | £444 | Yes | No |
| Perlight PowerPlug | £798 | Via Plug In Solar | No |
| UKSOL | £849 | Yes | No |
| PatioSun | £699 | Yes | No |
| EcoFlow (solar-only plug-in kits) | Compliant since 22 Sept 2026 — no confirmed UK retail page for those configurations | Yes | Yes |
| Anker | n/a — no compliant Plug-in Solar listing | Yes | Yes |
| Zendure SolarFlow 800 | 6 compliant listings (21 Sept 2026) | No | No |
On price alone City Plumbing wins outright, and by a wide margin. The reasons to pay more are British assembly and a Sheffield-made ground mount (UKSOL), balcony-oriented design (PatioSun), or an established support channel (Perlight through a solar specialist).
Verdict
Best for: anyone who wants the lowest legal price and has somewhere flat or wall-mounted to put two panels
Not for: balcony railings without extra brackets, or anyone who wants a battery
Cheapest certified 2-panel kit in the UK at £444 inc VAT · checked 18 September 2026
If you are cost-driven and the kit will sit on a flat roof, patio or south-facing wall, the DMEGC 930W at £444 is the strongest value in UK plug-in solar right now. Nothing else certified comes close on price per certified watt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I buy from City Plumbing without a trade account? A: Yes. The plug-in solar kits are sold to the public online and through branches, with free click and collect. A trade account affects pricing on other ranges but is not required to buy these.
Q: Are City Plumbing's solar kits legal to plug into a socket? A: Yes, provided the specific SKU is the one listed compliant on the ENA G98 Type Test Register under the Plug-in Solar device type. All 13 City Plumbing register entries currently hold that status. Check your exact model in our certified kit finder before buying.
Q: Do I still need to tell my DNO? A: Yes, within 28 days. Because these kits are on the register and socket-connected, it is a roughly two-minute registration at myplugin.solar rather than the full G98 form. See the DNO & G98 notification guide.
Q: Which City Plumbing kit is best value? A: The DMEGC 930W two-panel kit at £444 inc VAT. It pays back in roughly 2.6 years at typical London generation and 75% self-consumption, against 4.0 years for the single-panel 465W kit at £336.
Q: Can I add a battery to a City Plumbing kit? A: Not within the kit. These are solar-only systems with no storage option, and adding an integrated battery would take the system outside the myplugin.solar socket route and into full G98 territory. See Do You Need Battery Storage?
Q: Will the panels fit a balcony railing? A: Not with the supplied hardware in most cases. The Fastensol mounting supplied is aimed at ballasted ground and flat-roof mounting. Balcony railing installs usually need separate brackets — or a kit designed for it, such as PatioSun.