Plug-in solar isn’t legal here yet. Western Australia is the first to try.
Balcony solar kits that plug into a power point are sold online and common in Germany, but in Australia it is still illegal to connect one. Western Australia is consulting on making them legal, with feedback closing 9 December 2026, and federal and state energy ministers have agreed to explore a national path. Here is what is proposed, what it would save, and what renters can do now.
Written by Juan Flinn, Content Editor · Reviewed by the Mission Green Energy Team · Updated October 2026
Not legal to connect,
in any state.
A kit you can buy is not a kit you can plug in.
In every Australian state and territory, anything that feeds power into your home’s wiring has to be installed by a licensed electrician and approved by your network, under the same standards as rooftop solar. A plug-in kit bypasses both. The WA Government’s own consultation FAQ says it remains illegal to use imported plug-in systems now.
The risk is not a fine so much as a fire or a shock: an inverter that keeps a plug live after it is pulled out, or a circuit carrying more current than it was built for. That is why the proposals below come with a technical standard, not just a rule change.
What Western Australia
would allow.
A consultation, not a start date. Submissions close 5pm AWST on 9 December 2026.
800 W
Panels up to 2 kW (DC) feeding an inverter of up to 800 W (AC), modelled on the German standard.
LFP or sodium
DC-coupled, on the panel side of the inverter, with no upper limit on storage capacity.
Install, then notify
Tell Western Power or Horizon Power instead of applying first. No smart meter needed.
The draft would not pay a feed-in tariff for exports: it is designed for self-consumption. The WA Government estimates a north-facing system would save the average Perth household about $240 a year, or about $500 with a battery. It says WA would be the first Australian state or territory to allow the systems.
Nationally, energy ministers agreed on 11 September 2026 to explore pathways for safe plug-in devices, with the Commonwealth to report back before the end of 2026. No date has been set for any other state.
A bill-trimmer,
not a rooftop system.
Small, portable and modest, which suits some homes perfectly.
An 800 W inverter is about a tenth of a typical 6.6 kW rooftop system, so the savings are a tenth too. That is still worthwhile for the people it is aimed at: renters who can take it with them, and apartment owners with a sunny balcony and no roof of their own.
If you own a house with a usable roof, a rooftop system with a battery will do far more, and it attracts federal certificates, the federal battery discount and, in Victoria, the Solar Homes rebate. Plug-in solar earns none of those under the WA draft.
What renters and apartments
can do today.
Legal options that exist now, by state.
- Victoria: Solar for Apartments pays up to $2,800 per apartment and $140,000 per building on shared rooftop solar, until 30 June 2027; landlords can claim the $1,400 Solar Homes rebate on up to two rentals a year.
- Queensland: Supercharged Solar for Renters pays landlords up to $3,500 to put solar on a rental, with the tenant’s consent.
- New South Wales: apartment buildings of four or more units can get 20–40% off a shared battery through the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme.
- No hardware at all: free midday power plans, Victoria’s Midday Power Saver and the Solar Sharer offer in NSW, south-east Queensland and SA, give three free hours a day to anyone with a smart meter, renters included.
Plug-in solar:
your questions, answered.
No. As at 30 October 2026, plug-in or balcony solar is not legal to connect in any Australian state or territory. Western Australia is consulting on legalising it until 9 December 2026, and energy ministers have agreed to explore a national path.
No start date has been set. WA is consulting on a regulatory amendment and a draft technical standard, with submissions closing at 5pm AWST on 9 December 2026. The government says WA would be the first state or territory to allow the systems.
Up to 2 kW of panels (DC) with an inverter of up to 800 W (AC). Batteries would have to be DC-coupled and use LFP or sodium chemistry, with no upper limit on storage capacity.
The WA Government estimates a north-facing system would save the average Perth household about $240 a year, or about $500 a year with a battery. There would be no feed-in tariff for exported power.
Not legally. The WA Government says it remains illegal to use imported plug-in systems now, and the same applies in every other state. Anything feeding power into your wiring must be installed by a licensed electrician and approved by the network.
Ask the landlord about state landlord solar rebates such as Victoria’s Solar Homes rental stream or Queensland’s Supercharged Solar for Renters, look at shared building programs such as Victoria’s Solar for Apartments, or switch to a free midday power plan if you have a smart meter.
Where these
figures come from.
Proposal details are from the WA Government’s consultation page and FAQ, both read 29 October 2026, and the 11 September 2026 Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council communiqué. General information only.