Safety fears raised over plug-in solar

By Paul Homewood

From Energy Live News:

Plug-in solar panels could pose fire risks, create safety hazards and undermine confidence in the energy transition unless ministers slow down plans for a rapid rollout, some of the UK’s biggest electrical safety bodies have warned.

In an unusually united intervention, the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), Electrical Safety First (ESF), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), NICEIC and SELECT have urged the government to proceed with caution before allowing plug-in solar PV units onto the mass market.

The organisations said they support wider access to cheap clean energy but warned public safety must come first.

They argue there are serious unanswered questions around electrical safety, product standards, grid resilience, insurance liability and consumer protection.

At the heart of the concern is the fact that plug-in solar units do far more than power an appliance. Unlike a kettle or television, the devices generate electricity and feed it back into a home’s electrical system, creating two-way power flows that many existing domestic installations were never designed to handle.

Industry experts warned this could affect the operation of key safety devices such as residual current devices (RCDs), potentially compromising electrical protection systems within the home.

The groups said more than 50% of housing stock is more than 100 years old, raising concerns that ageing wiring could struggle to cope with additional electrical loads.

Without proper assessment, they warned plug-in solar systems could increase the risk of overheating and fire, particularly if consumers connect multiple units or use extension leads and adaptors.

Full story here.

It is worth remembering that Miliband’s decision to roll these plug-in panels out did not make them legal – they already were. It was to allow them to be installed without a qualified electrician.

Which is precisely why the electrical standards people are ringing the alarm bells now.

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50 Comments

Neil Pryke

June 9, 2026 2:34 am

Electricity can be lethal…end of…People can, and do, some very stupid things…To make yet another way to use that stupidity appears to be reckless…

strativarius

Reply to Neil Pryke

June 9, 2026 4:28 am

People can, and do, some very stupid things

They do and there are the Darwin awards

Jeff Alberts

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 8:03 pm

Like bolding every comment they make.

kommando828

June 9, 2026 2:35 am

This applies to older RCD’s which are unidirectional, they can’t protect you from energy on a circuit only energy coming into the circuit from the grid side. Asking a consumer to review his RCD to check if its the wrong type and then changing it is a recipe for disaster. Its been known for some time as the G98 standards for inverters up to 3.68kw included guidance to add the inverter to the non RCD protected side of the Consumer Unit to cover this eventuality. Yes its an AC circuit at 50hz, but its not the AC V but the AC Amps that is directional.

Scissor

Reply to kommando828

June 9, 2026 6:19 am

Imagine how shocking it will become when these are deployed along with supercapacitor batteries.

Eng_Ian

Reply to kommando828

June 9, 2026 2:58 pm

That is not quite correct.

An RCD operates by measuring the current in the active line and comparing that to the current in the neutral line. An imbalance, that exceeds the internal threshold will trigger the device to isolate the line and neutral from the incoming supply, (the street).

IF a plug in solar device is on the line, then it will sense the loss of mains power and will switch off. So the circuit is protected.

You could argue that a fault could occur immediately adjacent to the plug in solar, (say an active to Earth fault at 30mA) and you could argue that this current could be supplied by the plug in unit. However, a very simple review of the fault would also indicate that current will flow from ALL sources out through the fault, (refer Kirchhoff laws), and since the mains has a much lower source impedance, (it can supply thousands of amps, compared to the plug in unit at maybe one or two), then the bulk of the fault current will flow from the mains, (via the in circuit RCD). The circuit is therefore protected.

The reason for the bi-directional RCD is not to protect against a fault being detected and the mains isolated it was instead to ensure that the power supply to the internal circuit of the RCD was also disconnected in the case of a fault. In a standard RCD the internal circuit is powered from the side of the circuit downstream of the breaker. This would result in the internals being de-powered under mains only operation but leaving them exposed to any power on the downstream side. Hence the concern.

But note. As soon as the mains signal is lost to the plug in unit, they stop working.

Real world tests confirm these details, see video.

strativarius

June 9, 2026 3:00 am

We rewired our Edwardian house (1906) ~30 years ago, or so. The studio extension is more recent, specialised and more sensitive – there can be no hum whatsoever, separate earthing etc. Needless to say, the work was done by skilled professionals. People who knew exactly what they were doing.

to allow them to be installed without a qualified electrician.

These Labour party people really are that thick. From February this year:

Lying cowboy heat-pump fitters milked millions from green scheme
More than £165m worth of public money is believed to have been claimed fraudulently under the Government’s ECO scheme
…
It left tens of thousands of householders with defects, including mould and damage to their homes as a result of shoddy workmanship carried out under the £4bn scheme – iPaper

It’s only taxpayers money, and if necessary they will tax more. Strangely enough, we have Peter Mandelson to thank for the drip drip of information coming out in the wake of his downfall via Whatsapp.

Pat McFadden is an old hand former Blair man and was Starmer’s political fixer.

Work & Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden asked: “Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?” Mr McFadden claimed this question was being asked in “every meeting” in Whitehall. – MSN

That is where the Labour government and its backbenchers are. And they will take us down with them. I doubt even the IMF has enough to bail UK PLC out.

Leon de Boer

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 7:23 am

Look at it from the government view the new scheme could burn down or kill the owners of the mould and damaged houses reducing the heat pump liability claims. Now all they need is another scheme to to cover any liability of the plugin pv scheme 🙂

Dave Andrews

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 8:15 am

After all the problems arising from UK Government schemes for cavity wall insulation, external cladding and heat pump installation which have been very profitable for the ‘cowboys’ but disastrous for many thousands of homes you would have thought that the Government would stop coming up with stupid ideas!

strativarius

June 9, 2026 3:40 am

RCP8.5 fallout

Massive Curriculum Changes Required for UK School Geography After Met Office Climate Projections Ruled “Implausible”
It’s not as if teachers can argue that only the ‘high emissions’ pathway of RCP8.5 can be ignored. At the time, the Met Office only ran RCP8.5 assumptions through its super-computer, the results of which it then described as “plausible” as it promoted them in bold type. – Daily Sceptic

It’s far more than just education. It’s the entire enterprise from government department to the local parish council – all based on the implausible.

Redge

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 7:00 am

It’s far more than just education. It’s the entire enterprise from government department to the local parish council – all based on the implausible.

As we’ve been saying for years – it’s time these idiots listened (they won’t, they’ll just move on to the next thing to scare the proles with.

strativarius

Reply to Redge

June 9, 2026 7:05 am

Nobody has told the nation that everything they based on UKCP18 is now implausible.

No scientist, no media and no politician has spoken out. In fact they keep announcing new initiatives off the back of that report. The CCC should be put against a wall and….

JeffC

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 8:51 am

Or put beneath a tree with a rope?

varg

June 9, 2026 3:46 am

Plug and play…fine as long what you plug in is equipped with the correct switch off equipment if the grid fails. Imagine 10 million of these systems…regardless if correctly installed, how high is the probability of a failure with lethal consequences?

A numbers game…ah yes now add the incorrect ones because people tend to cheap out.

Truely wanna be a linesman these days ey?

oeman50

Reply to varg

June 9, 2026 4:06 am

Excellent point. If you are working on a line you have isolated from the grid for safety, oops, you could get shocked from the backfeed from an unisolated solar panel.

varg

Reply to oeman50

June 9, 2026 6:27 am

Well I confess I’m an electrician 😉. Usually you shorten also the lines as well but that might not avoid the risk of getting shocked…depends on which side of the short you are

oeman50

Reply to varg

June 9, 2026 10:48 am

Indeed. But I have seen experienced electricians fail to undertake basic safety precautions, like a live-dead-live test. One such electrician got zapped by a 4160 V circuit and lived to tell about it. He put grounding wires on the load side of the open breaker, but the circuit that got him was on the supply side and still energized,

heme212

Reply to varg

June 9, 2026 5:46 pm

all the grid tie micro inverters come with island protection these days.

michel

June 9, 2026 3:58 am

It just gets crazier and crazier. Why would you want to do this in the second worst country in the world for solar power? With no provision for storage to use the power during the night and in winter? And if you were going to do it, to cover the country’s roofs with solar panels, why would you do it with this sort of mad DIY installation, surely you would at least want to have competent electricians do it.

This is a country which will not allow you to install a mains spur DIY. And yet they are proposing to have thousands, tens of thousands, of these devices installed into electrical environments which may or may not be safe, but cannot be known to be safe by those hooking them up.

And for what? Is this really supposed to make a difference to UK power generation? Or the global climate?

strativarius

Reply to michel

June 9, 2026 4:13 am

And for what?

Well, Michel, it really is all about total belief in an ideology, an ideology that is entirely Malthusian in nature and Stalinist in implementation. I think David Attenborough summed their feelings up:

David Attenborough says humans are a “plague” on the Earth and more needs to be done to stop the planet’s population rising.

“We are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so.” – BBC

The really bizarre part is Miliband’s belief and conviction that the world will inevitably follow our ‘virtuous’ yet suicidal example. We need a new word to describe a whole new level of utter delusion.

DavsS

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 5:06 am

It’s sad to see Attenborough becoming increasingly unhinged. Although not yet in the same league as Miliband.

strativarius

Reply to DavsS

June 9, 2026 5:30 am

Attenborough and the BBCs eco rock star Chris Packham.

James Snook

Reply to strativarius

June 9, 2026 6:34 am

Not to mention the Beeb’s over excitable climate correspondent Justin Rowlatt.

strativarius

Reply to James Snook

June 9, 2026 7:10 am

Whose mad sister Cordelia (such a nice working class name) was in Extinction Rebellion.

Sailorcurt

June 9, 2026 4:30 am

Does it strike anyone else as a conflict of interest for the very organizations that benefit from strict regulations to be advocating for the regulations they benefit from?

“Private security firms advocate for regulations that prevent individuals from protecting themselves”.

“Auto mechanics advocate for regulations preventing vehicle owners from repairing their own vehicles.”

Etc.

And, of course, it’s all about safety don’t you know…has nothing to do with the fact that if people don’t need licenses to do particular work, they don’t need to hire the “professionals” that are members of the listed organizations.

pflashgordon

Reply to Sailorcurt

June 9, 2026 5:38 am

Of course! Who needs those professional licensed pilots to fly their commercial jets, or professional licensed doctors to treat their maladies? What a waste of money! I will fly my own plane thank you.

Unlike your lame examples, in the U.S., we have a constitutional right of potentially lethal self-defense, and any shade tree mechanic can take a shot at fixing his own car. With the latter, once the problem becomes complicated (especially with today’s auto designs), the owner quickly realizes that he needs a certified mechanic to sort it out, especially if his tinkering can void his warranty or brick his car.

Even in many trades, required certifications, which often include apprenticeship experience as well as training courses, are a means of helping to ensure safety and quality workmanship. Just as there are bad pilots and incompetent doctors, certifications in the trades are no guarantee of quality, but complete lack of standards are almost a guarantee of more frequent and sometimes spectacular failures. This is especially important in matters of health, safety, and material loss prevention.

Properly done, regulations form a balancing act between independent thinking and initiative on the one hand versus overly prescriptive rules on the other hand. Unfortunately, in the hands of a power-hungry legislator or bureaucrat, regulations universally drift towards smothering, prescriptive rules that lose sight of the original intent, or worse yet operate from false premises (e.g., “climate change”).

These are Biblical principles. 20th century theologian Dr. Francis Schaeffer called this the form-freedom balance. Jesus Christ confronted the formalized, legalistic religious leaders of the day for the hundreds of rules that masked the fundamental covenant of faith and love between God and the people. Christ did not negate the law (the fundamental covenant and essential principles), He fulfilled it.

Leon de Boer

Reply to Sailorcurt

June 9, 2026 7:33 am

It’s okay a few deaths down the road in your unregulated world everyone will be up in arms.

Australia tried this with putting insulation batts in your ceiling, who needs a license for that it’s throw a few bits of material around in a roof space. Not an issue in your unregulated world and what could possibly go wrong.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-17/young-men-who-died-in-insulation-scheme/5322168

Yep 4 dead and a royal commission in to what retards in government thought that was a good idea.

JohnC

Reply to Sailorcurt

June 9, 2026 10:44 am

Someone has to provide quality assurance of installations like electricity, gas and water. Standards for these installations are defined in industry standards and/or British Standards, and it makes perfect sense for experts in the field to perform the role by checking installations meet those standards as mistakes could be fatal. The same applies to aircraft and road vehicles.

Tom Abbott

June 9, 2026 5:53 am

Solar panels but no batteries?

The house runs directly off the solar panels while the house is connected to the grid?

How does the house know which source to use?

varg

Reply to Tom Abbott

June 9, 2026 6:23 am

Path of least resistance…well as long as long as there is a power consumption in the house bigger than your panels can provide. Otherwhise you’re feeding the grid for free (unless you have a really old meter that runs backwards lol)

ToldYouSo

Reply to Tom Abbott

June 9, 2026 7:09 am

“The house runs directly off the solar panels while the house is connected to the grid?”

Actually, that not the way it normally works, even with the inclusion of battery storage. The house solar panels are wired series-parallel to provide some specified voltage (stringed arrays generally supply a DC input voltage ranging between 300V and 600V DC) to an electrical conversion unit that transforms the DC input power to regulated AC output power at 50 Hz (Australia, the UK, Europe and most other nations) or 60 Hz (US, Canada, Mexico and most countries in Central America).

Some amount of battery storage capacity is needed, even if only included internal to the electrical conversion (i.e., inverter and voltage transformer) unit, for “smoothing” the power output considering variations in the power inputs, such a might be caused by clouds momentarily blocking sunlight on the solar panels.

Leon de Boer

Reply to ToldYouSo

June 9, 2026 7:46 am

It doesn’t need a battery just very large capacitors, which because of the spikes and surges they are dealing with are the most common reason a grid-tie inverter dies. Typically they overheat because they have losses in absorbing and discharging massive spikes

heme212

Reply to Tom Abbott

June 9, 2026 5:54 pm

if the grid is supplying 121v (us) the inverter creates 121.5 v. whatever the microinverter/panel combination produces gets used first, before your house loads need to suck on the grid wires.

i don’t know why so many are opposed to this. perhaps i shouldn’t be allowed to turn my a/c down either.

ToldYouSo

June 9, 2026 6:44 am

My understanding is that the only manner in which a home electrical system—that is, one with some ability to feed electrical power into a local utility grid, even intermittently—can work is that the driving AC voltage must be higher than the grid’s tightly controlled voltage. (I also understand the need for the power output electronics to precisely match grid frequency for efficient power output.)

So, how will that higher voltage within a residence affect things such as ground fault interruption (GFI) circuity, uninteruptible power supply (UPS) devices, and the life of any/all power supplies of electronic devices (e.g., computers, TVs) within that residence?

Can someone with appropriate EE experience of residence-to-grid power delivery systems please comment on this?

Leon de Boer

Reply to ToldYouSo

June 9, 2026 8:19 am

In most developed countries every product sold legally has a tolerance to main voltage they must meet it’s part of the compliance program.

In Australia for example all legal devices need a RCM certification
https://www.eess.gov.au/rcm/regulatory-compliance-mark-rcm-general/

For an grid tie inverter in Australia it must withstand 275VAC for a peak (tripping if need be) and withstand 265VAC continuously.

That however is the same for all electrical devices that are legally allowed to connect to grid.

The more amusing part of grid-tie inverters is as you say they have to be slightly above the grid but as you put thousands on the grid the grid voltage near large numbers starts climbing up as they feed in at the slightly higher voltage. Then as the voltage gets to high the units start hitting there curtailment values and the inverters start shutting off and the voltage drops. What you then get is a rather fun oscillation as large number of units go in and out of curtailment. In Australia it has become a major problem and is still under active discussion and it can’t be solved at the grid level

https://www.aer.gov.au/system/files/2023-12/Ausgrid%20-%20Revised%20proposal%20-%20UoW%20-%20Att.%205.7.6%20-%20Review%20of%20Curtailment%20Methodology%20and%20Alignment%20to%20Australian%20Standards%20-%2030%20Nov%202023%20-%20Public.pdf

ToldYouSo

Reply to Leon de Boer

June 9, 2026 8:51 am

Thanks for the knowledgable reply!

Eng_Ian

Reply to Leon de Boer

June 9, 2026 3:30 pm

It is a known problem in urban areas that on sunny days the grid voltage gets pumped so high that the inverters switch off, (or bounce as you note). If you were relying on selling your excess solar to make money this would be a problem, you can’t sell power when your inverter is off.

I always liked the solution/idea of installing a transformer between the solar inverter and the mains. Set the transformer windings so that the inverter always sees the grid a couple of volts lower than it actually is, that way your inverter is supplying power into the grid when your neighbours have switched off due to the voltage being too high.

Of course, this solution will break a lot of rules. But if you have to sell the excess to make a dollar……

Note, this is NOT a solution that I would endorse. But it would allow continuous operation of the inverter in otherwise curtailed instances. How long before someone actually implements this?

Leon de Boer

Reply to Eng_Ian

June 9, 2026 7:22 pm

Funny story they actually trialed that large scale transformer they made a digital version with lots SCR adjusting tap windings and it monitored the input and output voltages and if the output was coming up but the input was constant it dropped the voltage tap. So it does the reverse of the grid tie inverter. It failed because when you get a cloud event and the solar drops away suddenly the transformer starts adjusting up and then the sun comes out and then it’s too high. You get a massive oscillation in cloudy weather.

The permanent viable solution for a full system is the grid operator be able to send commands to the inverter telling it what voltage and current it wants. Australian research mainly been done by CSIRO and Tapestry (a google company) you can read what they did to the inverter
https://x.company/case-study/tapestry-csiro/

In the initial work they were communicating using the power cables. That failed national security concerns because you have a single point failure path and provides a target for malicious actors. It worked and in a perfect world was fine but it’s just dangerous in the real world.

Eng_Ian

Reply to ToldYouSo

June 9, 2026 3:20 pm

There are TWO ways that an AC generator/inverter can supply the grid power.

The first is as you say, raise the voltage. This will only occur where there is a reasonable resistance in the wiring, (eg the street is at 230Vac, your house without solar is at 225Vac), the voltage drop caused by the resistance and the current consumed in your house means that the voltage measured is slightly low. An inverter can supply at a marginally higher voltage, say 226Vac and will be able to pump current out using that 1V difference.

If the house is not draining power, then it will be at the same voltage as the street. It can still try to raise the voltage, this time driving against the resistive losses in the street cable from the large street based transformer out to the houses. This works until the voltage being generated reaches a maximum permitted voltage, (set internal to the inverter), to prevent over voltage damage to attached appliances. Obviously, this is going to damage more equipment at the house where it is installed than at a house several doors down the street, (after more cable resistance has lowered the voltage a little).

And type two inverters…. They are more like a classical generator which instead of raising the voltage, they instead try to make the voltage wave speed up. Of course, the grid is so large against a small inverter/generator that the mains will not speed up but current will still flow because the generator is making it’s voltage wave a fraction of a degree advanced to the mains. The power flow is proportional to the square of sin(x+small angle)-sin(x). You can do the math(s) if you like.

If you have problems picturing how this could work, then imagine a large AC motor connected to the grid with a flywheel on it. Under no load it will be spinning at a synchronous speed, the power into the motor will be limited to just enough magnetic energy to overcome friction, resistance, etc. If you apply a load to the flywheel, the motor needs to stay in sync so will draw more current to induce large magnetic forces. In effect the motor is slightly behind the grid. The difference in phase angle is going to the be the power drawn. And of course, if instead of slowing down the flywheel, you spin it up, making it try to turn faster, then the motor will be slightly in front of the grid and will force power into the grid. Just like the inverter does.

And here’s the catch. That second method of generating is a lot more expensive than the simple one of just raising the voltage. So guess what domestic inverters do.

ResourceGuy

June 9, 2026 7:29 am

They make for some impressive fires when paired with the right building cladding.

isthatright

June 9, 2026 8:03 am

If older UK homes have the sort of Knob and Tube wiring which is commonly found in older US homes, I would expect numerous fires from the wiring. Old wiring with marginal insulation will not do well when the amperes running through it are greatly increased by a plug in solar system.

mleskovarsocalrrcom

June 9, 2026 8:06 am

Another shoot – ready – aim from the AGW protagonists like their mantra “just add batteries” but this one could have deadly consequences. With “more than 50% of housing stock is more than 100 years old” the chances of failure seem high. Someone could make a fortune designing a cheap plug and play box to isolate the problem though.

Dan Donaldson

June 9, 2026 10:18 am

I have countless images of solar panels on fire.

Dan Donaldson

Reply to Dan Donaldson

June 9, 2026 10:19 am

and………

heme212

Reply to Dan Donaldson

June 9, 2026 5:50 pm

what, exactly, burns on a solar panel?

trafamadore

June 9, 2026 2:05 pm

Wow. And no mention of thousands of these units working in Germany with not one reported problem.
So many false worries.
They don’t work unless they can see alternating power. So they cant work when the power is off. So they cant hurt people on the power lines (like house generators can).
They dont go over 1600W. That’s a big hairdryer, but in reverse. Do you need an electrician to install a hairdryer?
And really. Old wiring. The units would be lowering the power thru the lines not increasing them. Unless in in your magical world, power going out and power going in are somehow additive.
You guys should 1. learn about what you talking about, and then 2. do a reality check.

-2

bnice2000

Reply to trafamadore

June 9, 2026 3:25 pm

You mean like this in Germany ?

Fire hits German home fitted with photovoltaic tiles – pv magazine Global

or maybe you would like to live in this house

Solar and battery-equipped home destroyed by explosion in Germany – Energy Storage

or maybe this

Fire Response: Solar Panel Installation Catches Fire on Building Facade

bnice2000

Reply to trafamadore

June 9, 2026 3:29 pm

I do have to wonder how solar systems work when it is snowing..

.. maybe you could explain, please.

Eng_Ian

Reply to trafamadore

June 9, 2026 3:37 pm

The risk is very low, (as you note), when you plug in just one set on a line.

It is also noted that the manufactured items insist that you only connect ONE unit to any single circuit in the house. My guess is that the limit will be ignored when someone plugs in 5 or 10 of these into their house using just one circuit. Potentially running 5 or 10 small hairdryers on a circuit continuously may not trip the breaker but it will heat the cables and old cables may lead to fires, especially if the same household has installed circuit breakers rated at higher current settings because they are sick of the unit tripping out on sunny days.

Whilst I don’t agree that these should be regulated any further, it should be explained in very clear text that ‘morons’ installing 5 or 10 of these to one circuit are risking their house burning down.

It’s always the idiots who ruin the world for the rest of us, (by forcing labels on products such as remove clothes before ironing).

Yes… you could now be imaging some people wearing few clothes doing the ironing, if that is how your brain works. Or you will soon be re-reading that last paragraph.

Bob

June 9, 2026 3:37 pm

Government shouldn’t be in the business of advancing or retarding any business.

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