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Plug-in (or balcony) solar tech has been booming in Europe for a while now, but it seems as though the rest of the world is slowly catching on: these kits are now legal in the UK, while an increasing number of US states are approving them too.
The simplicity is the main appeal of these solar panels, which can be plugged straight into a standard outlet in your home, without any expensive roof mounting or time-consuming planning permission required. Any energy that you generate from free sunlight is used immediately for the appliances in your home, cutting down your electricity bill.
Now that the tech is legal in a growing number of places, we're seeing more and more certified kits and compatible batteries appear on sale. During our travels around the IFA 2026 tech expo in Berlin, the products below particularly caught our eye.
There's one big caveat here — in the UK and US, grid-tied plug-in batteries aren't currently a legal part of plug-in solar, so in those regions the products below will need professional installation (which slightly negates that 'plug-in' descriptor).
Still, there are hopes that plug-in batteries could soon be legalized in the UK and elsewhere, which means the bill-cutting products below could be a glimpse of our home energy future…
EcoFlow has been in the energy storage game for some time of course, and brings all of its expertise to bear on these two new products. Starting with the 3-5kWh Stream 2 home battery, we've got support for up to 5,000W of solar input and 3,000W of electricity output, so enough to power washing machines, dishwashers, and the like.
It's modular too, so you can stack these up like Lego bricks as your energy needs change, and the units offer four MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) inputs if you need to connect panels in different spots. There's also an AC version if you already have solar panels installed and just need somewhere to store the electricity.
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As for the Ocean 2, this is a fitted home battery, replacing the PowerOcean line. It does up to 30 kWh with a single inverter, and can provide backup power if the grid goes down with an instant switchover so you'll never even notice. Both require professional installation, but you can take the Stream 2 with you when you move.
On to the Anker Solix Solarbank Max, and this impressive-looking home battery brings with it 7 kWh of storage capacity, which should be enough to keep an entire home going overnight (assuming it hits the average figure for usage).
Unlike the AC version that's already on the market, this can connect directly to your solar panels, and it can take on 10,000W of solar input across three MPPTs. You can also expand the capacity up to 42 kWh with extra batteries.
You do need to get an electrician to fit this to your home power network, just to avoid anything blowing up, but Anker reckons you'll have saved on up front costs and be getting pure profit within 2.5 years — though your mileage may vary.
The Zendure SolarFlow 2400 Pro and 4000 Mix Pro aren't entirely new, but they were shown off at IFA, and we're including them here. Again the emphasis is on simple, easy to manage solar energy storage: the SolarFlow 2400 Pro can take on 4,800W of solar input across four MPPTs, and offers 2,400W bi-directional AC power (hence the name).
With the SolarFlow 4000 Mix Pro, we've got capacity for 13,000W of solar input across two MPPTs, and you get (you've guessed it) up to 4,000W of bi-directional power, so it's a more heavy duty operator and larger unit.
