You are going to have to pay to connect up your PV.

[SteamyTea]

From the inews.co.uk

 

The hidden £200 charge to install solar panels on your home

People looking to invest in solar panels to combat soaring energy prices will be hit with a hidden fee of more than £200 from this month, The i Paper can reveal.

 

The Government is throwing its support behind solar as a way to cut bills by offering low-interest grants and loans towards installations, including paying for installations for low-income families up to a cost of £12,000.

 

But while demand for solar panels is soaring, customers are being hit with a new fee for connecting to the National Grid.

 

As part of any installation, customers must complete a G98 or a G99 application, a registration for connecting solar panels or battery systems to the grid. The two different types of application relate to the size of the system that is being connected.

 

Until now, this was free for most customers. But from 1 April, National Grid says it will be charging £183 plus VAT for the service.

 

National Grid said the cost had previously been absorbed by other customers and the new fee is being introduced to ensure people are treated more “fairly and consistently” from now on.

 

However, John Bloomfield, who runs Green Energy Solar in South Wales, is concerned that the charge may have an impact on business and is sending “mixed messages” to consumers.

 

 

John Bloomfield, owner of Green Energy Solar, says he does not understand why the new fee is being introduced

“It’s confusing to homeowners,” he told The i Paper. “You feel like the general message is ‘do it [install solar panels], this is the right thing to do, reducing carbon emissions, increasing your energy security’.

 

“But then National Grid are saying ‘we want to charge you to do it’. It’s a shame they are doing it, I don’t understand their reasoning.”

 

Bloomfield mainly installs solar systems and batteries to private homeowners and small businesses and said demand has gone “totally crazy” with orders more than doubling between February and March.

 

He thinks the new fee is unlikely to put customers off an installation in the current climate but says it will create extra admin that could lead to delays.

 

He also said communication from National Grid on the issue has been unclear. “It complicates the process for us a little bit because.. we can’t just get the acceptance [from National Grid] and go ahead,” said Bloomfield.

 

“We have to get the acceptance with the cost and then give that to the customer and make sure they accept that.”

 

Installers have been waiting for clarity from National Grid to be able to inform their customers, he added.

 

The grid was privatised by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1990. In 2023, shareholders received £1.6bn in dividends and profits increased to more than £2bn in its latest half-yearly update posted last year. As a result, campaigners have long called for the company to be nationalised.

 

Johnbosco Nwogbo, from lobby group We Own It, told The i Paper: “It’s something we’ve been demanding for several years.

 

“If you are incentivizing homeowners, or small businesses, to go into solar generation on one hand, but then disincentivising them by charging them a fee on the other – it’s not a completely joined-up policy.”

 

A National Grid spokesperson said: “We’ve made changes to how we handle some solar PV connection requests to help improve customer service and ensure a more consistent experience.

 

“From 1 April, we’re applying an assessment fee of £183 including VAT to certain connection offers. This reflects the detailed engineering and safety assessment work we already carry out and ensures customers are treated fairly and consistently.

 

“Until now, this work has still taken place, but the cost has effectively been absorbed and covered by other customers. Introducing the fee means that those requesting this service are charged fairly for the work involved.

 

“For schemes connecting to our low‑voltage network, the fee will only be payable if the customer chooses to accept the connection offer.”

 

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are making solar cheaper and easier to install with our £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the biggest homes upgrade programme in British history.

 

“With grants and low interest loans, alongside new plug-in panels soon to hit supermarket shelves, we are ensuring everyone can take advantage of the benefits of home solar technology.”

[joth]

Scratching my head - G98/99 and PV connection is managed by DNOs, not by "the" national grid ("National Energy System Operator").

But also National Grid is the name of one of many DNOs. So does this statement apply just in their DNO patch, or sloppy journalism actually meaning all "grid" DNOs, or has the definition of Nation Grid changed yet again while I was out? A link to the original source press release would no doubt help.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by joth

[-rick-]

Good question Joth.

 

Either way, I don't find this idea bad. Seems reasonable to me. If you are spending £5000+ on solar (and given currently pricing are going to get payback for that very quickly) why should the rest of us sponsor the connection?

 

If solar was a money loser for people and just done for environmental reasons then sponsorship makes some sense but given solar is so profitable that HMRC are going around reminding people profits from home solar generation is reportable income then further subsidy to higher income people seems wrong.

 

Not against providing incentives for lower income people to get solar. That feels like a different situation.

[-rick-]

Forgot to say, this does seem like it would be a bad thing if it applied to balcony solar type setups. If people have to pay engineering fees to plug in a device to their wall outlet whats the point in the changes on balcony solar? But the wording suggests it applies to only some situations which I would guess 800W of balcony solar is not going to be one.

[saveasteading]

48 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

shareholders received £1.6bn in dividends 

 

I'm shocked, so to speak.

 

So let's say there are 1 million properties in the UK then we are all, as families,  paying £1,600 to these owners as dividends every year.

 

I can understand the article being vague, as few journalists these days do more than print a press statement and very few will have construction or scientific knowledge.

I'm guessing though that if it is plugged in on our side of the meter, that it doesn't apply. Maybe just do it and see what happens?

[NSS]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

 

I'm shocked, so to speak.

 

So let's say there are 1 million properties in the UK then we are all, as families,  paying £1,600 to these owners as dividends every year.

 

I can understand the article being vague, as few journalists these days do more than print a press statement and very few will have construction or scientific knowledge.

I'm guessing though that if it is plugged in on our side of the meter, that it doesn't apply. Maybe just do it and see what happens?

 

If there are 1 million homes in the UK,  wouldn't that mean there are an average of around 70 people living in each home? 😉

Edited 4 hours ago by NSS

[JohnMo]

2 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

privatised by Margaret Thatcher’s

She has a lot to answer for, energy market (oil and gas given away) etc as well.

 

Plug in solar, if you get a fee for registration, who will bother registering? Suggest no-one.

[saveasteading]

29 minutes ago, NSS said:

around 70 people living in each home?

 

My apologies.  factor of 10 out.    PHEW  we are only paying £160/ household as dividend. That does sound more like it, but it is still a lot.

 

I shouldn't do mental arithmetic with big numbers while sitting in the car (I was not driving).

I chose 1M for convenience btw. and of course there is commercial use too, but we are the populace,  so that huge amount could perhaps be better controlled.

[Beelbeebub]

But what does the fee contribute to? 

 

AFAIK, you apply, the system operator looks up what your connection can take and that's it. 

 

The form is electronic and has drop down menus for all the applicable fields. The whole thing could be almost automated - especially for the "default" 3.6kw connection. 

 

I can understand maybe some engineer time if you want to ask for more than 3.6kw as someone might need to dig into some records and do some calculations. 

 

If the system meeds upgrading to cope with the extra input that is the dno's responsibility anyway and £200 isn't going to go far when it comes to replacing cables or transformers. 

 

I can see it may be neccesary/prudent to just have 3.6kw (or maybe a lower figure) as the default that everyone can export and then charge for higher levels. 

 

The current "first come first serve" allocation is a little unfair as some early adopters have huge limits and then late comers get very little. 

[NSS]

26 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

 

My apologies.  factor of 10 out.    PHEW  we are only paying £160/ household as dividend. That does sound more like it, but it is still a lot.

 

I shouldn't do mental arithmetic with big numbers while sitting in the car (I was not driving).

I chose 1M for convenience btw. and of course there is commercial use too, but we are the populace,  so that huge amount could perhaps be better controlled.

 

Nearer a factor of 30 actually, so more like £55 per household, circa £1 per week, but I get where you're coming from 👍🏻 

[Mattg4321]

I would take a strong guess this is National Grid - DNO in the Midlands, South Wales and South West England. I can't see how anyone outside can apply it to the other DNO's, apart from the DNO's themselves. They all have slightly different rules/charges as far as I know. I've only ever really dealt with UK Power Networks as they are the DNO for anywhere within a couple of hours drive of my location.

[dpmiller]

^yep doesn't look like it's UK- wide

[Roger440]

1 hour ago, Mattg4321 said:

I would take a strong guess this is National Grid - DNO in the Midlands, South Wales and South West England. I can't see how anyone outside can apply it to the other DNO's, apart from the DNO's themselves. They all have slightly different rules/charges as far as I know. I've only ever really dealt with UK Power Networks as they are the DNO for anywhere within a couple of hours drive of my location.

 

Well, they certainly know how to charge! That much i do know.

 

So, does this mean if you are in a different part of the country you dont pay? If so, thats bonkers.

 

The cynic in me says this is to cash in on the forthcomin plug in solar. Maybe im just too cynical.

[SteamyTea]

Maybe @Dillsue can shed some light on this, he is in the PV business.

[Mattg4321]

46 minutes ago, Roger440 said:

 

Well, they certainly know how to charge! That much i do know.

 

So, does this mean if you are in a different part of the country you dont pay? If so, thats bonkers.

 

The cynic in me says this is to cash in on the forthcomin plug in solar. Maybe im just too cynical.

My guess is you won’t pay elsewhere in the country currently, but I’ve not looked into it properly and the journalism is pretty poor!