Last reviewed: 6 September 2026. Explains what the MCS certification
scheme and the RECC consumer code do, and the gaps between them. General information, not legal advice.
Scheme rules change; check the schemes’ own published requirements before relying on a detail.
Two acronyms dominate British home energy quotes. MCS is a certification scheme for products and
installers. RECC — the Renewable Energy Consumer Code — is a consumer code that governs how
its members sell. They are frequently presented as one thing, usually as a logo pair at the bottom of a
quote, and they protect quite different things.
The useful summary before the detail: MCS is about eligibility and technical standards; RECC
is about the contract and the sales process. Neither is a guarantee that your installation will
be good, and neither pays out when a manufacturer fails.
What each one actually does
| MCS | RECC | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A certification scheme for small-scale renewable products and the companies that install them |
A consumer code that its members agree to be bound by |
| What it covers | Technical standards, installer competence, certification of the installation |
Contracts, deposits, cancellation rights, sales conduct, complaints |
| Why people need it | It is the gateway to scheme eligibility — notably the Smart Export Guarantee, which requires MCS or an accepted equivalent |
It is often a condition of MCS registration, and gives a complaints route with teeth |
| What it does not do | Guarantee quality on the day, or underwrite anyone’s warranty |
Make the installer’s promises solvent, or cover the product |
| Where to complain | The scheme, about a certified installer’s compliance | The code body, which can require members to put things right and offers dispute resolution |
The MCS point that matters most to this site’s readers
MCS certification, or an accepted equivalent, is what makes an installation eligible for the Smart
Export Guarantee. A self-installed plug-in solar kit has no MCS certificate and no export MPAN, so
there is no SEG tariff available to it and every exported unit is worth nothing. That
is not a technicality; it is the structural fact that decides whether plug-in solar pays, and it is why
our savings calculator shows exported energy valued at
£0 rather than quietly adding an export income. The argument is set out in can you get SEG payments for plug-in solar.
So for plug-in solar, MCS is not a box you failed to tick. It is a scheme your installation cannot
enter, by design, because there is no certified installer involved. Nothing about a plug-in kit is
improved by looking for an MCS logo on it.
Where MCS does matter: batteries and rooftop solar
For a fixed installation — rooftop panels, a home battery, or both — MCS is worth
weighing:
- Rooftop solar: effectively necessary if you want SEG payments, which are a real
part of the case for a rooftop system. This is one of the sharpest differences between rooftop and
plug-in, covered in plug-in solar vs rooftop solar. - Battery only: there is no export payment to qualify for, so MCS is a quality
filter and a route into the consumer-code protections rather than a financial gateway. Useful, not
essential — see a home battery without solar
panels. - Battery added to an existing MCS solar system: ask how the work affects the
existing certification and the SEG arrangement before anyone starts.
What RECC adds, and its limits
A consumer code is the part that addresses how the sale was made: the contract’s clarity, deposit
handling, the cancellation period, the accuracy of savings estimates, and pressure selling. Those are
precisely the failure modes in home energy sales, and a code body that can require a member to put
things right is genuinely useful.
Its limits are equally real, and worth stating so nobody relies on the wrong thing:
- It binds members only. If the company is not a member, the code is irrelevant to
your dispute. - It does not underwrite a failed company’s obligations. When an installer ceases trading, the
answer is an insurance-backed guarantee, not the code — see insurance-backed guarantees explained. - It does not cover the product warranty. That remains the manufacturer’s promise, on the
manufacturer’s terms: how to read a battery
warranty. - It sits alongside your statutory rights and never replaces them. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is
owed by the retailer regardless of any scheme membership.
How the layers fit together
| What went wrong | What actually helps |
|---|---|
| Bad workmanship, installer still trading | Your contract and the Consumer Rights Act; the consumer code’s complaints route; the certification scheme if standards were breached |
| Bad workmanship, installer gone | Insurance-backed guarantee; section 75 if a credit card was used |
| Product failed, manufacturer trading | The product warranty, and your rights against the retailer |
| Product failed, manufacturer gone | Rights against the retailer or installer; section 75. Not MCS, not the code — see when a brand goes bust |
| Misleading savings claim at the sale | The consumer code, and misrepresentation under consumer law |
| Deposit taken, work never done | Deposit protection under the code if applicable; section 75 if paid by credit card |
The row that repeats across this site is the last-but-one. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974
makes the card issuer jointly liable for the full purchase price where any part was paid by credit card
and the cash price is over £100 and no more than £30,000. It is the only protection here that does not
depend on somebody else’s solvency — section 75 claims.
How to check a claimed accreditation
- Ask for the certification number and the exact registered company name.
- Look it up on the scheme’s own register, not on the installer’s website.
- Check the company name on the certificate matches the name on your quote. Group structures with
several trading names are common, and the certificate must match the contracting party. - Check the technology is covered: certification for solar PV is not certification for battery
storage. - Ask which consumer code they belong to and check that register too.
- Keep screenshots dated the day you checked.
These belong in the wider vetting exercise in the
battery installer checklist.
[VERIFICAR: the current scope and rules of MCS and of RECC, including which
consumer codes are recognised, what deposit protection applies and which equivalents to MCS are accepted
for SEG purposes. These are scheme rules that change; we have not restated them in detail here for that
reason. Check the schemes’ own published requirements on the day you rely on them.]
Frequently asked questions
Do I need MCS for plug-in solar?
No, and you cannot have it. Plug-in solar is self-installed and sits outside the scheme entirely,
which is exactly why there is no SEG income. Your obligations are the product rules and the network
notification — how to fill in a G98
notification.
Is an MCS installer automatically good?
No. It means they meet the scheme’s requirements and are audited against them. Trading history,
insurance, aftercare and paperwork still decide whether you have a good experience.
Is there an alternative to MCS?
Accepted equivalents exist for SEG eligibility. Ask your prospective supplier which certifications
they accept before assuming any given scheme qualifies you.
If my installer is in a code, is my deposit safe?
Codes address deposit protection, but the detail matters and varies. Do not rely on it alone: put the
deposit on a credit card and you have a statutory route that works regardless.
Sources.
Ofgem, Smart Export Guarantee for the certification
requirement ·
MCS ·
RECC ·
Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75.
Scheme details that change are flagged as unverified above — see editorial methodology.