DNO Application Support for Solar Installers
You install solar. We handle the network operator.
Grid Submit is a specialist DNO application submission support service for UK solar installers. You send us the job details. We select the right form, prepare the application, submit it to the correct network operator, answer their queries and send you back the approval and export MPAN.
No portals. No hold music. No half-days lost to paperwork.
What DNO application support actually covers
Most installers think of the DNO application as one form. It isn't. It's a sequence, and each stage is somewhere a job can stall.
Form selection
Getting this wrong is the most common reason applications bounce. A 4kW array on single phase and a 4kW array on three phase go down completely different routes. So does the same system with a battery attached, or with an export limiter fitted.
Technical data
Inverter make and model, type test certificate reference, G100 export limitation scheme details where relevant, MPAN, phase configuration, existing generation on site. Every network operator wants this in a slightly different format and rejects it in a slightly different way.
Submission
Six network operator groups, six portals, six sets of quirks. Some accept email. Some require an account with a per-user login. Some time out and lose your entry if you take too long over the technical section.
Query handling
This is where most installer time actually goes. The DNO comes back asking for a single-line diagram, or a clarification on the export limit, or a corrected type test reference. If nobody answers within their window, the application drops out of the queue and you start again.
Approval and export MPAN
The approval and the export MPAN are separate things and don't always arrive together. Your customer can't register for SEG without the export MPAN, so someone has to chase it.
We do all five. Not the form, not the submission — the whole sequence, start to finish.
Who we work with
Solar installers and EPCs
From single-van operations doing four domestic jobs a month to contractors running commercial rooftop portfolios. Volume doesn't change the process, it just changes how much time you're losing.
MCS and NICEIC registered contractors
We work to the same evidence standards your certification body expects, so the paperwork trail holds up.
Renewables consultancies and subcontractors
If you're delivering solar as part of a wider package and DNO applications aren't your core competency, they don't need to be.
What you send us
Deliberately short:
- Install address and postcode
- MPAN (import)
- System size in kWp and inverter make/model
- Single or three phase
- Battery storage, yes or no, and capacity
- Export limited, yes or no, and the limit
- Customer name and contact details
That's it. If something's missing or looks off, we come back to you before submission rather than after rejection.
Timescales
Our desk and the network operator's queue are two different clocks.
Submitted within one working day of receiving your details. These are notify-after-install, so the constraint is the 28 day notification window, not the DNO's response time.
Submitted within one to two working days. The network operator then has its own statutory window to respond, typically up to 45 working days for a standard distributed generation application, though many come back faster and fast-track routes exist for smaller Type A systems.
Our average end-to-end turnaround is seven days
Across all application types. Where a job runs longer, it's the DNO's queue, not our desk — and you'll know where it is, because we tell you.
Can you not just do this yourself?
Yes. Nothing about a DNO application requires a licence or a qualification. If you want to run them in-house, you can.
Here's the honest arithmetic on why most installers stop.
A straightforward G98 notification, for an experienced person who knows the portal
A G99 with a battery and export limiter, the first few times. Closer to 90 minutes once fluent
Realistic all-in per job, once you add query handling and export MPAN chasing
Then there's the failure cost. Applications get rejected for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the install — a superseded type test reference, the wrong form for the phase configuration, a missing single-line diagram, an export limitation scheme described in language the assessor doesn't accept. A rejection doesn't just cost the resubmission time, it puts you back to the end of a queue that may be weeks long, with a customer already asking when their system goes live.
The maths is usually simple. If your charge-out rate is anything above £30 an hour, doing it yourself costs more than sending it to us.
The other argument for keeping it in-house is control, and that one's fair. Which is why we don't take the job off you — we send you the submission confirmation, the reference, every DNO exchange and the approval. You keep the audit trail. You just don't spend the afternoon on it.
Network operators we submit to
We handle applications across all GB distribution network operators.
UK Power Networks
London, South East, East of England
National Grid Electricity Distribution
Midlands, South West, South Wales
Northern Powergrid
North East, Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire
Electricity North West
North West England
SP Energy Networks
Merseyside, North Wales, Central and Southern Scotland
SSEN
Southern England, North Scotland
Each operates its own submission route, its own document requirements and its own response patterns. You don't need to learn six systems. We already have.
Guide
Solar DNO Application: the complete guide
G98 vs G99 thresholds, what the operator needs, timescales and where applications fall over.
Guide
G99 applications, prepared and submitted
Type A and Type B, fast track routes, export limitation and protection settings.
Pricing
Flat fee per application
No hourly rates, no hidden costs. Pay as you go or save with a monthly plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does DNO application support cost?
We work on a flat fee per application rather than an hourly rate, so you know the cost before you commit. G98 notifications and G99 applications are priced separately because the work involved is materially different. Full pricing is on our pricing page.
Do I need to give you portal access?
No. We submit under our own credentials with your details, or under yours if you prefer to keep submissions in your own account. Both work. Some installers prefer the second option for audit purposes.
What happens if the DNO rejects the application?
We handle it. Correcting and resubmitting a rejected application is part of the service, not an extra. If the rejection is because information you supplied was wrong, we'll tell you what needs changing and turn the resubmission around the same day.
Can you get the export MPAN as well as the approval?
Yes, and we chase it separately if it doesn't arrive with the approval. Your customer needs the export MPAN to register for the Smart Export Guarantee, so it's the thing that actually finishes the job.
Do you handle applications with battery storage?
Yes. Battery systems change the application route and the technical data required, particularly around export limitation and the combined inverter rating. It's one of the more common places DIY applications go wrong.
Do you cover commercial as well as domestic?
Yes. Domestic work is mostly G98 and smaller G99. Commercial rooftop runs through G99, including larger Type A and Type B systems where the technical requirements step up considerably.
How quickly can you submit?
One to two working days from receiving complete job details, usually same day for G98.
Stop losing hours to network operator paperwork
Send us the job details and get back on the tools.