Connecting panels to the grid in Frodsham

Finding the operator for an address

Every home’s supply runs over a local distribution network, and the company that operates it needs to know about anything that can generate electricity in parallel with the grid. This guide does not name the operator for Frodsham. The Energy Networks Association’s postcode search gives the correct answer for any address, and the operator it names is the one that receives the paperwork. In practice the firm fitting the system normally deals with it, but the household is the customer and is entitled to see what was submitted in its name.

G98: connect, then tell

Small systems follow the G98 route. If the generating equipment, including any battery able to export, is rated at no more than 16 A per phase, about 3.68 kW on the single-phase supply most homes have, it can be connected first and the operator notified within 28 days. The limit applies to the inverter’s output, not to the combined rating of the panels, which is why a 4 kWp array often sits behind an inverter rated at or just under 3.68 kW.

On a cool, bright spring day the panels may briefly produce more than such an inverter can pass, and the excess is clipped. Panels rarely reach their full rating on a British roof, and the moments when they would are few, so the amount lost over a year is usually small. A firm should be able to say how much it expects, if any.

G99: ask first

Anything above the G98 limit needs a G99 application, approved by the operator before the system is connected. That covers larger arrays and many combinations of panels and a battery whose output together could exceed 16 A per phase. The operator looks at whether the local network can take the extra power. It may approve the system as proposed, ask for changes, approve it with a cap on export or, occasionally, require reinforcement work, which can bring a charge. Decisions are not instant, so a firm should apply early and tell the household when to expect an answer.

The order of events

For a G98 system the sequence is short: design, installation, commissioning, then notification within 28 days. For a G99 system the application and the operator’s decision come before anything is fixed to the roof, which is why a firm should not start work on a larger system until approval is in hand. In both cases the meter matters at the end. Export payments need a meter that records exports, and if the existing one cannot, the household’s electricity supplier has to change it, which can take a while to arrange. Because the application carries the household’s name and address, the operator may write to the household directly with questions, so it helps to know the paperwork has gone in and what it says.

Export limitation

A common way to fit more panels or a larger battery without waiting for network work is export limitation: a device that watches the supply and stops the system sending more than an agreed amount to the grid. The house can still use everything the panels make; only the flow out through the meter is capped. It has to be designed in from the start and described in the G99 application, and the household should know the agreed figure, since it affects how much can be exported on the brightest days.

Three-phase supplies

A few homes, often larger houses or those with a workshop, have a three-phase supply. The G98 limit applies to each phase, so the threshold is higher overall, but the system has to be balanced across the phases or limited accordingly. The fuse board or the meter usually shows which kind of supply a house has, and the firm will confirm it on the survey.

How Frodsham’s roofs bear on the paperwork

The route depends on the most a system could send at once, not on what it makes over a year, and two features of the town lower peaks rather than raise them. An east–west split never delivers its full rated output, because its two halves peak hours apart; east and west roofs explains why. A house at the foot of the hill loses winter output rather than summer peaks, so the ridge does not alter the paperwork at all; the hill and winter sun shows when the losses fall. What does alter it is adding a battery, or a second array on a garage or garden frame, to a system that is already connected.

For a sense of scale, a 4 kWp roof facing south at 35° makes about 3,764 kWh in a typical Frodsham year on the PVGIS figures, most of it from April to September. That yearly figure has no bearing on G98 or G99 by itself; the inverter rating and any battery do.

Adding to a system later

A battery, more panels or a car charger fitted after the first installation can change the picture. Generating equipment is assessed as a whole, so a system notified under G98 may need a G99 application once storage able to export is added. Car chargers do not generate, but they add load to the supply, and operators generally expect to be told about them too. Whoever does the later work should check the existing paperwork first; batteries in Frodsham covers storage in more detail.

The supply itself

Older houses sometimes have a main fuse, cut-out or meter position that needs attention before new equipment is connected. The operator owns the cut-out and the incoming cable, and only it can replace them, so if a survey finds a problem the firm should say so and explain how long the operator is likely to take. Some older terraces still share a supply between neighbouring houses, which may need separating before generation is added.

Electric heating and the network

Census 2021 found 5.3% of Frodsham ward households heating with electricity alone, and the full heating mix is on Frodsham homes by ward. Those homes already draw more from the network in winter, and some have meters or tariffs built around overnight heating. Panels and batteries can work alongside them, but the meter type and any existing time switching need checking before a design is settled.

Payments and paperwork further down the line

An export tariff under the SEG scheme can only begin once the system is properly connected and registered; export and self-use explains how much a Frodsham roof tends to export. If the house is later sold, the buyer’s solicitor will ask for the G98 notification or G99 approval, as buying a Frodsham home with solar sets out.

Questions for the firm

• Which route applies to this design, G98 or G99, and why?
• Who submits the notification or application, and when?
• What happens if the operator asks for export limitation or a contribution to network work?
• Will the household receive a copy of the notification or approval?
• If a battery is added later, what will change?

The wider checks on a firm are on choosing an installer, prices on what solar might cost in Frodsham, and short answers to common questions on the FAQ page.