Planning is devolved, which means a bridge can put two otherwise identical houses under two different sets of conditions. If you are anywhere near it, this page is the one that matters.
It would be convenient if the two regimes said the same thing in different words. They do not.
| Condition | England | Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Flat roof, height above the roof plane | 600 mm | 1 metre |
| Flat roof, distance from the edge | Not specified in this form | Must not be within 1 metre of the edge |
| Projection from roof or wall | 200 mm abutting a highway, 400 mm elsewhere | Not more than 200 mm, and not above the ridge |
| Standalone panels in the garden | Covered by the English conditions | One only, 4 m high, or 2 m within 5 m of a boundary, at least 5 m from the highway, 3 m maximum dimension and 9 square metres maximum |
| Wooden walls, balconies and timber cladding | Excluded, and the exclusion names plug-in solar | The guidance does not mention it |
| Conservation areas | No panels on a highway-fronting wall | Consent needed where the panel is visible from the highway on a principal or side elevation |
| Flats | Their own list of conditions is published | The guidance advises contacting the local planning authority |
England from the Planning Portal, Wales from gov.wales, both read 13 September 2026.
The most important line in that table is the one about timber, and it is important for a reason that is easy to get backwards. The Welsh guidance not mentioning plug-in solar does not mean Wales allows what England forbids. It means the published guidance has not caught up with a product that became lawful in August, and nobody should read an absence as an allowance.
What we will say is what the documents say. England has written a rule about wooden surfaces. Wales has not written about this product at all. A Welsh household is therefore working from general solar guidance, and the sensible move is to ask the planning authority directly rather than to assume either answer.
SI 2026/848 regulations 1 and 2 extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alike, so the 800 VA device is the same lawful object on both banks. It is only the question of where you may put it that changes.
It is not about your postal address, your dialling code, or which city you shop in. The planning authority for the property is the one whose conditions apply, and it is the authority named on your council tax bill.
If that authority is a Welsh one, treat the England column above as background and the Wales column as yours. If it is an English one, the reverse. There is no blended position for people who live near the line.
A free-standing frame on the ground, pointed south, is within about one per cent of a perfect roof pitch and avoids the surface England has excluded. Wales caps standalone panels at one, up to 9 square metres, which a single 800 VA device is nowhere near. It is the least contentious option under either regime.