Smart Export Guarantee rates
The best standalone Smart Export Guarantee rate we track is 15p per kWh from Good Energy (Solar Savings Exclusive), which you can take without changing who you buy electricity from. The highest rate of any kind is 16.5p per kWh from E.ON Next, but only if you also buy your import electricity from them.
Current SEG rates
Rates in pence per kilowatt hour. Open to anyone means you can take the export tariff while buying your electricity from a different supplier. Import-linked means you must also be their import customer, so the headline rate has to be judged against what they charge you to buy power back.
| Supplier | Tariff | Export rate | Type | Who can take it | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E.ON Next | Export Exclusive | 16.50p | fixed | Import-linked – You must buy your import electricity from E.ON Next. | 23/09/2026 |
| Octopus Energy | Outgoing Fixed | 15.00p | fixed | Import-linked – You must buy your import electricity from Octopus Energy. | 23/09/2026 |
| Good Energy | Solar Savings Exclusive | 15.00p | fixed | Open to anyone – Open to anyone with an eligible export meter; you do not have to switch your import supply. | 23/09/2026 |
What that is worth on a normal house
A 4 kWp south-facing roof in the Midlands makes roughly 3,600 kWh a year, and a household without a battery typically exports about 2,600 kWh of it.
- At the best standalone rate, 15p from Good Energy: £390 a year, with no change to your import supply.
- At the best import-linked rate, 16.5p from E.ON Next: £429 a year, but you have to buy your electricity from them at around 27.0p a unit. On a household using 3,500 kWh a year, a penny on the import price costs £35, so the export uplift can be wiped out entirely.
- Every unit you use in the house instead of exporting is worth the import price, typically 25 to 30p. That is why self-consumption, not export, is where the money is.
How the Smart Export Guarantee works
The Smart Export Guarantee started in January 2020 and is administered by Ofgem. It obliges licensed electricity suppliers with more than 150,000 domestic customers to offer at least one export tariff to small-scale low-carbon generators: solar PV, wind, hydro, micro-CHP and anaerobic digestion up to 5 MW.
It is a floor, not a price. Suppliers must offer something above zero, but the rate, the structure and the contract length are entirely up to them, which is why the spread across the table above is so wide. You need an export-capable meter, you can hold your export tariff with a different supplier from your import one unless that supplier says otherwise, and you can switch export tariff without switching your electricity supply.
Above 5 MW the scheme does not apply and generation is sold under a commercial power purchase agreement instead, which is a negotiated bilateral contract, usually with REGO certificates attached.
Questions people ask
What is the best Smart Export Guarantee rate right now?
The highest rates on the table are usually import-linked, meaning you only get them if you also buy your electricity from that supplier. The best standalone rate, open to anyone with an export meter and no switch required, is the number most households should plan around. Both are listed above with the date each was last checked.
Can I get an export tariff without switching supplier?
Yes. Some suppliers offer a standalone Smart Export Guarantee tariff that you can take while buying your import electricity from someone else. Others only offer their export rate to their own import customers. The table marks which is which.
Do I need a smart meter to get paid for solar export?
You need a meter capable of half-hourly export readings, which in practice means a SMETS2 smart meter or an equivalent export meter. Without one, suppliers cannot measure what you send back and cannot pay you under the Smart Export Guarantee.
Is the Smart Export Guarantee the same as the old Feed-in Tariff?
No. The Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants in March 2019 and paid both for generation and for deemed export at rates fixed for decades. The Smart Export Guarantee, which started in January 2020, pays only for metered export, and each supplier sets its own rate, which it can change.
Is Smart Export Guarantee income taxable?
For a household exporting from its own roof, export income is normally outside income tax. For a business, farm or landlord, export income is trading income and is taxed in the usual way. Take your accountant's view rather than ours.
Does a battery increase what I earn from export?
Usually it reduces export and increases savings, which is generally worth more because import costs more than export pays. A battery earns its keep by shifting cheap or self-generated units into expensive hours, not by selling more back.
How often do these rates change?
Suppliers can change a Smart Export Guarantee rate at any time, and fixed offers are typically twelve-month products. We re-check the rates on this page and record the date each one was last confirmed.
Want this applied to your own roof?
We model export against the rate you can actually get, not a flattering one, and show what changes if you switch supplier. Related reading: SEG, PPAs and symmetric pricing, solar on an east-west roof and the grid connection check.