When you need to shut down your solar system
Most solar systems run continuously without any need for manual shutdown. There are only a handful of situations where you need to isolate the system, and the correct approach depends on which one applies to you.
An electrician is working on your consumer unit, replacing a battery module, servicing the inverter, or performing an annual health check. Standard shutdown procedure — no urgency.
Roofers need to work near the panels — re-tiling, repairing flashing, scaffold erection, or chimney work. The system should be shut down and the roofers informed that DC cables remain live.
Your inverter is showing a fault code that does not clear after a soft reset, or the system is behaving erratically. Shutting down prevents further damage while you wait for an engineer.
You smell burning, see smoke, hear arcing, or notice water near electrical components. Shut down immediately using the emergency procedure below and call your installer or an emergency electrician.
How to shut down a solar panel system — step by step
This is the standard shutdown sequence for all UK residential solar systems. The order matters — AC off first, then DC. This applies to GivEnergy, SolarEdge, Growatt, Sunsynk, Solis, Huawei, Fox ESS, Fronius, and all other grid-tied and hybrid inverters.
The AC isolator is usually a red rotary switch mounted on the wall next to or directly below the inverter. Some installations have it inside the consumer unit area instead. Turn the switch to the OFF position.
The inverter display will go dark or show a "no grid" or "waiting" message within a few seconds. On some models, a brief alarm beep may sound — this is normal and indicates the inverter has detected grid disconnection.
The DC isolator disconnects the solar panels from the inverter. Its location varies by installation: on string inverters it is typically a rotary switch on the underside or side of the inverter itself. On SolarEdge systems, the DC isolator is on the inverter with a yellow safety label. Some installations have an additional DC isolator near the panels on the roof.
Turn the DC isolator to the OFF position. The inverter is now disconnected from both the grid and the panels.
Open your consumer unit (fuse board) and switch off the MCB or RCBO that feeds the solar circuit. This is typically a dedicated breaker labelled "Solar", "PV", or "Inverter". It provides a third point of isolation and is required if anyone will be working on the AC wiring between the consumer unit and inverter.
If you are unsure which breaker is for the solar circuit, check the circuit chart on the inside of the consumer unit door. If there is no label, do not guess — contact your installer or an electrician.
Confirm the inverter display is completely off — no LEDs, no screen illumination. Check the monitoring app: it should show the system as offline with zero generation. If the inverter still shows any activity, recheck that both the AC and DC isolators are in the OFF position.
Wait at least 30 seconds after the final isolator is switched off before anyone touches the inverter or its connections. Internal capacitors need time to discharge.
Additional steps for battery storage systems
If your system includes a battery (GivEnergy, Pylontech, Dyness, BYD, Sofar, or any other), there are additional isolation steps. The battery is a separate energy source from the panels and must be shut down independently.
Follow steps 1–4 above to isolate the AC supply, DC supply, and consumer unit breaker. The inverter must be fully de-energised before you isolate the battery.
Some battery systems support a soft shutdown via the monitoring app — GivEnergy, for example, allows you to disable battery charge and discharge from MyGivEnergy. Using the software shutdown first allows the BMS (battery management system) to complete any balancing operations and enter a safe standby state before physical isolation.
Locate the battery isolation switch. On GivEnergy batteries it is on the battery module itself (a small rocker or rotary switch). On Pylontech and Dyness rack systems, each module has an individual breaker. On wall-mounted units, there is typically a single DC breaker between the battery and inverter.
Turn the switch to OFF. If you have multiple battery modules stacked together, isolate each one individually.
After physical isolation, wait at least 2 minutes before working near or on battery components. Battery capacitors and the BMS controller take longer to fully discharge than the inverter. Some manufacturers (Pylontech, BYD) recommend a 5-minute wait. Check the battery LED indicators — they should be off or showing a standby pattern.
Emergency shutdown procedure
If you smell burning, see smoke or sparking, hear arcing or crackling, or notice water near the inverter or battery — use the emergency procedure. The priority is speed: isolate everything as quickly as possible, then get clear.
In an emergency, speed takes priority over the AC-first sequence. Switch off whichever isolator you can reach first, then the other. If there is active fire or arcing at the inverter and you cannot safely reach the isolators, go to step 2.
If you cannot safely reach the inverter isolators, go to your consumer unit and switch off the main switch (the large switch at the top). This cuts all power to the property including the solar circuit. It does not disconnect the DC side from the panels, but it removes the AC supply.
If there is fire, smoke, or a chemical smell from a battery, evacuate the room and ventilate by opening windows from the outside if possible. Lithium battery fires produce toxic fumes. Do not attempt to extinguish a lithium battery fire with water.
For fire or smoke: call 999 and inform them the property has a solar panel system and/or lithium battery storage. For electrical faults without fire: call your installer, an emergency electrician, or STS emergency repair. Do not re-enter the area or attempt to restart the system until it has been inspected by a qualified person.
What NOT to do during a solar shutdown
These are the most common mistakes homeowners make when shutting down or working around their solar system. Each one creates a genuine safety risk.
MC4 connectors (the click-together plugs on the DC cables between panels) are not designed to be disconnected while the panels are producing power. Pulling them apart under load causes arcing, which can burn the connector and create a fire risk. MC4 disconnection should only be done by a qualified person, ideally at night or with panels covered.
Turning off the inverter stops generation but does not de-energise the panels or DC cabling. A typical domestic string produces 300–600V DC in daylight. The DC isolator disconnects the panels from the inverter, but the cable from the roof to the isolator remains live. Treat all DC wiring as energised until a qualified person has tested and confirmed otherwise.
Even after full isolation, internal capacitors retain charge for several minutes. Inverter and battery enclosures contain high-voltage DC busbars and terminals. Opening them voids your warranty and exposes you to lethal voltages. Only a qualified engineer should open any equipment enclosure.
Lithium-ion and LiFePO₄ battery fires produce toxic hydrogen fluoride gas and cannot be reliably extinguished with water. If you see smoke, swelling, or smell chemicals from a battery, isolate the system, evacuate, ventilate, and call 999. The fire service has specific protocols for lithium battery incidents.
How to restart your solar system after shutdown
The restart sequence is the reverse of the shutdown sequence. DC on first, then AC. This allows the inverter to see a stable DC source before it attempts to synchronise with the grid.
Switch on each battery module's isolator. Wait for the battery BMS to initialise — LED indicators should change from off to a normal status pattern. On GivEnergy batteries, a solid green LED indicates ready. Allow 30–60 seconds for the BMS to complete its startup checks.
Switch the DC isolator back to the ON position. The inverter may briefly show a DC voltage reading on its display as it detects the panel supply. Do not be concerned if it shows a "waiting" or "initialising" message — the inverter will not start generating until AC is also restored.
Switch the MCB or RCBO for the solar circuit back to the ON position.
Switch the AC isolator to the ON position. The inverter will begin its startup sequence — this takes between 30 seconds and 5 minutes depending on the brand. During this time the inverter measures grid voltage and frequency for a mandatory monitoring period (typically 60 seconds) before it will begin exporting.
Wait 5 minutes, then check: the inverter display shows normal generation figures, the monitoring app shows the system as online, and battery state-of-charge is reading correctly. If the system was off for more than a few hours, check your charge schedule and export limit settings — some inverters reset these after a prolonged power loss.
If the inverter does not start, shows a persistent fault code, or generation remains at zero, see inverter not turning on or system not producing for diagnosis steps.
Brand-specific shutdown notes
The procedure above applies to all brands, but some inverters have quirks worth knowing about.
GivEnergy hybrid inverters have a single DC isolator on the underside of the unit. Battery modules each have individual isolation switches. After restart, check MyGivEnergy for any "system restart" events in the event log — these confirm the shutdown and restart were detected cleanly. If the inverter shows "waiting" for more than 5 minutes after restart, power-cycle the WiFi dongle.
SolarEdge systems have a built-in safety feature: when the DC isolator is turned off, the optimisers reduce panel voltage to a safe level (1V per panel). This makes SolarEdge systems safer for roof work than conventional string inverters. The DC isolator is on the inverter itself, marked with a yellow label. After restart, optimisers take 2–5 minutes to pair and begin reporting — expect a brief delay before generation figures appear in the mySolarEdge portal.
Growatt SPH and MIN series inverters have the DC isolator on the bottom of the unit. After shutdown, the display may flash briefly as residual capacitor charge dissipates — this is normal. On restart, if ShinePhone shows the plant as offline, the ShineLink/WiFi-X dongle may need a manual restart (unplug and replug the USB dongle).
Sunsynk hybrid inverters have a DC isolator on the right-hand side of the unit. The inverter stores settings in non-volatile memory, so charge schedules and system mode survive a shutdown. After restart, Sunsynk typically reconnects to SunsynkConnect within 2–3 minutes. Check the "System Mode" setting (Self Use, Grid Tie, etc.) has not changed.
Huawei SUN2000 inverters have both AC and DC isolators built into the unit. LUNA2000 battery modules have individual power switches on each module — turn them off from top to bottom, and on from bottom to top. After a prolonged shutdown (24+ hours), the FusionSolar app may require you to re-enter the plant and manually refresh the device list.
Why the shutdown order matters — AC before DC explained
The AC-first rule exists because of how grid-tied inverters manage power flow. Understanding the electrical reason makes the procedure easier to remember.
A grid-tied solar inverter continuously converts DC power from the panels into AC power synchronised with the grid. The inverter's control loop adjusts its output to match the grid's voltage and frequency in real time. If you remove the DC supply first (panels disconnected) while the AC side is still grid-connected, the inverter briefly loses its power source but remains electrically connected to the grid. This can cause a transient voltage condition as the inverter's protection circuits react — on some models, this results in a hard fault that requires a manual reset.
Disconnecting AC first is cleaner: the inverter detects grid loss, its anti-islanding protection activates within milliseconds (as required by G98/G99), and it enters a controlled standby state. You then disconnect DC with the inverter already in standby — no transient, no fault, no drama.
The reverse applies on restart. DC on first gives the inverter a stable power source and time to measure the panel voltage. Then AC on allows it to perform the mandatory grid monitoring period (typically 60 seconds of voltage and frequency measurement) before beginning to export. This controlled startup avoids nuisance trips and ensures clean grid synchronisation.
Related guides and resources
Understand the role of DC/AC conversion, grid synchronisation, and why isolation sequence matters.
BMS architecture, charge cycles, and why battery isolation is a separate step from inverter shutdown.
Settings that can reset after a prolonged shutdown — charge schedules, export limits, and EPS mode.
Isolator locations, labelling requirements, and dual-supply warning notices — what should be on your system.
If your system won't restart after shutdown — diagnosis steps for all brands.
How emergency power supply works and why it keeps running during a grid outage.