How an EICR treats solar panels and battery storage

• The connection

  Where the photovoltaic system or the battery meets the consumer unit or distribution board.

• Isolation

  Whether the equipment can be isolated safely, and whether that isolator was accessible.

• Labels and routes

  Shutdown instructions and circuit labels help. They are information, not a code.

• Documents

  A commissioning pack or an installation certificate for the solar or battery work can explain what was installed. Absence of one document does not by itself make the report unsatisfactory.

• Extent

  Panels on a roof, or cells inside a sealed battery unit, may sit outside what a periodic inspection of the fixed wiring opens.

• Specialist help

  If the observation says the equipment could not be confirmed, the next step is the investigation named there, which may need someone familiar with that product.

A photovoltaic array, a battery, and the fixed wiring that was already in the property are different parts of the conversation. The presence of solar panels or battery storage does not by itself assign an EICR code. Say which of the three you actually have, and which of them the inspector could reach.

For the panels, the useful facts are where the generation supply meets the installation, whether that connection and its isolator were accessible, and whether the shutdown instruction was there to be read. Roof modules that were not opened are outside the extent. Say so. Do not treat an unopened roof as a pass or as a fail.

For storage, say where the battery sits, whether it can be isolated without opening the enclosure, and whether any alarm or shutdown label was readable. Do not open a battery enclosure to prepare for the visit. Heat, cracking, or a smell of burning is a reason to stop using that part where it is safe to do so and to get urgent help. That is a safety step. It is not a code assigned by this page.

The consumer unit or distribution board is still the ordinary installation. Labels, protective devices, and the means of isolation are read there. An older installation does not fail an EICR solely because it predates the current amendment. Age of the array is context in the same way. The code, if there is one, comes from the condition that could be assessed.

Bring the installer pack if you still have it: commissioning notes, an installation certificate for that work, and a single-line sketch if one exists. Absence of one document does not by itself make the report unsatisfactory. The papers explain what was installed. They do not replace the inspection of what is there.

Solar panels are not an automatic defect. A battery is not an automatic code. Missing paperwork is not an automatic failure. There is no single classification that applies because the equipment exists.

An older installation does not fail an EICR solely because it predates the current amendment. The same caution applies here: the age of a solar array is context. The code, if there is one, comes from the condition the inspector could assess.

Under the current A4:2026 EICR format, an FI observation is advisory and does not by itself make the overall assessment unsatisfactory. Further investigation of a battery connection or a generation supply is that kind of question when the report says the condition could not be confirmed.

Have the shutdown procedure, any key for the inverter or battery location, and the papers from the installer if you still have them. Say whether the system is generation only, storage only, or both. Say if part of it is in a locked riser.

Do not isolate live equipment yourself to prepare a photograph, and do not open a battery enclosure. If something is hot, cracked, or smelling of burning, stop using that part where it is safe to do so and get urgent help. That is a safety step, not a code assigned by this article.

Book the condition inspection through EICR testing. If a report already names an observation on the solar or battery equipment, use remedial work and send that page of the report.