The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is the UK’s mechanism for paying solar PV owners for the electricity they export to the grid. It replaced the much-loved Feed-in Tariff in January 2020 — less generous, but still meaningful. For a typical 4kW solar installation, SEG income now covers between £150 and £400 per year, on top of the bill savings from self-consumption.
Here’s how it actually works in 2026.
What SEG is, in plain terms
The Smart Export Guarantee is a legal obligation on every UK electricity supplier with more than 150,000 customers. They must offer at least one SEG tariff. The tariff has to pay above zero for every kWh you export.
Beyond those minimum requirements, suppliers can set their own rates and structures. That means rates vary dramatically — from around 3p/kWh at the lowest end to 24p/kWh at the highest. Choosing the right SEG supplier matters more than people realise.
You can choose any SEG supplier regardless of who supplies your import electricity. So if you import from EDF but Octopus pays a better SEG rate, you’re free to use Octopus for export and stay with EDF for import.
SEG rates in May 2026
The current league table of mainstream SEG tariffs:
| Supplier | Export rate | Notable conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla Energy Plan | up to 24p/kWh | Requires Tesla Powerwall battery |
| Octopus Outgoing Fixed | ~15p/kWh | Requires smart meter sending half-hourly readings |
| Octopus Outgoing Agile | variable (4-20p+) | Variable rate tracking wholesale electricity prices |
| British Gas Export & Earn | ~6-15p/kWh | Better rates for British Gas import customers |
| EDF Export+ | ~7-10p/kWh | Available to all |
| OVO Energy SEG | ~4-6p/kWh | Standard offering, no special requirements |
| Eon Next Export | ~3-7p/kWh | Lowest mainstream rate |
| Scottish Power Export Tariff | ~5-12p/kWh | Plan-specific rates |
The headline number isn’t always the comparison that matters. A 24p/kWh rate paid to a Tesla Powerwall owner sounds great, but Powerwall installations export much less than non-battery setups (because the battery is filled first). The Octopus Outgoing Fixed at 15p with no battery requirement often delivers more total annual income.
We help every AMP customer work out which tariff makes sense for their specific install configuration.
What you can expect to be paid
A typical 4kW solar installation in the North East generates around 3,500 kWh per year. Without a battery, that breaks down roughly as:
- ~30-40% self-consumed. Used directly in the home, offsets retail electricity at ~28p/kWh. Annual saving: ~£300-400.
- ~60-70% exported. Goes to the grid, paid at the SEG rate. At 15p/kWh (Octopus Outgoing Fixed), annual income: ~£320-370.
Total annual benefit before adding a battery: roughly £620-770. Payback on the typical 4kW install runs 7-9 years on solar-only economics.
Adding a 10kWh battery shifts the mix:
- ~70-80% self-consumed. Battery captures daytime surplus, releases it in the evening peak.
- ~20-30% exported. Less export but still meaningful, especially in summer.
Total annual benefit with battery: roughly £900-1,200. Payback shortens to 6-8 years because you’re displacing more of your import at retail rates, even though SEG export income drops.
The reduction in SEG income from adding a battery is more than offset by the increase in self-consumption value. Battery is almost always the right next step after solar.
Eligibility — what you need
To register for any SEG tariff you need:
- MCS-certified installation. Solar PV up to 5MW. (Yours will be — we install MCS-certified as standard.)
- System commissioning certificate. Issued by the installer.
- Smart meter sending half-hourly readings. Most modern meters do this. If you don’t have one, your supplier installs one free.
- A separate import meter and export meter. Smart meters do this in software.
For new builds, the developer or solar installer needs to confirm the MCS certification covers the property. For homes with multiple meters (e.g. older buildings split into flats), MCS certification can be more complex — we work through this on a case-by-case basis.
How we set it up for AMP customers
As part of every AMP solar install:
- MCS registration. We register your installation with the MCS within 10 working days of completion.
- SEG tariff comparison. We pull current rates from the major suppliers and recommend based on your specific configuration (battery yes/no, import supplier, expected export profile).
- Switch and registration. If you decide to switch supplier (e.g. from your current import-only EDF to Octopus Outgoing Fixed), we help you through the switch. Most customers prefer to keep their import supplier and add SEG export as a separate tariff with a second supplier — that’s also fine.
- Documentation. Everything you need for the SEG application packaged in your install handover documents.
You then receive payment monthly or quarterly from your chosen SEG supplier (depending on supplier). Payment typically by bank transfer.
What changed from the original Feed-in Tariff
A quick history note for context. The original Feed-in Tariff (FiT) ran from April 2010 to March 2019 and paid much higher rates: at peak, around 43p/kWh for generation plus an export tariff on top. It also paid for every kWh generated, not just what was exported. A typical 4kW system on FiT generated £1,200-£1,500 per year in tariff income alone.
That was generous. It was also expensive — the cost was funded by an opaque levy on every UK electricity bill, and as solar panels got cheaper, the per-kWh subsidy became hard to justify. FiT closed to new applicants in March 2019; SEG launched January 2020.
The key differences:
- SEG pays for export only, not generation. You only get paid for what you put back into the grid.
- SEG rates are set by suppliers, not government. So they vary; you have to shop around.
- SEG has no inflation indexing, unlike FiT which had RPI-linked annual increases.
- SEG payback periods are longer, but solar PV is also dramatically cheaper. The net economics are still attractive — they’re just less obvious.
If you took out a FiT before March 2019, you keep that tariff for the full 20-25 year term. It is genuinely valuable and you should not voluntarily transfer to SEG. If you bought solar after April 2019, you’re on SEG and the rates above are what you can access.
Maximising your SEG income
Three practical things you can do to push your SEG income higher:
1. Choose your SEG supplier deliberately. The difference between Octopus Outgoing Fixed (15p) and the Eon Next default (4p) on a typical 4kW system is roughly £230 per year. Over 25 years that’s £5,750 difference. Worth half an hour of comparing.
2. Consider time-of-use export. Octopus Outgoing Agile pays a variable rate that tracks wholesale prices. On windless winter mornings the rate can spike to 30-40p/kWh. If your battery is configured smartly, you can discharge into those windows and earn premium export. Worth £100-200/year for engaged customers but requires more active management.
3. Get a smart meter sending half-hourly data. Most newer smart meters do this by default. Older SMETS1 meters sometimes don’t. If you have an older smart meter and you’re seeing SEG rates lower than the headline supplier figure, half-hourly readings are usually the issue.
SEG vs export to a battery vs sending to an EV
Some customers ask whether they should use surplus solar to charge an EV (via a smart EV charger like the Zappi) rather than export to the grid. The economics break down like this:
- Export to grid: earn 4-24p/kWh (supplier-dependent) for the surplus.
- Charge EV from solar: save the EV charging cost, typically 7-30p/kWh depending on tariff.
If you’re on a smart EV tariff like Octopus Go (7p/kWh overnight), charging the EV overnight from grid and exporting solar at 15p/kWh in the day earns you more than charging the EV from solar directly during the day. If you’re on a standard variable tariff (~28p/kWh), charging the EV from solar saves more than the SEG export rate pays. Run the numbers for your specific tariff combination — we help with this during install.
See our solar panels service page for the broader cost / payback picture, or book a free roof survey if you’re ready to start.