This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet, and the vast majority of us are not making a single kW out of it.

For many of us the idea of getting an array of solar panels installed on our roof doesn’t seem so accessible. Perhaps, like me, you live in a flat, where multiple owners would need to consent, and you are now looking at your friends’ roof array with mild envy.

In Scotland only between 6 and 7% of households have solar panels. Remarkably, given our reputation for not so much sun, Ordnance Survey found that level was greater than in England or Wales – but it still means that most of us are missing out.

But now, on the way, though not quite here yet, is a product you may soon be able to pick up at Lidl, along with your pint of milk and Crivit water shoes. Plug-in solar, or ‘balcony solar’ as it’s sometimes called, is coming to a supermarket near you. Not just Lidl, but also Iceland and Amazon looks set to sell it, as well as, reportedly, Argos, Currys and John Lewis.

However, for all the big noise, it’s not quite legal yet – though only back in March the UK Government was saying they would be in the shops “within months”.

The idea of plug-in solar is that it allows you to pop a panel on your balcony (or fence, or shed) and then plug it into a standard socket, without any additional wiring or need to hire an electrician. It’s not connected into the distribution panel with a separate fuse, as roof panel installations are.

They love it in Germany, where they have been legal and promoted for several years. The country has by far the biggest uptake of what’s called Balkonkraftwerke in Europe, both in absolute numbers and per household, with........

© Herald Scotland