Network connection route
connection_routeWork out which ENA connection procedure a domestic installation of solar panels, batteries or both falls under: connect first and notify the distribution network operator within 28 days, or apply and wait for approval before anything is connected.
The rules are the ENA's engineering recommendations, not MCS documents: EREC G98 for small installations, EREC G99 for everything larger, and EREC G100 for export limitation. Every test is in amps per phase at a nominal 230 V, and it applies to the premises as a whole, so list EVERY inverter that can export, existing ones included. A battery counts as generation even if it only ever charges from the panels.
The figure that counts is each inverter's registered capacity: its AC rating, or a lower limit the manufacturer has fixed. It is NOT the panels' kWp. A 4.4 kWp array on a 3.68 kW inverter is a 3.68 kW installation. Where an inverter has been capped below its hardware rating, give the hardware rating as 'designCapacityKw', because G99 tests that separately.
The routes are: G98 when the total is 16 A per phase or less (3.68 kW single phase, 11.04 kW three phase); G99 SGI-1, also connect and notify, when the total is within 16 A but an inverter built for up to 32 A has been capped; G99 SGI-2 and SGI-3, fast track applications answered within 10 working days, which allow larger totals held back by a type-tested export limiter; and the standard G99 application for anything else. An export limiter NEVER brings an installation under G98.
IMPORTANT: this says which procedure applies, not what the operator will decide. Approval depends on the local network, which only the operator can assess. Say so whenever you report a result.
Method from EREC G98 / G99. These calculators follow the published MCS methods, for understanding a system and checking a quotation. Anything that gets installed still needs a design and a site survey from a certified installer.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| phases | No | The supply: 1 for single phase, which is almost every British house, or 3 for three phase. Defaults to 1. | |
| devices | Yes | Every inverter at the premises that can export: solar, battery and hybrid, existing ones included. A battery counts even if it only charges from the panels. At least one is required. | |
| exportLimitKw | No | The export limit a fully type-tested G100 scheme would hold the premises to, in kW per phase, where one is proposed. Optional. An export limit never brings an installation under G98, but it decides which G99 route applies. | |
| otherInstallationsNearby | No | True when the same installer has fitted, or plans to fit, generation at other premises within 500 metres, or on the same street, within 28 days either side. That turns a G98 notification into an application. Defaults to false. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| notes | Yes | ||
| route | Yes | ||
| method | Yes | ||
| phases | Yes | Registered capacity on each phase, in kW and in amps at the nominal 230 V the recommendations use. | |
| devices | Yes | ||
| totalKw | Yes | Registered capacity of every device added together. | |
| verdict | Yes | ||
| warning | Yes | Which route applies is arithmetic; what the network operator decides is not. Always present. | |
| g98LimitKw | Yes | 16 A per phase at 230 V: 3.68 kW on a single phase supply, 11.04 kW on three phase. | |
| references | Yes | ||
| worstPhaseA | Yes | Current on the most heavily loaded phase. This is the figure the thresholds are tested against. | |
| alternatives | No | Changes that would put the installation on an easier route, and what each would cost. | |
| exportLimitA | No | The proposed export limit converted to amps per phase. |