If you've got solar panels, every kilowatt-hour you don't use yourself can be sold back to the grid through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). But the rate you're paid varies enormously between suppliers — and picking the wrong one can cost you hundreds of pounds a year.
What is the Smart Export Guarantee?
The SEG is a government-backed scheme that requires licensed electricity suppliers with more than 150,000 customers to offer at least one export tariff to small-scale renewable generators, including homes with solar PV. Unlike the old Feed-in Tariff scheme it replaced, SEG rates are set entirely by the supplier — meaning real competition exists between providers.
Why rates vary so much
Some suppliers offer a flat rate per kWh exported regardless of time of day. Others offer variable, time-of-use rates that pay more during peak demand hours and less overnight. A handful of premium tariffs require you to also be a customer for your import (regular electricity) tariff, often bundled with a smart home battery or EV charging deal.
⚡ Quick tip
You don't have to take your SEG export tariff from the same supplier as your home electricity supply. Always compare both independently — switching your export tariff alone takes a few minutes and requires no rewiring.
What to look for in an SEG tariff
- Rate per kWh — the headline number, but check whether it's fixed or time-of-use
- Contract length — some tariffs lock you in for 12 months, others let you switch freely
- Smart meter requirement — virtually all SEG tariffs now require a smart meter with half-hourly export readings
- MCS certification — your installation must be MCS certified to qualify for any SEG tariff
How to register for SEG
Once your solar installation is complete and MCS certified, your installer (that's us) provides the certification documents you need. From there, registering with your chosen supplier's SEG tariff typically takes a few weeks for the first payment to process, and ongoing payments are usually made monthly or quarterly based on your smart meter export readings.
Maximising your SEG income
The single biggest factor in your SEG income isn't the rate you're paid — it's how much you export in the first place. Pairing solar with a home battery typically means you store and use more of your own generation rather than exporting it, which sounds counterintuitive but usually nets out as the better financial decision, since avoiding a unit of grid import (at ~28p/kWh) is worth more than exporting that same unit (at typically 5-25p/kWh).
💡 Worth knowing
For most households, the optimal strategy is: use what you generate first, store the surplus in a battery, and only export what's left after the battery is full. This typically beats maximising for SEG income alone.
The bottom line
SEG rates and the suppliers offering the best deals change regularly, so it's worth reviewing your export tariff annually, just as you would your home energy supplier. If you're not sure where to start, we can point you toward current best-in-market options as part of your solar installation aftercare.