Plug SolarNZ

What plug-in solar is

A plug-in kit is solar power at appliance size: one or two panels, a small inverter, and a cable that goes into a normal power point instead of being wired into the switchboard.

Updated

Not yet legal in New Zealand: expected around mid-2027, no date set. The tracker has every step, and the payback calculator works out what a kit would save you.

Two solar panels on the outside of a villa deck railing, a small grey inverter clamped beside them, its cable coiled on the deck with the plug unplugged
What a two-panel kit could look like on a villa deck. Our render; the plug stays out until the rules change.

The parts

  • Panels. Usually one or two, 400 to 500 W each, hung on a deck railing or balcony, stood on a fence or propped on a frame on the lawn.
  • A micro-inverter turns the panels' DC into the AC your appliances use, and switches off if the grid goes down.
  • A cable and plug. Overseas it goes into an ordinary socket on a circuit in the house.

Where the power goes

Into whatever is running on your wiring at the time: the fridge, the freezer, the router, a heat pump on a sunny winter afternoon. Your meter simply records less power bought. Anything the house can't use flows out to the grid, and nobody has said yet whether a plug-in kit will be paid for it, so a kit pays best in a home where things run during the day.

HTW Berlin's simulator, the most used tool for these kits in Germany, puts the share used at home at 69% for an 800 W kit hung on a railing in a home using 3,000 kWh a year, and 88% in one using 5,000 kWh (HTW Berlin). MBIE's power price survey models a New Zealand home on 8,000 kWh a year, more than either (MBIE).

How big

Germany and the UK both cap the inverter's output at 800 W (ADAC, SI 2026/848). New Zealand has set no limit; the Electricity Authority says an 800 W limit "may or may not be applied" here (its paper). Our calculator starts at 800 W for that reason, and lets you change it.

Who it suits

  • Renters and apartment owners, who can't put panels on a roof (renters and body corporates).
  • Homes with someone in during the day, or with a fridge, freezer and heat pump doing their thing.
  • Anyone with a sunny north-facing deck, fence or balcony that isn't shaded for half the day.

It suits less well a home that is empty all day, a balcony facing south, or someone after a big cut to a big bill: that is what rooftop solar is for.

Plug-in kits are not legal to connect in New Zealand yet. When they are, follow the new standard and the maker's instructions, and ask a registered electrician if you are unsure about your wiring.

Sources

  1. Stecker-Solar-Simulator, HTW Berlin.
  2. Quarterly Survey of Domestic Electricity Prices, 15 August 2026, MBIE, 15 August 2026.
  3. Balkonkraftwerk: Kosten, Ertrag, Anmeldung, ADAC.
  4. The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/848), legislation.gov.uk, 16 July 2026.
  5. Exploring plug-in generation and Code improvements for export limits and connection processes: issues and consultation paper, Electricity Authority, 8 September 2026.