In a bid to help safeguard high standards in the industry, the Government confirmed MCS (or equivalent) as the route through which households can access the SEG.
Installations up to and including 50kw in size will need to use MCS certified equipment, fitted by an MCS registered installer. There is no other scheme that covers products and installers accredited in accordance with ISO17065.
MCS already acts as an impartial third party, keeping a clear record of installations for government-backed initiatives including FiT and DRHI; and will go on to provide this service for SEG Generators and SEG Licensees.
Last year MCS launched a newly developed Application Programming Interface (API) for the use of energy companies. The free, innovative API creates a link to the MCS Installation Database (MID) to determine if customers hold an MCS certificate for their installation. The MID holds over a million MCS certified installations.
The API was developed with support and input from Bulb, the UK’s biggest green energy supplier, providing 100% renewable electricity and 10% green gas to more than 1,000,000 members across the UK.
Ian Rippin, CEO of MCS said, “We’ve invested in this innovation in a bid to create efficiencies for energy companies as they prepare for the launch of SEG. The requirement for MCS certification to qualify for this tariff is an important one for industry and this new API allows for much faster verification that a customer qualifies for SEG.”
Ofgem have published their SEG guidance for energy suppliers, which clearly states:
4.6: For PV, wind and micro-CHP installations up to 50kW, generators should demonstrate that the installation and installer are suitably certified. An applicant may have an installation certificate to demonstrate this. This may be a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate, but the SEG recognises other schemes may be equivalent to MCS.
4.7: The Supply Licence Conditions (SLCs) define an equivalent scheme as a scheme accredited in accordance with EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012.
4.8: If a generator is unable to demonstrate that their installation is suitably certified, a SEG licensee is not obliged to offer payments under the SEG, but they can make payments if they wish.
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