Smart Export Guarantee Explained: Getting Paid for Your Solar

The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is the scheme that pays you for electricity your solar panels send to the grid. Larger electricity suppliers have to offer an export tariff to eligible small generators, but each supplier sets its own rate and terms. The only rule on price is that the rate must always be above zero. To sign up you need an eligible, certified installation and a meter that can record your exports every half hour.

This guide explains how SEG works, what you need, how it fits with batteries and the old Feed-in Tariff, and how to choose a tariff. We don’t quote rates because they change often and vary between suppliers.

Key points

• SEG replaced Feed-in Tariff export payments for new installations. It pays for electricity you export, based on actual meter readings.

• Suppliers with at least 150,000 domestic customers must offer an SEG tariff. Smaller suppliers can choose to.

• Each supplier sets its own rate and contract terms. The rate must be above zero.

• You need a certified installation (usually an MCS certificate for solar up to 50 kW), an export meter that records half-hourly readings, and an export MPAN.

• Your export supplier doesn’t have to be your import supplier, but the best rates are often reserved for customers who buy from the same supplier.

• You can’t receive Feed-in Tariff export payments and SEG for the same installation.

How SEG works

When your panels generate more than your home is using, the surplus flows out to the grid. Your smart meter records how much you export in each half-hour. Your chosen SEG supplier pays you for those units at the rate in your contract.

SEG covers solar PV, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion and micro-CHP, for installations up to 5 MW (micro-CHP up to 50 kW), in Great Britain. For a home, that means almost any solar system qualifies.

Ofgem runs the framework but doesn’t set the price. Suppliers compete, and rates and terms vary a lot between them, from simple flat rates to time-of-day rates that pay more at the evening peak.

What you need to sign up

According to Ofgem’s guidance, you’ll need to:

1. Show the installation is certified. For solar up to 50 kW this is normally your MCS certificate, which your installer provides. Keep it safe; you’ll need it again if you switch supplier or sell the house.

2. Have an export meter that records half-hourly readings. In practice this is a smart meter. If you don’t have one, ask your import supplier to fit one.

3. Have an export MPAN. This is a separate reference number for your export supply. Your SEG supplier arranges it.

4. Confirm you aren’t already paid FIT export for the same installation.

Our step-by-step installation guide explains when you receive your MCS certificate and how to register for export payments.

Choosing an SEG tariff

You can choose any SEG supplier. Ofgem is clear that your export supplier doesn’t need to be the company that supplies your electricity. You can only have one SEG supplier at a time, but you can switch.

Look at the whole deal, not just the export rate. Some of the best export rates are only available if you also buy your electricity from the same supplier, so compare your import and export together.

Check the terms. Contract length, how rates can change, how payments are made and what happens if you switch all vary.

Time-of-use export rates suit batteries. Some tariffs pay more for electricity exported during the evening peak. That only helps if you have a battery that can discharge on demand at that time. Our guide to Octopus Flux shows how one of these tariffs works.

SEG and batteries

A battery changes what you export, and the metering matters.

If your battery only ever charges from your solar panels, everything it later exports came from an eligible source. If it also charges from the grid, for example on a cheap overnight tariff, some of your exports may be grid electricity that was stored and sent back.

Ofgem’s guidance says that where the export meter also records electricity from a source that isn’t eligible, such as a battery charged from the grid, the supplier isn’t obliged to pay for it. It can choose to pay for all of it, none of it, or just the eligible portion. In practice, suppliers whose tariffs are designed around batteries set their own rules, so check how your chosen supplier treats a grid-charged battery before you sign up.

Our guide to whether solar batteries are worth it explains why the gap between import and export prices is what makes a battery pay.

If you’re on the Feed-in Tariff

Many older systems still receive Feed-in Tariff (FIT) payments. FIT has two parts: a generation payment for everything the panels produce, and an export payment.

• You can’t receive FIT export payments and SEG for the same installation.

• If you give up FIT export payments, you can keep the FIT generation payment and take an SEG tariff instead.

Whether that’s worthwhile depends on your FIT export arrangement and the SEG rates available, and the decision may not be reversible. Speak to your FIT supplier before changing anything. Our guide to keeping your Feed-in Tariff when you upgrade covers how batteries and new equipment interact with FIT.

Adding panels or a battery later

If you extend your system, your SEG supplier may need updated certification for the new equipment, and adding a battery can change how your exports are measured. Tell your SEG supplier about any changes. Our guides to adding more panels to an existing system and adding a battery to existing solar panels explain the practical steps.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays the Smart Export Guarantee?

Electricity suppliers. Those with at least 150,000 domestic customers must offer an SEG tariff; smaller suppliers can choose to.

Do I need a smart meter for SEG?

You need an export meter that can record half-hourly readings, which in practice means a smart meter.

Do I need an MCS certificate for SEG?

For solar up to 50 kW, your supplier will ask you to show the installation and installer are certified. An MCS certificate is the usual way.

Does my SEG supplier have to be my electricity supplier?

No. But some of the best export rates are only for customers who buy their electricity from the same supplier.

Can I get SEG and Feed-in Tariff payments?

You can keep FIT generation payments and take SEG, but not FIT export payments and SEG for the same installation.

Will I be paid for electricity my battery exports?

It depends on the supplier. If the battery also charges from the grid, suppliers can choose whether to pay for all of your exports, only the eligible part, or none.

Request a solar and battery quotation. We’ll design your system, provide your MCS certificate and explain how to register for export payments.