Surface and planning check
Whether the rules cover your roof, wall or garden.
More on thisPutting it up and plugging it in
Devices in the interim product specification are meant to be set up and run by the householder. Fixing the panel and pushing the plug in is not electrical work, and no electrician is needed for it.
What you do need is a device that has been registered. Before selling one, a manufacturer must have it type tested against G98 and listed on the ENA Type Test Register. If it is not on that register, nobody has assessed it, whatever the listing claims. We only arrange kit that is on it.
When you need an electrician
Where the nearest socket is outdoors, it has to be rated IP55 or better. Fitting one is electrical work, so an electrician does it. We put you in touch with one locally, and the price they give covers that work and not the panel.
An electrician is also the right person where the circuit itself needs altering. Replacing the overcurrent protection device under BS 7671 section 551.7.2 is one example, and that is work only a qualified electrician may carry out. Where a socket looks doubtful, have one look at it before anything is plugged in.
What must never be used
The specification repeats this, once on the device marking and once in the instructions. None of the following may sit between the device and the socket.
- Extension cables
- Multi-way adaptors
- RCD adaptors
- Travel adaptors
This matters most in exactly the place people put these panels. Out in a garden an extension lead is the obvious thing to reach for, and it is the one thing you must not use. If the socket will not reach, the answer is another socket.
One per household, and why
The specification allows one device per final ring circuit and then defers to the network rules. Under G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 a household may have one. The AC output is capped at 800 VA and 3.5 A, and the panels feeding the inverter are capped at 2000 W in total. Past 960 W of panel capacity, the specification wants somebody qualified to say whether the installation suits the house.
Two wattages, and they are not the same number
A listing that prints one and not the other has told you half of it. Up to 2000 W of panels may feed an inverter that puts out 800 VA, and that is allowed.
Insurance, and wiring that predates it
Instructions that come with a compliant device are required to tell you to ask your insurer. Ring them before the panel arrives.
Where the wiring has not been touched in years, get an electrician to look over the socket and the circuit first. Older wiring came up repeatedly in the consultation as the practical risk with these devices.
Not sure it applies to your house?
Give us the postcode and say what the wall or the roof is made of. We will tell you which way it falls.
