It is now legal to buy and use plug-in solar panels in the UK, but safety concerns surrounding them havenāt yet been addressed by the UK government. This is according to one of the leading engineering institutions, which says the legalisation has been rushed through without creating proper legal standards and has created an increased risk to life.
With plug-in solar panels, you simply buy a kit, place it in a sunny spot and plug it into a wall socket. Thereās no installation cost, no certification and no planning permission. The devices are popular in many European countries and the UK government to boost renewable energy generation and cut down on household bills.
Prior to this legalisation, , the head of technical regulations at the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), told Ā鶹“«Ć½ about several potential issues. One surrounded residual current devices (RCDs), the safety devices found in fuse boxes that sense when current is leaking to ground ā a sign of electrocution or a short circuit ā and almost instantaneously cut power. Most RCDs used in the UK arenāt suitable for current flowingĀ in both directions and so could malfunction if used with plug-in solar panels.
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Another of the IETās concerns is what happens if there are multiple kits in use and a power cut occurs. In theory, the plug-in kits should also shut down in order to prevent āislandingā, when one homeās power stays live. But if they are still generating power, then they could deceive each other into thinking the grid is live and keep running. The problemĀ then is that power can jump past the fuse box and electrocute maintenance workers in the area fixing the outage.Ā
The IET made these concerns clear to the UK government both before and during the consultation by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) that . But Coles says the issues werenāt addressed and now present a risk.
āIt was a done deal before it went out, Iām sure,ā says Coles. āItās been rushed. There needed to be time to develop a proper standard for these things, because we feel under certain circumstances that thereās an increased risk to life.ā
Coles says the risks emerge only when thereās a perfect storm of problems, but that this will inevitably lead to an injury or a death over time if plug-in solar panels are widely adopted.
Extensive scientific studies have been carried out to determine how quickly damage is done within the human body from electric shock. Based on that research, UK RCDs are required to trip and cut off current within 40 milliseconds. But there are no similar standards for plug-in solar panels, which Coles suggests could ā if things go wrong, and in very limited circumstances ā take longer to shut down.
āYou could be exposed to the electric current for longer than you should have been,ā says Coles. āYouāre in the danger zone.ā
The IETās advice is to get an electrical inspection prior to committing to plug-in solar in order to minimise risk.
A DESNZ spokesperson told Ā鶹“«Ć½ that āwe have funded an independent contractor to fully test the electrical safety of plug-in solar devices on UK electrical house wiring practice, which have found these products to be safeā.
The department added that it had looked at testing with older household electrical safety devices and found no evidence that plug-in solar affected their ability to provide electrical protection when used with the type of plug-in solar systems sold in Europe.
Coles agrees that tests were carried out, but says that they focused on plug-in solar kits sourced outside the UK, because none was legal here at the time, and with brand new RCDs. That has two problems: legal RCDs in the real world can be much older, and of older design, and there was no clear definition or regulation for plug-in panels that were tested, meaning that ones now for sale may act differently.
āThey spent this money on getting these units tested, but these units were non-standard units,ā says Coles. āSo itās not like Iām testing something thatās been made to a product standard and Iām seeing how it conforms to this product standard. So I donāt see the point of spending the money. From our point of view, itās being rushed.ā
