Telling London Power Networks | Plug-in Solar London

Which operator covers London

Great Britain is divided into fourteen distribution licence areas and London is one of them. The operator for it is London Power Networks plc, which is part of UK Power Networks. The same group also runs the Eastern and South Eastern areas, and the outer boroughs sit near the edge of both.

Our map is a working one and we say so. Please check your postcode on the operator's own checker first. You can also ring 105. The call is free, it works anywhere in England, Scotland and Wales, and it puts you through to the company that runs your local distribution network.

A central London street of red terracotta mansion blocks above shops — A street in central London. Licence areas follow the electricity network rather than the borough boundary, so two addresses a few streets apart can have different operators.

What the form asks for

The government's assessment describes it as a short online form that takes five to ten minutes, completed within 28 days of installation. It asks for your name, your email address and the address the panel was installed at. The consumer guidance that comes with the device points you at it.

We word that as something you are asked to do rather than as a deadline with a penalty on the end, because the wording we are quoting describes how the process is meant to work. It applies in Great Britain only. Northern Ireland is outside this system.

If you would rather not do it on your own, we will stay on a call and go through the boxes with you. It is not complicated, but it is easy to forget about.

Export tariffs

Registering is usually described as an obligation. It is also how you become eligible to be paid for what you export. The impact assessment says an export tariff would be contingent on registering the device with the distribution network operator. If a tariff is open to you, an unregistered panel will not qualify.

You are not applying for permission

You register a compliant panel after it is installed. You do not apply beforehand and nobody has to approve it. That is what makes this different from a full rooftop system.

Why it is one panel per home

The Energy Networks Association raised the change on 1 April 2026. Ofgem approved it on 11 August 2026 and it came in with the rest of the framework on 27 August. Engineering Recommendation G98 Issue 2 Amendment 1 limits a household to one panel. The product specification on its own would allow one per final ring circuit. The network rules are tighter, so one per household is the answer.

Checking the panel is on the register

Before a manufacturer can put one of these on sale it has to have the device type tested in line with G98, register it on the ENA Type Test Register, and hold confirmation that it was assessed as compliant. The register is public, you can search it without an account, and it marks devices compliant or non-compliant, so anything that failed assessment stays on it.

We only arrange panels that are on the register. If you have already bought something and want to know where it stands, send us the make and model with your enquiry and we will look it up with you.

A galley kitchen in an English house with sockets along the worktop and a back door — An ordinary kitchen. The form asks for the address the panel was installed at. In a block that means the flat rather than the building, and it is not always the address on your bill.

Questions about registering

Do I have to wait for permission before I switch it on?

No. You register a compliant panel once it is installed. You do not apply in advance and there is nothing to wait for.

What if I move?

The registration is against the installation address. If you take the panel with you, register it again at the new address. Nothing in the guidance stops you.

Does my managing agent need to know?

The network registration has nothing to do with them. The installation does. Permission to fix something to the outside of the building is a separate conversation and it comes first.