Independent guide · English and German
Your power plant at home, explained.
Plug-in solar, batteries and portable power stations: how the technology works, what the rules are where you live and when it actually pays off. Worked numbers, not sales talk.
- Country rules with check dates
- Comparisons from data sheets only
- Calculators, not blanket verdicts
Topics
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6 pages
Plug-in solar
How balcony and plug-in solar kits work, what the 800 W limit really means, how to mount them and how to work out whether one pays off for you.
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4 pages
Batteries and home storage
When a battery makes sense next to plug-in solar, how the systems differ, how zero export with a smart meter reader works and how big a home battery should be.
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2 pages
Backup power
Portable power stations compared on their data sheets, and what really keeps the lights, the fridge and the router running during a power cut.
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5 pages
Plug-in solar rules by country
Registration, power limits, plugs and landlord rules for plug-in solar across Europe, from Germany and the newly opened UK market to France, Benelux and the south.
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2 pages
Tariffs and self-consumption
How dynamic electricity tariffs work with a battery, and whether exporting solar power or using it yourself pays more.
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4 pages
Power plants and the grid
How thermal power plants work, how flue gas cleaning removes dust, sulphur, nitrogen oxides and mercury, Europe's electricity mix and how home batteries join virtual power plants.
Where most readers start
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Plug-in solar in the UK and Ireland: the 2026 rules
Plug-in solar became legal in Great Britain on 27 August 2026. What the 800 VA rule, G98 notification and BS 7671 mean for you, and where Ireland stands.
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How plug-in solar works: panels, inverter and socket
How a plug-in solar kit turns sunlight into mains power for your home: panels, microinverter, plug and what happens to the electricity you do not use.
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Plug-in solar yield and payback calculator
Estimate what a plug-in solar kit produces and how long it takes to pay back, using your location, self-consumption, electricity price and kit cost.
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Plug-in solar with a battery: is it worth it?
A battery shifts midday solar power into the evening. How to work out whether that saves enough to cover its price, step by step, and which rules apply.
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Portable power stations compared (1 kWh class)
Four 1 kWh portable power stations compared on their data sheets: capacity, output, LFP cells, rated cycles and UPS switchover. Checked October 2026.
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Dynamic electricity tariffs and home batteries explained
How dynamic and time-of-use tariffs work, why they need a smart meter, and when a home battery can earn extra by charging cheap and discharging dear.
What are the rules where you live?
Registration, power limits, plugs and landlords: plug-in solar rules differ a lot across Europe, and the UK only opened its market in 2026. Each country page states when it was checked and links the official source.
All country rulesFrom power station to balcony
How electricity is made
Before power reaches your socket it passes through large power stations and a continent-wide grid. Our explainer section covers how thermal plants work, how their exhaust is cleaned and why home batteries are now acting as power plants themselves.
If you are about to buy panels or a battery, it pays to compare solar kits and storage (in German) and put the datasheets side by side. And for the day the grid goes down, a guide to backup power and emergency preparedness (in German) helps you match power station, lighting and supplies.
Go to Power & grid-
How thermal power plants work: boiler, turbine, generator
How coal, gas, biomass and nuclear plants turn heat into electricity, what efficiency means, and why combined cycle and combined heat and power do better.
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Flue gas cleaning explained: dust, SO2, NOx and mercury
How power plants remove dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury from their exhaust, and how EU best available techniques set the limits.
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Europe’s electricity mix: wind and solar overtake fossil
Where Europe’s electricity comes from: in 2025 wind and solar produced more than fossil fuels in the EU for the first time. Sources, country differences and data.
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Virtual power plants: how home batteries join the grid
What a virtual power plant is, how aggregators pool home batteries, cars and heat pumps, which grid services they provide and what owners should check.
Auf Deutsch
Alle Ratgeber gibt es auch auf Deutsch, mit Anmeldung, Mietrecht und den Regeln in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz.
Zum deutschen BereichRecommended
Further reading from partners
Backup power is only half the job: the other half is practice. For hands-on guidance, see these survival skills for the whole family (in German), with step-by-step guides for outdoors and at home.