The job is finished, the customer is happy, and the grant payment is stuck because one photo of an inverter label is blurred. SEAI has said it in writing: it cannot process the payment without a clear one. Baton exists so the crew photographs every nameplate and data label on the day, and the office has them in one place when the paperwork is lodged.
What the checklist asks the installer to confirm
SEAI’s Solar PV Grant Completion Checklist, Part 3, says the installer must confirm that the listed documentation is complete and has been provided to the homeowner. The grant documents include the Declaration of Works, the Inspection, Test and Commissioning Report to EN 62446, the Safe Electric (RECI) certificate, the submitted ESB Networks NC6 form and an invoice describing the works.
Under photographs of the installation it lists: the mounting system as installed, the PV module array as installed, the PV module nameplate, the inverter as installed showing isolators, the consumer unit with the solar MCB/RCD and meter, the battery system as installed and its data label where there is a battery, the inverter data label, the shunt switch and the power diverter where fitted.
Why one label photo holds up a payment
SEAI’s contractor technical bulletin 2024-11-001 says there has been a significant increase in payment applications with no inverter data label image, or a blurred, out-of-focus one. It says it cannot process those, that a photograph must be provided with every application, and that the grant payment to homeowners cannot be released without a clear image of the inverter data label. It adds that there are cases where the final payment was stopped for that reason alone.
The same bulletin says SEAI forms must not be edited in any way, and that altered Declaration of Works or Inspection, Test and Commissioning forms are rejected automatically.
The failure is rarely the crew’s skill. It is a photo taken in bad light that nobody looked at until the office sat down to lodge the claim, with the roof already behind them.
Install day with Baton: the crew opens a link
Your crew opens a link or scans a QR code and types the 6-digit job code. No account and no app to install, and it works with no signal in an attic or a plant room. For each unit they photograph the nameplate, take two photos of the unit, and record its condition and where it sits.
Panels, the inverter and a battery are separate lines, because any equipment type can be named on site. The inverter’s data label and the module nameplate are the photographs the checklist names, taken as the first step for each line rather than at the end of the day.
The office sees a bad photo before it lodges
Two AI models read every nameplate separately, and a person in your office checks the manufacturer, model and serial against the photo. A label too blurred to read shows up at that check, while the job is fresh, not when SEAI writes back.
The register comes out as PDF, Excel and CSV with each unit’s nameplate photo in the PDF, saved in your own Google Drive. The attachments index lists your Declaration of Works, test report, RECI certificate and NC6 with a reference and date, and the cover carries a sign-off block.
What Baton does not do
Baton does not fill in or submit SEAI forms, and it does not edit them. The photographs on the checklist that are not nameplates or labels, such as the mounting system and array, are still yours to take; the crew can add them as unit photos or attach them in the attachments index.
Quick answers
- What photos does SEAI need for the solar PV grant?
- The completion checklist lists the mounting system, the array, the PV module nameplate, the inverter showing isolators, the consumer unit and meter, the inverter data label, the shunt switch, and the battery and its data label where fitted. Check the current checklist on the SEAI site.
- Why is my SEAI solar grant payment held?
- SEAI’s contractor bulletin 2024-11-001 says it cannot release the payment without a clear image of the inverter data label, and that a blurred or out-of-focus photo is treated like a missing one.
- Can I edit the SEAI Declaration of Works or ITC form?
- No. The same bulletin says editing SEAI documents in any way, including formatting or logos, leads to automatic rejection. Submit the original forms.
- How does Baton help with SEAI grant photos?
- Your crew photographs each nameplate and data label on site, two AI reads and a person check the serial against the photo, and the register holds the photo for every line in the PDF in your Google Drive, so a poor label photo is caught before you lodge.
- Does Baton submit the SEAI grant paperwork?
- No. Baton does not fill in or submit SEAI forms. It records your equipment and lets you attach your own certificates and forms to the handover.