G98 Form B, Field by Field: A Practical Notification Walkthrough for a Hardwired Home Battery

G98 Form B is the installation document you send your distribution network operator within 28 days of commissioning a qualifying microgenerator. It is a record of what was installed, not a request for permission.

This walkthrough is pure paperwork: every field, the four forms in the family, the regional portals, the installer's declaration, the covering email and the records to keep. A plug in solar kit and a hardwired battery use the same form, but the entries behind it differ, and that is where most submissions go wrong.

What does G98 Form B actually ask you to fill in?

Every line has a source. Some come from you, some from the equipment label, and the technical ones from the electrician who commissioned the system.

Which fields come from you?

• Your name, installation address, postcode and contact details.
• Your MPAN: the 13-digit supply number on your electricity bill, not the meter serial.
• The commissioning date: the day the electrician finished and tested the system.
• The configuration installed: PV plus storage, or storage only.

Which fields come from the equipment and the installer?

• Inverter make, model and serial number, from the unit or its commissioning record.
• Registered capacity: 2.5 kW for the Solarbank 4 E5000 Pro, about 10.9 A at 230 V.
• The ENA system reference number, copied verbatim from the type test register.
• Total AC registered capacity per phase at the connection point, including existing generation.
• Storage capacity, recorded separately because battery energy in kWh is not AC power in kW.
• Unit location and the location of the lockable isolation switch.
• The installer's details, signature and declaration.

The comparison matters even for the installer's own paperwork. A plug in solar kit and a hardwired battery may both need Form B, but the plug in solar entry usually describes a small inverter on a socket circuit, while the battery entry describes a fixed unit on a dedicated circuit with a local isolator. The Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 E5000 Pro is the fixed case: 5,024Wh of storage, 2,500W rated power, a 2,500W off-grid output during an outage and a 2,990W maximum AC bypass output in normal grid mode, with an isolator position the form will ask you to name.

Which G98 form do you need: A, B, C or D?

Four forms sit in one family and are routinely confused. Only one is the normal task after a battery goes in.

Form A is not for a single home: adding a second battery, or a second plug in solar inverter, does not turn an address into a programme, so the aggregate belongs on Form B. Form C is the manufacturer's type-test evidence, which is why the register entry matters when you complete Form B. Form D closes the record when equipment is removed.

Where do you submit Form B, and which operator covers your postcode?

Send it to the distribution network operator for the address, not your energy supplier. The supplier bills you; the operator runs the cables. Most operators accept Form B through a portal or the ENA Connect Direct fit-and-notify route.

• London, South East and East Anglia: UK Power Networks, ukpowernetworks.co.uk
• North West England: Electricity North West, enwl.co.uk
• Yorkshire and North East England: Northern Powergrid, northernpowergrid.com
• Midlands, South West England and South Wales: National Grid Electricity Distribution, nationalgrid.co.uk/ed
• North Wales and Merseyside: SP Manweb; Central and Southern Scotland: SP Distribution, spenergynetworks.co.uk
• North Scotland and Central Southern England: SSEN Distribution, ssen.co.uk
• Northern Ireland: NIE Networks, nienetworks.co.uk

Portal addresses change, so open the operator's own site rather than an old bookmark. On Connect Direct the form asks for a clear photograph of the cut-out: the incoming service head and fuse assembly, not the consumer unit. A picture of the internal board will be queried, whether you are notifying a battery or a plug in solar device.

What must the installing electrician provide and declare?

You can coordinate the submission and gather the MPAN, but the technical content and signature belong to the person responsible for commissioning, who must stand behind the commissioning checks rather than only the wiring. A plug in solar kit is not fixed wiring in the same sense, so its declaration is lighter; a battery declaration covers the circuit, isolator and earthing.

• An Electrical Installation Certificate for the fixed wiring, issued under BS 7671. In England and Wales the work is notifiable under Part P; Scotland works through the Building (Scotland) Regulations.
• The installer's declaration on Form B covering installation and commissioning checks.
• A system schematic left at the incoming meter position.
• The lockable isolation switch location: for a fixed battery, a double-pole isolator or rotary switch of at least 16 A beside the unit.
• The earth arrangement actually present. TN-C-S, or PME, is one of several and must be identified, never assumed.

Why the EIC and Form B are not the same document

The EIC proves the fixed wiring complies with BS 7671; Form B notifies the operator about a generating or storage unit. Neither substitutes for the other.

Where does the RCD type come from?

Not from a blog. The device must match the residual-current waveform the inverter can produce, so the manufacturer's instructions and BS 7671 decide between Type A, Type B and other measures. Type AC is not recommended for this load. An RCBO combines breaker and residual device and is common on storage circuits, but the rating stays an on-site decision.

How do the Form B entries differ for plug in solar and a hardwired battery?

The form is shared, the narrative is not, and this is where a copy-and-paste submission fails.

• Capacity: a plug in solar device is described by its inverter's AC output, typically a few hundred watts; a hardwired battery is described by its registered AC capacity, 2.5 kW here.
• Circuit: a plug in solar kit connects through a socket circuit, while a battery sits on a dedicated circuit at the consumer unit or sub-board.
• Isolation: a fixed battery needs a local isolator beside the unit, which the form asks you to locate.
• Configuration: a plug in solar device is generation only; a battery may be storage only, or storage added to existing PV, and the form asks which.
• Commissioning: both routes record a commissioning date, but the battery entry also captures storage capacity in kWh alongside AC capacity in kW.

If a household has both, describe both. A plug in solar kit plus a hardwired battery is a combined entry, and the per-phase total reflects the sum rather than the larger device. The operator is interested in what the connection point can export or draw, so a plug in solar kit cannot be left out of a submission that already mentions a battery.

Read the two entries side by side and the difference is structural rather than cosmetic. A plug in solar device is notified with the socket circuit it uses and the inverter on the end of it; a battery is notified with the circuit the electrician created, the isolator fitted beside it and the storage capacity held behind it. Neither entry is more valid than the other, but a plug in solar entry copied onto a battery, or the reverse, leaves the operator with a description that does not match the installation.

Where a property has both, the practical approach is to write one entry per device and let the per-phase total do the adding. A plug in solar kit that predates the battery is existing generation on the form, not a detail to omit, and a plug in solar kit installed afterwards is new generation that changes the total again.

Which entries should you double-check before submitting?

A few fields are settled by the current operator form, not by memory or an old screenshot.

• Energy-source and technology codes. Codes such as R/11 and S/38 appear in circulated guidance, but the exact entries and their combined formatting must come from the code table in the form you are submitting.
• The G98 edition. Material still circulating labels itself the 2021 edition; check the current edition, with Distribution Code EREC G98 Issue 2 as the reference to verify against.
• The product connector. A supplied AC plug is reserved for possible future use and is not the present grid connection; a regulatory change alone is not approval to use it.
• The phase-capacity summary, which covers every relevant unit at the same connection point.
• RCD selection and cable specification. The connection cable is specified as 2.5 to 4 mm² multi-core flexible copper, but terminals, current-carrying capacity, voltage drop and installation conditions still need checking against the current UK manual.

None of that argues for delay. It argues for opening the current form and manual on the day you submit, because the code table is refreshed for every device type, battery or plug in solar alike.

What is the 28-day rule, and what counts as acceptance?

A qualifying installation at one premises must be notified within 28 days of commissioning, counting the commissioning day. For a battery the clock starts when the electrician tests the system and hands over the EIC, not when it was ordered.

The second half is less known: a generic acknowledgement or case number is not confirmation of acceptance. Chase until you have a substantive response tied to your MPAN and equipment, then keep it.

What changes the capacity figure?

A single 2.5 kW unit sits inside 16 A per phase at 230 V, which is why it follows G98 rather than G99. Two units, or a battery beside an existing array, are assessed together. The same arithmetic covers plug in solar: several small inverters add up, and a plug in solar installation does not escape the total because each device is modest.

How do you write the covering email to your operator?

If the portal takes an attachment, upload there. If you are emailing, keep it short, factual and free of placeholders.

• Subject: G98 Notification — [address], [postcode].
• Say that the attachment is the G98 commissioning form for a small-scale generation system, naming the capacity, for example a 2.5 kW battery storage unit.
• Confirm the installation address and that commissioning followed G98 requirements.
• Confirm the inverter is on the ENA Type Test Register and give the system reference number exactly.
• Close with contact details and attachments. If the unit is a plug in solar device rather than a fixed battery, say so, because routing may differ.

Do not attach the EIC unless asked. The certificate stays with your records; the package is the form plus whatever evidence the route requires.

What should you keep after the notification goes in?

Treat the paperwork as part of the system: it answers questions years later.

• The submitted Form B, the confirmation email and the reference number.
• The EIC, the commissioning record and the product documentation.
• The purchase receipt, filed with the confirmation rather than separately.
• Photographs of the unit, the isolator and the cut-out as installed.

That bundle gets used for home insurance, a smart meter installation, a property sale or a Smart Export Guarantee application, and it closes the loop on a plug in solar installation too, where the equipment is smaller but the records are the same. Keep the product documentation with it, including the system figures recorded for the Solarbank 4 E5000 Pro.

Conclusion

Form B is a record, not a permission. You supply the address, MPAN and commissioning date; the installer supplies the equipment reference, per-phase capacity, declaration and schematic; the operator supplies the route and the code table.

Get those three in order and notifying a plug in solar device or a hardwired battery is a short administrative task. Leave the code table or the edition to memory, and it becomes a correspondence nobody wanted.

If the unit being notified is a hardwired battery, the Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 E5000 Pro gives your electrician 5,024Wh of storage, 2,500W rated power and a dedicated off-grid output, ready for a commissioned G98 submission.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I submit Form B or does my electrician?

Either can send it, but the technical entries and the declaration must come from the installer responsible for commissioning. Households often gather the MPAN, address and commissioning date and email the package. A plug in solar owner may sign more of it personally, which is one more reason to check the current form.

Does a plug in solar kit need G98 Form B as well?

The same form family covers plug in solar and hardwired storage, and the notification duty applies to qualifying installations at a single premises. The entries differ: a plug in solar device is described by a small inverter on a socket circuit, a battery by its fixed circuit, isolator and stored capacity.

What happens if I miss the 28-day window?

Notify within 28 days of commissioning is the duty, so a late submission should still be made rather than left undone. Contact your operator, explain the delay and give the correct commissioning date. The rule applies to a plug in solar kit as much as to a battery, and waiting does not improve the position.

Is a case number the same as acceptance?

No. A generic acknowledgement or case number confirms only that something arrived. Acceptance is a substantive response tied to your MPAN and equipment, so keep the correspondence until you have it, then keep the final reference with the installation records.

Can I complete Form B myself from the datasheet?

You can gather most of it, but the declaration is the installer's. The ENA system reference must be copied exactly, the per-phase total must include existing generation, and the energy-source and technology codes must come from the current form's code table rather than an older example.

Where does the cut-out photograph go, and what is it?

On the Connect Direct fit-and-notify route the form asks for a clear photograph of the cut-out, meaning the incoming service head and fuse assembly rather than the consumer unit. Send a picture of the internal board instead and expect the submission to be queried.