Solar handover checklist: what to give the customer, and who issues each document

The short answer, and why it matters

Across the schemes below, the same groups of paper keep coming up: a list of what was installed (make, model, serial); the installer’s certificate or declaration for the work; the test or commissioning results; proof the network operator was told or approved the connection; the manufacturer manuals and datasheets; warranties; basic operating and safety instructions; and photographs of the installation. Your scheme decides which of these are compulsory and by when, so check its current text before you treat any list, this one included, as the rule.

It matters because the pieces are wanted at different times by different people. The customer wants the pack on the day. A scheme or a network operator wants a certificate or a notification within a fixed number of days. A grant body or a regulator may ask for photographs and records years later. The vendor guides we read for this phrase mostly cover one country or the homeowner’s side of the job, and few say who issues each document. After the crew has left site, the item most often rebuilt from memory is the equipment record: the exact model and serial of each unit, which a warranty claim or a permit closeout will ask for.

United Kingdom and Ireland: what the schemes ask for

The MCS Customer Commitment (issue 1.1, September 2026) says the handover pack contains, as a minimum, a list of key parts, health and safety guidance, a recommended servicing and maintenance schedule, the manufacturer’s instruction manuals, and all relevant guarantees and warranties. The installer also tells the customer if they need to do anything to validate or maintain the guarantees. The customer is given within 30 calendar days of completion the MCS certificate, Building Regulations compliance certificates if needed, and proof of notification or approval to the network provider if needed. Installers keep records for at least six years.

The network step has its own clock. MCS’s page on notifying DNOs says a solar PV system up to 16A per phase is notified within 28 days of commissioning using G98 Form B, while a system over 16A per phase needs prior permission before it is connected, using G99 Form A3.1.

In Ireland, SEAI’s Solar PV Grant Completion Checklist, Part 3, asks the installer to confirm the documents are complete and provided to the homeowner. For the grant it lists the Declaration of Works, the Inspection, Test and Commissioning Report (EN 62446), the Safe Electric (RECI) certificate, the ESB Networks NC6 form, an invoice and installation photographs including the module nameplate and the inverter data label. For the homeowner it lists datasheets, warranties, an O&M manual, basic start-up, shut-down and safety instructions, and a performance estimate. ESB Networks’ own page says the NC6 goes in before the installation starts, with the inverter’s type test certificate, and that a retrospective registration process exists if it was missed.

Australia, South Africa and the United States

The Clean Energy Regulator’s create-STCs page says photos must include time and date metadata and geolocation at the site, serial number photos must show the number on the product itself, and the photos must match the serial numbers listed in the REC Registry. The regulator can request the documents for up to five years from the date the certificates were created. That is evidence for the claim, not a customer handover list, but the same serial photos are what you will want when a customer rings in year three.

SAPVIA’s SSEG registration guide says the registered electrical contractor provides the homeowner with a Certificate of Compliance, all supporting documentation and a portfolio of evidence proving compliance with the installation standards, plus an Embedded Generation Installation Report. All systems must be registered with the licensed distributor, systems above 100 kW or 100 kVA must also register with NERSA, and each distributor defines its own registration process.

In the United States the picture depends on the local authority. SurgePV’s as-built guide says the building authority may ask for as-builts before closing the permit and the utility may ask for an as-built single-line diagram before permission to operate, and that you should ask the building department for its closeout checklist. It describes the equipment schedule as the installed module and inverter models, with serial numbers where needed.

The master checklist to copy

Run this list at the end of every job and tick each line, or write “not required here” beside it. It is built from the sources above, so strike what your scheme does not ask for and add what it does.

• Equipment register: make, model and serial of every inverter, module group, battery and other major unit, with the installation date.
• Photographs: each nameplate and each unit as installed. SEAI also names the array, the isolators, the consumer unit with the PV breaker and meter, and the inverter and battery data labels.
• The installer’s certificate or declaration for the work: the MCS certificate, the Declaration of Works and Safe Electric certificate, the South African Certificate of Compliance, or your local equivalent.
• Commissioning and test results, to EN 62446 where your scheme names it.
• Proof the network operator was told or approved the connection: G98 confirmation or G99 permission, the ESB Networks NC6, or the distributor registration.
• As-built drawings and the single-line diagram where the building authority or the utility asks for them.
• Manufacturer manuals and datasheets for modules, inverters, mounting system and any battery.
• Warranties: the manufacturers’ terms and your own workmanship terms, each with a start date.
• Start-up, shut-down, safety and operating instructions, and a recommended servicing and maintenance schedule.
• A performance estimate and an O&M manual where the scheme asks for them, and a note of anything the customer must do to keep the guarantees valid.
• A demonstration of how the system works and what its key parts are, and your fault contact details.
• The invoice, and building control or other compliance certificates if needed.
• The customer’s signature and the date, with a copy kept on file.
• A filing note: how long you keep the job record (MCS says at least six years; the Clean Energy Regulator can ask for up to five).

Who provides what, market by market

A list tells you what to collect. This table says who provides each item, to whom, and when. Use it as a map and read the current scheme text before relying on a row.

The mistakes that get a job rejected or a claim refused

Most of these are timing and evidence mistakes, not paperwork you did not know existed. Each one has a plain fix.

• Typing serials from memory or the invoice weeks later. Record the serial from the nameplate on site. SurgePV advises photographing serial stickers before the equipment is mounted, because they cannot be read from the ground, and says a field swap missing from the equipment schedule causes a model mismatch.
• A serial photo that shows the box or the packaging. The Clean Energy Regulator wants the number on the product itself, matching the REC Registry. Photograph the plate on the unit.
• Sending the NC6 late. ESB Networks says it goes in before installation, and a retrospective process exists only for the missed ones. Send it when the job starts and note the reference.
• Treating G98 and G99 alike. G98 is notified within 28 days of commissioning; G99 needs permission before you connect. Decide which applies at design stage, not at handover.
• Missing the 30-day window for the MCS certificate and related documents. Diary the date from the completion date.
• Closing the job without as-builts. Some building authorities will not close a permit until the drawings match the install, so update the drawings and the equipment schedule from what was fitted.
• Assuming one country’s list works in another. In South Africa each distributor sets its own registration process. Ask the distributor or the municipality what it needs.

How a crew and an office do this with Baton

Baton covers one part of the checklist: the equipment record with photos. The rest stays with you. Here is the sequence on a real job.

1. 1The office creates the job in Baton and shares the link or QR code with the 6-digit job code. The crew needs no account and no app, and it works with no signal.
2. 2At each unit the crew photographs the nameplate, takes two photos of the unit, and records its condition and where it sits. Any equipment type can be named on site.
3. 3Two AI models read every plate, and a person in your office checks manufacturer, model and serial against the photo before the handover can be made.
4. 4You set a warranty start and length per equipment category, and the register prints the end date.
5. 5The attachments index lists your certificates, test results, network approval and manuals with a reference, a date and who issued them. The cover has a sign-off block for the customer.
6. 6Baton produces the register as PDF, Excel and CSV, saved in your own Google Drive. The PDF shows each unit’s nameplate and unit photographs on its own page; the Excel and CSV carry a pointer to that page.

What Baton does not do, and what to attach instead

Baton does not issue certificates, does not submit anything to a scheme, a network operator or an authority, and does not hold test or commissioning data. The rest of the checklist stays yours: attach your own MCS or Safe Electric certificate, EN 62446 report, G98 or NC6 confirmation, as-builts and manuals to the attachments index, and keep the originals as your scheme requires.

Baton does not replace the claim photos the Clean Energy Regulator asks for in Australia. It also does not decide which documents your scheme requires. Treat it as the equipment record that sits inside your handover, not the whole of it.

Quick answers

What should a solar handover checklist include?

A list of what was installed with make, model and serial, the installer’s certificate or declaration, test and commissioning results, proof the network operator was notified or approved, manuals, warranties, operating and safety instructions, and photographs. Your scheme sets the exact list, so check its current text.

What is on an MCS solar PV handover checklist?

The MCS Customer Commitment (issue 1.1) says the pack holds, as a minimum, a list of key parts, health and safety guidance, a servicing and maintenance schedule, manufacturer manuals, and all relevant guarantees and warranties. The MCS certificate, Building Regulations certificates if needed and proof of network notification or approval follow within 30 calendar days of completion.

Is there an example of a solar handover checklist?

Yes. The master checklist in this post is one, and SEAI publishes a Solar PV Grant Completion Checklist with tick boxes for the grant and for the homeowner. Adapt either to your scheme, then keep a signed copy with the job record.

Who issues the documents on a solar handover checklist?

Mostly you, the installer: your own certificate, test results and workmanship terms. Manufacturers supply manuals, datasheets and warranties. The network operator receives or confirms the connection notification, and in Ireland ESB Networks receives the NC6. The table above shows who provides what in each market.

What does Baton add to a solar handover checklist?

Baton makes the equipment record: a nameplate photo and two unit photos per item, a person checks manufacturer, model and serial, and the register in PDF, Excel and CSV sits in your Google Drive, with each unit’s photo in the PDF and a sign-off block on the cover.

Can I attach my certificates to the Baton handover?

Yes. The attachments index lists your own certificates, test results, network approvals and manuals with a reference, a date and who issued them. Baton does not issue or check them, and it does not submit anything for you.

Sources

1. MCS - Customer Commitment, issue 1.1, 8 September 2026 (handover pack, 30-day documents, six-year records)
2. MCS - Notifying DNOs (G98 within 28 days of commissioning, G99 permission before connecting)
3. SEAI - Solar PV Grant Completion Checklist, Part 3 (documents and photographs)
4. ESB Networks - Connect a micro generator (NC6 before installation, retrospective registration)
5. Clean Energy Regulator - Create small-scale technology certificates (photo metadata, serial photos, five-year requests)
6. SAPVIA - Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) Registration Process (CoC, portfolio of evidence, NERSA above 100 kW)
7. BSI - BS EN IEC 62446-1, grid connected PV systems: documentation, commissioning tests and inspection
8. SurgePV - Solar as-built drawings guide (building authority and utility closeout, equipment schedule, serial stickers)