Plug-in solar panels in Edinburgh
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 Edinburgh.
In Edinburgh you notify SP Energy Networks
SP Energy Networks · SP Distribution 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 Edinburgh falls in the SP Distribution licence area.
Same operator as Glasgow. Central and southern Scotland is one licence area for these purposes.
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 Central Scotland
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.
720 kWh
Per year, south facing, angled properly on a garden frame or flat roof with nothing shading it.
450 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.
Edinburgh is windier than most UK cities and coastal exposure at Leith and Portobello is real. Bracket rating and mounting quality matter more here than the panel itself.
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 Edinburgh
Edinburgh has the tightest heritage constraints of any UK city for this. The Old and New Towns are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the New Town in particular has listed building consent requirements that catch things you would not expect, including items on rear elevations visible from a shared garden.
Outside the World Heritage Site the picture is much easier. Colonies flats in Stockbridge, the bungalows in Corstorphine and the newer stock at Leith Docks are all straightforward. If you are inside the WHS boundary, speak to the council's planning team before you order, not after.
Permission questions locally go to City of Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh?
SP Energy Networks, in its SP Distribution 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 Edinburgh?
An 800W array in Edinburgh models at roughly 720 kWh a year at optimal tilt, or around 450 kWh flat against a vertical balcony rail. You only save money on the share you use as it is generated.
I am in the New Town. Is this a non-starter?
Probably, if the panel would be fixed to or visible on the building. The Old and New Towns are a World Heritage Site with listed building consent requirements that extend to rear elevations visible from shared gardens. Talk to the council's planning team before ordering rather than after.
Kits that ship to Edinburgh
Every kit is certified as a complete product, ships free, and comes with the G98 notification link for SP Energy Networks. Use SP Energy 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.