Anne-Marie Nicol, 74, a retired youth worker and counsellor from Perth, paid a £250 fee to Octopus Energy in October 2023 for the supplier to assess her solar installation under its Non-MCS Export MPAN Application, according to an account she gave to Which? published on 13 September 20241. The fee was for Octopus to assess the installation and its suitability, and she was told part of it would be returned if the installation did not meet the supplier's criteria1.
Her 6kWp system, comprising 14 panels, two batteries and a wireless hot water system, was installed in September 20221. She said the installer's representative told her at the time that she would be able to export excess energy to the grid and be paid for it, but that she was only later informed an MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certificate was required for export payment, and that the installers were not registered at the time of installation1.
"We paid the fee in October 2023 and completed the application. Despite several emails chasing Octopus for information, we did not hear from them until February 2024 when we were asked to provide a Building Control Certificate."
She said her local Building Control department advised that her type of installation was deemed permitted development and no Building Control Certificate was required1. After further correspondence, she wrote to the chief executive and emailed the head of Octopus's export services division, and had a reply within 24 hours apologising and approving her application1. She received her Export MPAN (Meter Point Administration Number) on 11 April, and exports to the grid for payment went live1.
She declined to state the overall amount she paid, saying she paid a total without any split between installation, panels, inverter or water heater, and that the installation took one day1. The account does not say what proportion of the £250 was returned, if any, and no figure for her export payments has been reported1.
Why it matters for households
Export payments depend on the installation being certified, and the certification route sits with the installer rather than the householder. Where an installer is not MCS-registered, the owner cannot simply apply for a standard export tariff; the route taken here was a supplier's own assessment scheme, which carries a fee and its own criteria1. That places the timing of any export income outside the householder's control, and it means the paperwork trail from the original installation, including building control and permitted development status, can determine whether a system earns anything from what it sends to the grid1. For a home weighing up energy suppliers and household energy independence, the account shows that the value of a system is not fixed at the point of installation: it depends on which supplier will accept it for export and on what terms.
What happens next
No next steps have been reported. Octopus has not published a response to this account, and no date has been given for any change to the Non-MCS Export MPAN Application or its £250 assessment fee1.