Who runs the wires in Leeds
Two different businesses stand between a Leeds house and the electricity it uses. Your supplier sells the power and sends the bill. Northern Powergrid owns and runs the cables, substations and local network that carry it, across Leeds and the wider region it serves (Northern Powergrid). Switching supplier changes who bills you; it never changes who owns the wires in your street. A terrace in Harehills and a detached house out at Harewood sit on the same company's network, whichever supplier each one uses. It is also the company that deals with power cuts on those wires, which is a handy way to remember the split.
When panels go on a roof, the two have separate interests. The supplier cares about metering and about any export tariff you sign up to. The network needs to know what is generating on its cables, because every system that can push electricity back out changes how power flows along a street, and the network has to keep that within safe limits. Plenty of systems are joining it: the government's 2025/26 cost data for Yorkshire and the Humber covers 18,822 MCS-certified solar systems (DESNZ), and each one is generation the network has to account for.
G98: connect first, notify within 28 days
Most home systems in Leeds are small enough for the G98 route. Northern Powergrid's limit is 16 amps per phase, which equals 3.68 kW where the house has a single-phase supply, as most do, and 11.04 kW, three times the figure, where it has three-phase (Northern Powergrid). Under G98 the installer connects the system and then notifies the network within 28 days. There is no application in advance and nothing for the householder to fill in; the installer's notification does the job.
For a sense of scale, 3.68 kW of panels would produce roughly 3,503 kWh a year from a south-facing 35° roof in central Leeds, and about 2,723 kWh from a west-facing one (PVGIS; our arithmetic). Ofgem uses 2,500 kWh a year as a typical household's electricity use (Ofgem), so a system at the single-phase ceiling is already a substantial one for an ordinary house. The roof picker gives the figure for other directions.
One detail is worth raising early. Panel capacity and connection rating are not always the same number: a roof can carry more panel wattage than the equipment feeding the house wiring is rated to deliver. Ask which rating the installer is counting against the 16 A limit, and ask to see it written on the paperwork. If you do not know which supply the house has, the installer can check at the meter position before designing anything; it decides which of the two G98 figures applies.
| Question | G98 | G99 |
|---|---|---|
| System size | Up to 16 A per phase: 3.68 kW single-phase, 11.04 kW three-phase | Above 16 A per phase |
| When the network is involved | Notified within 28 days after connection | Application agreed before connection |
| Batteries | Count towards the 16 A limit | Count towards the capacity applied for |
| Kit already at the address | Added to the new system | Added to the new system |
| Export limiting | Not a way to stretch the limit | Has to be accepted by Northern Powergrid |
Batteries and the total at your address
Two rules catch people out, and both concern adding things up. First, storage counts. A battery that can feed power into the house wiring is treated as part of the generating capacity, so its rating sits alongside the panels' when the network decides which route applies. Second, the total is worked out per premises. A house that already has a modest system, then adds more panels or a battery a few years later, is judged on everything installed at the address, not on the new piece alone (Northern Powergrid). The same goes for a second array on a garage or an extension roof: it joins the total for the premises rather than getting an allowance of its own.
That matters for any Leeds household that adds a battery after the panels are already up. A pairing that would have fitted under G98 as separate pieces may cross the line once combined, and the second installer has to know what is already there. Keep the original paperwork, including the notification, so it can be handed over. The battery guide covers sizes and prices; this page only covers how the network counts them.
G99 and export limiting
Above the G98 ceiling, the connection falls under G99. The difference is timing: an application goes to Northern Powergrid and has to be agreed before the system is connected, rather than reported afterwards (Northern Powergrid). In a house, the usual ways to cross the line are a large array on a big roof, a battery added to an existing system, or panels and a sizeable battery together on a single-phase supply. Timescales and any charges depend on the application and the local network, so ask the installer what they expect for your address before signing.
Export limiting is the other piece. Some systems are fitted with controls that cap how much electricity they send out to the network, even when the panels and battery could produce more. That can make a larger installation workable, but it does not let the system skip the process: Northern Powergrid still has to accept the limiting arrangement (Northern Powergrid). If a quote relies on export limiting, ask how it will be put to the network and what happens if the network asks for changes.
Meters and getting paid for exports
Northern Powergrid does not pay for exported electricity. Export tariffs come from electricity suppliers under Ofgem's rules, and they depend on a meter that records what leaves the house, in practice usually a smart meter (Ofgem). The network notification and the export arrangement are separate jobs; finishing one does not take care of the other. If your home still has an older meter, raise it with your supplier before the system goes live so that exports are counted from the first sunny day. The guide to export payments explains how offers differ.
The paperwork outlasts the installer's visit. Keep the G98 notification or the G99 agreement with the MCS certificate and the handover documents. A future installer adding a battery will need them to work out the total at the address, and a buyer's conveyancer is likely to ask about the system if you sell the house. Losing track of them does not switch the panels off, but it makes every later step slower.
Plug-in kits are a different category. Separate legislation, in force from 27 August 2026, covers kits of up to 800 W that run through a normal socket (SI 2026/848); the plug-in solar guide deals with them separately.
Questions to ask before work starts
The grid paperwork is the installer's job, but a householder who asks the right questions will know whether it is being handled properly. Ask them before you sign, not on the day the scaffold goes up:
- Which route will this system use, G98 or G99, and what total capacity at this address will be declared, counting any battery and anything already fitted?
- Does the house have a single-phase or a three-phase supply, and how does the design compare with the limit that applies?
- For G98, will I get a copy of the notification once it has gone to Northern Powergrid?
- For G99, has the application been agreed, and will you wait for that before connecting?
- Does the design rely on export limiting, and has the network accepted it?
- Will the system be registered with MCS, and which meter will record exports?
Each question has a reason behind it. The first three settle whether the network has been, or will be, told about the right total. The fourth stops a G99 system being switched on before it is agreed, and the fifth makes sure a cap on exports has been accepted rather than assumed. The last joins the grid side to the money side: without MCS registration and export metering, the export rules do not apply.
Clear answers to all six are a good sign. You can confirm an installer's certification on the MCS register, and the installer checklist covers the wider checks, including consumer-code membership. For what systems of different sizes have cost in this region, see the cost of solar in Leeds, and for unfamiliar terms such as kWp, the glossary.