Recovering solar documentation
after your installer went bust
When an installer ceases trading, homeowners are often left with no paperwork — or paperwork they can't find. Most documentation can be recovered from public sources at low or no cost. What can't be recovered can usually be recreated by a qualified professional.
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Identify exactly which documents you're missing, recover as many as possible yourself for free, and arrange professional substitutes for the rest.
What documentation should a solar installation come with?
A properly completed installation should provide six categories of documentation. Most are needed at different points — for SEG applications, insurance, warranty claims, or property sale.
Issued by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme. Proves the system was installed by an accredited installer to UK standards.
Needed for: SEG applications, home insurance, property sale. Status: Recoverable free from mcscertified.com for most systems.
Proof that the system was registered with your Distribution Network Operator before connecting to the grid.
Needed for: SEG applications, grid compliance, property sale. Status: Recoverable from DNO or can be filed retrospectively. Full DNO paperwork guide →
Signed by the qualified electrician at the time of installation. Documents the electrical safety and compliance of the wiring and connections.
Needed for: Home insurance, mortgage applications, property sale. Status: Original cannot be re-issued — but an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) from a new electrician is accepted as a substitute by most parties.
Separate warranty documents from each equipment manufacturer covering their component. These are issued by the manufacturer — not the installer — and remain valid regardless of installer closure.
Needed for: Warranty claims, property sale. Status: Recoverable directly from manufacturers using serial numbers. Warranty claim guide →
The installer's final report documenting system performance at handover — panel layout, equipment details, initial readings. Many small installers never issued this.
Needed for: Future diagnostics and repairs. Status: Usually unrecoverable if the installer has gone. Can be partially recreated by an independent engineer.
Proof of purchase, installation date, and system cost.
Needed for: Manufacturer warranty claims, proof of ownership. Status: If lost, the MCS certificate provides installation date and system details which substitutes for most purposes.
Priority order: If you can only recover some documents, focus on: (1) MCS certificate, (2) DNO registration or G98/G99 filing, (3) EICR from a new electrician. These three cover the vast majority of what insurers, SEG suppliers, and conveyancers need.
What you can recover yourself — free or low cost
Start here before spending anything. Several of the most important documents are publicly available or can be requested directly from organisations that already hold them.
The MCS public register holds details of every certified solar installation in the UK. This is your first and most important stop.
The certificate shows: installer name, installation date, system size, inverter and battery make and model, and panel details. This single document covers most of what insurers, SEG suppliers, and conveyancers ask for.
Free. Most systems from 2012 onwards are listed. Pre-2012 installs and non-certified installers may not appear.
Manufacturer warranties are held by the manufacturer — not the installer. They remain valid regardless of what happened to the installer and can be confirmed or re-issued directly.
Free. Response time: 3–7 working days.
Your DNO may have the original G98 notification or G99 approval on file even if you were never given a copy. It costs nothing to ask.
Free or small fee (£10–20). Response time: 5–10 working days. See our full DNO paperwork guide if registration is missing entirely.
Technical documentation for your inverter, battery, and panels is freely available from manufacturer websites. These help with troubleshooting and give future engineers everything they need to understand your system.
Visit the manufacturer website, navigate to downloads or product support, enter your model number, and download the relevant datasheet and installation manual. Keep digital copies.
Free. Always available for current models; older discontinued models may require contacting support directly.
Step-by-step: how to recover or recreate missing documentation
Work through these steps in order. The first three cost nothing. Steps four and five require professional involvement but are well-established routes.
Before searching externally, collect all existing paperwork — you may have more than you think. Check:
Scan or photograph everything and store digitally. Make a list of what you have and what is missing before proceeding.
Visit mcscertified.com and search by your postcode. If found, download the PDF immediately. This single document can satisfy most third-party requirements on its own.
If your address doesn't appear: try the previous owner's name if you've recently bought the property, or try a partial postcode search. If still not found, contact MCS directly at info@mcscertified.com with your address and approximate installation year.
With your serial numbers in hand (from labels on the equipment), contact your inverter and battery manufacturers to request warranty documentation. Simultaneously, contact your DNO (via energynetworks.org) to ask if registration is on file.
Both of these are free and can run in parallel. Keep written records of all correspondence. If DNO registration is missing entirely, see our DNO paperwork guide for how to file retrospectively.
If the original Electrical Installation Certificate is missing, an EICR from a qualified electrician is the accepted substitute. The original EIC was issued at installation and cannot be re-issued, but an EICR documents the current safety of the installation and is accepted by most insurers, conveyancers, and lenders.
Cost: £150–£300. Time: 1–2 weeks from booking.
Once you've recovered as much as possible, compile everything into a single folder with a summary sheet. This becomes your master record for all future needs.
Your summary should include: installation date, original installer name, inverter make/model/serial, battery make/model/serial, panel brand and count, system size (kW), list of all documents recovered with dates and sources, and notes on any documents created retrospectively.
This folder is what you hand to conveyancers when selling, share with electricians doing future work, or provide to warranty teams when making claims.
Typical total cost: £0 if MCS and DNO records are found · £150–£300 if EICR is needed · £200–£500 if DNO registration needs to be filed retrospectively. Timeline: 4–8 weeks for a complete recovery including EICR and G98 filing.
What Solar Tech Support can do for you
We can work through the documentation recovery process with you, provide professional reports, and refer you to qualified electricians where physical inspection is needed.
We'll review what you have, identify what's missing, and give you a prioritised action plan — saving you time working out what matters most.
A written report from us confirms the current operating state of your system. Useful for insurers, future electricians, warranty teams, and conveyancers.
We can help you regain access to your manufacturer's monitoring portal and export historical performance data — useful for baseline records and diagnosing issues.
If a component has failed and you need to make a manufacturer warranty claim, we can produce the diagnostic report manufacturers require and handle correspondence on your behalf. Warranty claim guide →
Where physical site work is needed — EICR, G98/G99 filing, or fault investigation — we can refer you to MCS-registered electricians we work with.
If you're selling, we can review your documentation pack and confirm readiness for conveyancing, or advise on what needs to be resolved before listing.
Frequently asked questions
Most systems installed from 2012 onwards are listed on mcscertified.com, but not all. Very old systems (pre-2012) or those installed by non-certified installers may not appear. If your address isn't found, try searching under any previous owner's name, try a partial postcode, or contact MCS directly with your system details. Without an MCS certificate you can still proceed with other documentation — DNO records and an EICR together cover most requirements.
The original EIC was issued at the time of installation and cannot be re-issued — it was a point-in-time document signed by the electrician who did the work. However, a qualified electrician can produce an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) which assesses the current state of the installation and is accepted as a substitute by most insurers, conveyancers, and lenders. Cost is typically £150–£300 and it can usually be arranged within 1–2 weeks.
Conveyancers typically ask for: MCS certificate, DNO registration (G98/G99 notification or approval), Electrical Installation Certificate (or EICR if original is missing), manufacturer warranties, and any active SEG contract. If you're missing documents, provide what you have and explain the situation in writing. An MCS certificate plus an EICR covers the most important requirements and most sales proceed without delay when these are provided alongside a clear explanation.
Sole traders are not registered at Companies House, so there's no official dissolution record. Try any contact details from your original paperwork — even if they've stopped trading, many will still respond to email. Check Google, local directories, and Checkatrade. However, in most cases you can bypass the original installer entirely: file retrospective G98/G99 registration and get an EICR from a new electrician. This resolves the compliance issues without needing to trace anyone.
Search for the company at find.company-information.service.gov.uk to find the administrator or liquidator's contact details. These are listed in the company's filing history. You can contact the administrator and request copies of installation documentation related to your property — many will cooperate if you explain the situation clearly. Keep notes of all correspondence. If records are not available from the administrator, use the MCS, DNO, and EICR routes to rebuild your documentation independently.
Need help with your documentation recovery?
We'll review what you have, identify what's missing, and give you a clear plan — whether that's downloading your MCS certificate, coordinating an EICR, or preparing a documentation pack for a property sale.