Plug-In Solar DNO Notification: How to Notify Your Network Operator (G98)
A compliant plug-in solar kit (800 VA or less, listed as Compliant on the ENA register) is notified by you, once, at myplugin.solar, ideally before you switch it on. The Energy Networks Association (ENA) then passes the details to your network operator. Anything hardwired, over 800 VA or not on the plug-in register follows the standard G98 route: connect first, then your installer notifies the DNO within 28 days of commissioning (30 days at SP Energy Networks and NIE Networks). Below: both routes, how to find your DNO, what each of the six Great Britain network groups asks for, and the mistakes that cause trouble later.
Plug-In Solar DNO Notification: How to Notify Your Network Operator (G98)
Every watt your panels make travels through cables that somebody else owns. That is the whole reason DNO notification exists, and since 27 August 2026 there are two ways to do it: a one-off online registration for plug-in kits, and the older G98 connect-and-notify route for everything else.
Why your DNO needs to know about a plug-in kit
Your distribution network operator (DNO) owns the cables and substations between the national grid and your meter, and it has to keep voltage inside legal limits on every street it serves. Solar pushes power back through cables built for one-way traffic. With enough unregistered generators on one street, voltage creeps up until inverters trip offline to protect themselves, a fault covered in our guide to inverters tripping on high grid voltage.
Engineer safety is the second reason. When network staff isolate a cable, your inverter has to stop exporting at once and stay off until supply is stable again. That loss-of-mains protection is also why your solar stays dark for a while after a power cut, which this piece on reconnection after a power cut explains.
A three-pin plug on the end of the generator changes neither point. What changed in 2026 is only how the paperwork travels.
G98 vs G99 in plain English
G98 and G99 are Engineering Recommendations (EREC) published by the Energy Networks Association. G98 covers fully type-tested micro-generators up to 16 A per phase. G99 covers everything bigger or not type-tested. The current G98 is Issue 2 (March 2025) as amended by Amendment 1, which took effect on 27 August 2026 to allow plug-in solar. The split decides whether you notify after the fact or ask permission first.
| G98 (connect and notify) | G99 (apply first) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Fully type-tested generation, and storage when it exports, up to 16 A per phase for the whole property. That includes compliant plug-in kits | Anything larger, anything not fully type-tested, or sites where combined capacity passes the G98 limit |
| Order of events | Install and commission first, then notify within 28 days, counting the commissioning day | Apply, possibly with network studies, and get approval before you connect |
| The paperwork | Wired systems: Form B1 (formerly Form B) or the DNO’s online equivalent. Plug-in kits: registration at myplugin.solar | G99 application forms plus supplementary documents |
| Who sends it | Wired: the installer, or you on a DIY job. Plug-in kit: you | Usually the installer or designer, before works start |
| Cost | DNOs don’t normally charge to process a G98 notification | Assessment fees and network works can be charged |
| Typical domestic case | A rooftop array up to 3.68 kW on a single-phase supply, a compliant plug-in kit, a home battery whose export keeps the total within the limit | A large three-phase array, an inverter that isn’t type-tested, or a second system that takes a home over the limit |
Capacity means the inverter’s rated AC output, not the panel wattage. A kit sold as “920 W” of panels can still be an 800 VA inverter, and the 800 VA is the number that counts.
“Fully type-tested” is the phrase doing the heavy lifting. It means the inverter model itself has been tested against G98 and listed on the ENA Type Test Register, which now sits on the ENA’s Connect Direct site. The DNO then accepts it without studying your particular street. If your inverter isn’t on that register, G98 was never available to you, whatever the seller’s brochure said.
What changed on 27 August 2026
Until this summer, plugging a generator into a UK socket was unlawful because the plug and socket regulations did not allow it. SI 2026/848, made on 16 July and in force from 27 August 2026, amended the Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 and the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 (ESQCR) following DESNZ’s consultation. It defines a “plug-in microgenerator” as a device that generates from sunlight only, has a maximum rated AC output of 800 watts, connects through a standard plug and socket, operates in parallel with the network and is not designed to import and store electricity. Batteries are excluded at the definition stage, so plug-in batteries remain outside the rules.
The Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification (IPS), version 2.0, published on 16 July 2026, sets the product rules: a moulded BS 1363 plug fused at 5 A or less, up to 2,000 W of panels feeding the 800 VA output, shutdown within 100 milliseconds of losing mains, and a listing on the ENA Type Test Register as type “Plug-in Solar” with status Compliant before the kit can be sold. Our register-check guide walks through reading an entry line by line, and our breakdown of the DESNZ response covers how the rules were drawn up. The government’s consultation page holds the primary documents.
The notification rules changed at the same time. Ofgem approved G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 in August 2026, and it came into force alongside the SI. For a plug-in kit it lets the householder act as the installer, adds a simplified customer form (Form B2) and a matching decommissioning form (Form D2), and renames the old Forms B and D as B1 and D1 for wired systems. It also allows one plug-in micro-generator per customer installation, which Ofgem describes as effectively one per household.
Two limits to know before you count devices. The IPS allows one plug-in device per circuit, but G98 caps it at one per home until G98 is amended, so today it is one kit per household. And Northern Ireland is outside the new operating rules, because the safety-regulation change covers England, Scotland and Wales only.
The dedicated BSI product standard for plug-in kits was still in progress when the framework went live, so the Interim Product Specification and the ENA register do the gatekeeping for now. Our live tracker follows the standard’s publication date.
Two routes: which one applies to you?
There isn’t one notification process for plug-in solar. There are two, and the kit decides which one you use, not your postcode.
| Your set-up | Route | Who notifies | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliant plug-in kit: 800 VA or less, listed as Plug-in Solar / Compliant, with its moulded plug | Route 1 | You, at myplugin.solar | Before you start using it |
| Hardwired by an installer or electrician, within 16 A per phase | Route 2 | Your installer | Within 28 days of commissioning |
| Hardwired DIY system | Route 2 | You, as the installer | Within 28 days of commissioning |
| Plug-in kit that isn’t Compliant on the register | Neither as it stands | Don’t plug it in. An electrician can hardwire it only if the inverter is listed for hardwired use | Then Route 2 |
| A kit with a battery in the box | Not a plug-in kit | The battery must be hardwired by an installer | Route 2, or G99 if the total passes 16 A per phase |
Route 1: compliant plug-in kits
Registration happens at myplugin.solar, the portal the Energy Networks Association runs for this purpose. You verify your email, enter your postcode, pick your address, then choose your kit from the portal’s own list of compliant devices. If your kit isn’t on that list, stop and recheck the register. ENA says a kit that’s missing may still be under assessment, so look again after a few days before you submit anything. You get an on-screen confirmation rather than an email, so screenshot it and keep it with your receipt.
The Energy Saving Trust advises registering before you start using the kit. Registering is a legal requirement, and the product specification makes every compliant kit carry a statement saying that notifying the network operator is mandatory. It’s one kit per household, and if you already have rooftop solar, read when G98 isn’t enough first.
One practical point on what happens next. ENA sends the notification to the operator for your address, but at the start of October its release notes still listed the DNO-facing side of that system as an upcoming release. A reply from your network operator isn’t likely yet, so your screenshot is the proof that you notified.
Route 2: everything hardwired
A rooftop array, a balcony kit wired in by an electrician, a self-built stack of panels and microinverter, anything over 800 VA, or anything paired with storage: this is the standard G98 route. Connect and commission first, then notify within 28 days (counting the commissioning day) through your DNO’s form or portal. On a traded install the installer sends the notification, because the code makes it their job. On a DIY job you are the installer, and the form is yours, so read whether DIY solar installation is legal in the UK before you start.
An MCS-certified installer normally files the notification as part of commissioning, and MCS certification is also what unlocks Smart Export Guarantee payments. Our guides to what the MCS badge means and how to find an installer help here. On cost, a supplied-and-installed system is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027 (5% from 1 April 2027 on current legislation), while a boxed kit you fit yourself pays 20%. Our VAT guide has the numbers.
If you bought a plug-in kit that never made the register as Compliant, this route is the only way to use it. An electrician can hardwire the panels and inverter as a conventional system, but only if that inverter model is listed on the register for hardwired use, under type “PV”.
Which DNO am I with? Check your MPAN
Your supply number (MPAN) is printed on any electricity bill. Take the bottom row of the MPAN, the 13-digit core, and read its first two digits. That is your distributor ID, and it tells you which network group you belong to. If you register a plug-in kit, myplugin.solar works this out from your address, so this table matters most on Route 2.
| First two digits | Area | Network group |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | East of England | UK Power Networks |
| 11 | East Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 12 | London | UK Power Networks |
| 13 | Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales | SP Energy Networks |
| 14 | West Midlands | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 15 | North East England | Northern Powergrid |
| 16 | North West England | Electricity North West |
| 17 | North of Scotland | SSEN |
| 18 | Central and southern Scotland | SP Energy Networks |
| 19 | South East England | UK Power Networks |
| 20 | Southern England | SSEN |
| 21 | South Wales | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 22 | South West England | National Grid Electricity Distribution |
| 23 | Yorkshire | Northern Powergrid |
An ID outside 10 to 23 usually means your home is on an independent network (an IDNO), which is common on newer estates. In that case notify the independent operator named on your bill or by your developer. myplugin.solar routes plug-in registrations to “the DNO or IDNO” that supplies your property.
Network by network: where the G98 form goes
Great Britain has six network groups covering 14 licence areas, and each runs its own notification route for wired installations. Find your group below and use its own channel. Forms and portals move around, so check the operator’s page on the day.
| Network group | Licence areas | G98 notification route (wired systems) | Deadline and quirks |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK Power Networks | London, South East, East of England | Installer notifies through UKPN’s Smart Connect portal. UKPN says only installers can notify on a customer’s behalf | Within 28 days of installation |
| National Grid Electricity Distribution | East Midlands, West Midlands, South West, South Wales | Online “Micro generation (G98)” form, about 10 to 15 minutes with instant acknowledgement. Form B can go by email to nged.newsupplies@nationalgrid.co.uk | Within 28 days of commissioning. Have your device reference number ready |
| SSEN | North of Scotland, central southern England | Download G98 Form B and email it to microgen@sse.com | Within 28 days of commissioning. More than one generator at a property needs approval first |
| SP Energy Networks (SPEN) | Central and southern Scotland; Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales | Form B (commissioning confirmation) with circuit diagram and test report. Send it as directed on SPEN’s connections page | Tell SPEN about the proposal before or at commissioning, and submit Form B within 30 days |
| Northern Powergrid | North East, Yorkshire | Installer notifies through Northern Powergrid’s micro-generation page, online or with Form B | Within 28 days of connecting the equipment |
| Electricity North West | North West England | G98 Form B emailed to G98notifications@enwl.co.uk | Once installation is complete, inside 28 days |
| NIE Networks | Northern Ireland | G98/NI Stage 1 commissioning form, submitted online by the installer. Stage 2 applies to several installations close together | 30 days from commissioning. Plug-in kits aren’t permitted in NI yet, so Route 1 doesn’t apply (see solar panels in Northern Ireland) |
These pages describe the wired route. When checked in early October, none of the six Great Britain operators’ G98 pages mentioned plug-in solar or offered the new Form B2, and several still show the older Form B. For a plug-in kit, myplugin.solar is the route that exists. The ENA’s Connect Direct platform also accepts G98 submissions from installers, and Amendment 1 lets details be submitted that way as an alternative to the DNO’s own form.
If you live in a SPEN area, don’t copy the 28-day habit from a national blog, including this one’s general framing. SPEN’s page asks to be told about a single G98 generator before or at the time of commissioning, then wants Form B within 30 days. The simplest plan is to notify on installation day and keep the acknowledgement.
Renting, or fitting a kit to a flat’s balcony? The notification is the easy half. Written permission from your landlord, freeholder or building manager comes first. Our balcony solar guide for renters and flats covers the conversation and the planning limits that arrived with SI 2026/896, and the leasehold flat guide covers freeholder consent.
What the form asks for (and what to keep)
Whichever route you’re on, the information is broadly the same. Have these in front of you and the job takes about ten minutes:
- Your address and MPAN. The MPAN sits on any electricity bill and tells the DNO exactly which supply point you mean.
- Inverter make and model, plus its ENA reference. On the register this is the System Reference, a string of letters, numbers and version codes such as ABCDE/12345/V1/A1. Copy it exactly.
- Maximum AC output per phase, and phase count. AC, not the panel total.
- The commissioning date. The day it first generated into your wiring, not the delivery date.
- Installer details, or your own declaration. Traded jobs carry the installer’s scheme registration. DIY jobs carry your name and signature. G98’s installer requirements for wired systems also include a photo of the cut-out, the sealed unit where the supply enters your home, so take one while the installer is on site.
- For plug-in kits: your myplugin.solar confirmation. Screenshot the on-screen confirmation and note the register entry’s System Reference.
Then file everything together: the acknowledgement or screenshot, the register entry as you saw it, electrical certificates for hardwired work, and the kit’s receipt. Suppliers often ask for the DNO’s acknowledgement before setting up an export tariff (SEG tariff rates compared), and you’ll want the folder when you sell the house, make an insurance claim or add a second system. Tell your home insurer too: our solar insurance guide lists the questions worth asking.
When G98 isn’t enough
G98 is generous, but it has edges, and hitting one after you’ve connected is far worse than spotting it before:
- Combined capacity over 16 A per phase. G98 counts everything at the address, at each inverter’s rated AC output: 3.68 kW single-phase or 11.04 kW three-phase. Storage counts when it can export. An 800 W plug-in kit (about 3.5 A) next to a battery that can export 3 kW (about 13 A) comes to 16.5 A, which tips you into G99. See adding a battery to existing solar panels.
- Rooftop solar plus a plug-in kit. G98 allows both if the total stays within 16 A per phase. ENA’s registration site goes further and says that with an existing 3.68 kW G98 system you need a qualified installer and a G99 application, and any extra generation must be wired in. The two differ for smaller systems, so ask your DNO in writing before you plug in, and keep the reply.
- An inverter that isn’t fully type-tested. No register listing for that use means no G98 route, full stop.
- Several installations close together. If an installer fits, or has fitted in the last 28 days, other systems in the same area (the same feeder, the same postcode ignoring the last two characters, or within about 500 m), the job needs an application on Form A before connecting. SSEN applies the same test.
- A second plug-in kit. The IPS allows one per circuit, but G98 allows one per customer installation. Today, a second kit has no legal plug-in route.
- Any kit with a battery. Storage-integrated plug-in products fall outside the legal definition. If you want storage, it’s an installed battery with its own rules, covered in what’s legal now for plug-in batteries.
- A tuned or over-powered kit. A device pushing past its rated output isn’t a compliant product any more, and notification doesn’t cure that.
In every one of those cases the answer is the same: stop, and talk to your DNO before connecting. A G99 application or a redesigned system costs less than an enforced disconnection. If you’re still weighing up whether plug-in solar is worth the paperwork, the prices, VAT and export payments section of our register guide runs the savings and payback maths.
Mistakes that cause trouble later
- Treating a “G98 certified inverter” as proof the kit is legal. An inverter listed under type “PV” is approved for hardwired installs. The plug-in rules need the whole kit listed as “Plug-in Solar” and Compliant. Check the register entry before you buy.
- Skipping notification because the kit is small. At 800 VA it’s still a generator on the network, and registering is a legal requirement.
- Counting from the delivery date. The clock starts at commissioning, and G98 counts the commissioning day itself.
- Applying the 28-day rule everywhere. SPEN and NIE Networks quote 30 days, and SPEN also wants to hear before or at commissioning.
- Losing the proof. With no DNO reply likely for plug-in kits yet, your screenshot is the record.
- Adding a second kit or a battery. Both fall outside the plug-in route today.
After you notify: moving house, replacing or removing a kit
Moving house. A plug-in kit is portable, but a registration belongs to an address, so register again at the new one. Our moving house with solar guide covers what else to hand over.
Replacing a kit. Register the replacement through the same process. You still have only one kit per household at any time.
Removing a kit for good. The product specification makes notifying a disconnection mandatory, and G98 Amendment 1 has a decommissioning form (D2 for plug-in kits, D1 for wired systems). In early October none of the six operators offered it, so email your DNO with the address, the device and the date, and keep the reply.
Ten minutes of forms is the cheapest part of any solar system you’ll own. Do it on the day, keep the screenshot, and the network operator, and whoever inherits your consumer unit, will know exactly what is feeding it.
FAQs
Yes. Being listed as Compliant on the ENA Type Test Register makes a kit legal to sell and use, but you still have to tell your network operator. For a plug-in kit you do that at myplugin.solar, which sends the notification to the DNO for your address. The Energy Saving Trust advises registering before you start using the kit, and every compliant kit must carry a statement that notification is mandatory. Tell them again if you permanently disconnect the kit or move house.
The installer. Under EREC G98 the installer makes sure the DNO is told within 28 days of commissioning, usually with Form B (now Form B1) or the operator’s online equivalent. If you fit a hardwired system yourself you are the installer, so pick your network from the table above, send the form within the same period and keep the acknowledgement with your electrical certificates. For a plug-in kit, G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 lets the householder act as the installer, which is why you can register it yourself at myplugin.solar.
Nothing happens automatically, which is the problem. You are unlikely to be fined on day 29, but you are in breach of the connection rules, and it tends to surface when you sell, claim on insurance or apply for an export tariff. Send the notification late rather than never, using the real commissioning date, and keep proof that you sent it.
Possibly, but ask your DNO first. G98 allows a plug-in kit alongside wired generation if the total stays within 16 A per phase, which is 3.68 kW on a single-phase supply. ENA’s registration site, however, says that with an existing 3.68 kW G98 system you need a qualified installer and a G99 application, and any extra generation must be hardwired. The two statements differ for smaller systems, so email your network operator, wait for a written reply and keep it before you plug in.
Not normally. G98 is a notification, not an application, and network operators do not usually charge to process one for small-scale generation. G99 applications can involve assessment fees and network upgrade costs.
Look at your MPAN, the supply number on your electricity bill. The first two digits of the bottom row are your distributor ID, and the table above maps each ID from 10 to 23 to one of the six Great Britain network groups. If you register a plug-in kit at myplugin.solar, the site works out your network from your address.
Yes to both. A registration belongs to an address, so register again at your new home. If you permanently remove a kit, tell your DNO. G98 Amendment 1 has a decommissioning form for plug-in kits, but in early October none of the six operators offered it, so email your DNO with the address, the device and the date, and keep the reply.
No. The 2026 change to the safety regulations covers England, Scotland and Wales only, and the Energy Saving Trust says plug-in solar is not currently permitted in Northern Ireland. NIE Networks runs a separate G98/NI process for hardwired microgeneration, and the installer has 30 days from commissioning to submit the Stage 1 form.
