Plug-in solar panels in Brighton and Hove
Three things change depending on where you live: who you notify, how much the panel actually makes, and who has to say yes first. Here are all three for Brighton and Hove.
In Brighton and Hove you notify UK Power Networks
UK Power Networks · South Eastern Power Networks licence area
Your network operator is fixed by your postcode. You cannot choose it and switching electricity supplier does not change it. Great Britain is divided into fourteen licence areas, and Brighton and Hove falls in the South Eastern Power Networks licence area.
A different licence area from London, even though the same group runs both. Make sure the form names South Eastern.
G98 notification is not optional and it is not the same thing as telling your supplier. It is a short form, it is free, and the QR code on your kit links straight to the right one. Do it before you connect, not after.
What 800W realistically makes in East Sussex
These are irradiance model figures for 800W of panel, not measurements from a roof down the road. Treat them as a ceiling you will fall short of rather than a target.
820 kWh
Per year, south facing, angled properly on a garden frame or flat roof with nothing shading it.
510 kWh
Per year, mounted flat against a south-facing balcony railing. The convenience costs you output.
25–60%
The share you use as it is generated. The rest goes to the grid for nothing. Being home in the day is worth more than a bigger kit.
Salt air is the real issue here rather than sunlight. Seafront properties are hard on mounting hardware and fixings, and anything within a few hundred metres of the beach should be checked annually rather than fitted and forgotten.
Two panels on one 800VA inverter. The sweet spot for a typical home's background load, and the largest output the rules allow.
Housing stock in Brighton and Hove
Brighton has some of the best irradiance in the country and some of the worst outdoor space. The Regency terraces in Kemptown and Hove are mostly flats with small balconies or none, and a large share of the stock is converted rather than purpose built, so the demise of any balcony needs checking in the lease.
Conservation area coverage is extensive and includes most of the seafront and the Lanes. Anything on a street-facing elevation in those areas will attract attention. Rear and side elevations are a different matter.
Permission questions locally go to Brighton and Hove City Council, though for a freestanding panel in a private rear garden you are usually dealing with a lease or a landlord rather than a planning officer.
The national rules apply here as everywhere
800VA cap, one device per household, certified complete kits only, no batteries. Full explainer →
Straight answers
Which DNO do I notify in Brighton and Hove?
UK Power Networks, in its South Eastern Power Networks licence area. G98 notification is mandatory before you connect a plug-in solar kit, and it goes to your network operator, not your electricity supplier.
How much electricity will a plug-in solar kit make in Brighton and Hove?
An 800W array in Brighton and Hove models at roughly 820 kWh a year at optimal tilt, or around 510 kWh flat against a vertical balcony rail. You only save money on the share you use as it is generated.
Will the sea air wreck it?
It will shorten the life of the mounting hardware well before it touches the panel. Anything within a few hundred metres of the seafront wants checking annually, and it is worth knowing what the brackets are made of rather than assuming they are marine grade.
Kits that ship to Brighton and Hove
Every kit is certified as a complete product, ships free, and comes with the G98 notification link for UK Power Networks. Use UK Power Networks here and it fills in the local operator.
Kits available from 27 August 2026
That is the date SI 2026/848 comes into force and plug-in solar becomes legal to self-install in Great Britain. Certified kits are listed here as soon as they are available.
See all kitsShips to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland sits outside SI 2026/848, so we cannot supply plug-in kits to NI addresses.