Plug-in solar panels in Nottingham
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 Nottingham.
In Nottingham you notify National Grid Electricity Distribution
National Grid Electricity Distribution · East Midlands 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 Nottingham falls in the East Midlands licence area.
A separate licence area from the West Midlands one covering Birmingham, though the same group operates both.
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 Midlands
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.
760 kWh
Per year, south facing, angled properly on a garden frame or flat roof with nothing shading it.
470 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.
Nottingham sits close to the middle of the country for irradiance. If you want a realistic national average figure for what a kit does, this is roughly it.
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 Nottingham
Nottingham has a very high proportion of student housing in Lenton and Dunkirk, most of it rented on short tenancies. If you are only in a property for a year, the fact this kit unbolts and comes with you is the whole argument for buying it rather than a reason to hesitate.
The city has a well-established selective licensing scheme for private rented housing. It does not govern solar panels directly, but landlords already inside the scheme tend to be more cautious about tenant alterations, so expect to have to ask properly.
Permission questions locally go to Nottingham City Council, or Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe in the wider area, 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 Nottingham?
National Grid Electricity Distribution, in its East Midlands 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.
ow much electricity will a plug-in solar kit make in Nottingham?
An 800W array in Nottingham models at roughly 760 kWh a year at optimal tilt, or around 470 kWh flat against a vertical balcony rail. You only save money on the share you use as it is generated.
I am a student renting for one year. Is it worth it?
That is the case this product was built for. It unbolts in under an hour and comes with you to the next house, which roof solar cannot. Get the landlord's agreement in writing first, and remember one device per household applies to the address, not to you.
Kits that ship to Nottingham
Every kit is certified as a complete product, ships free, and comes with the G98 notification link for National Grid Electricity Distribution. Use National Grid Electricity Distribution 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.