Getting Paid for Your Solar Electricity: The Smart Export Guarantee
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If you have heard that solar panels "pay you a tariff", that is still true — but the scheme has changed. The old Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants in March 2019. Today you are paid through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), and choosing the right SEG tariff can be worth hundreds of pounds a year.
What was the Feed-in Tariff — and why it no longer applies
The Feed-in Tariff (FiT) ran from 2010 and paid two things: a generation payment for every unit your panels produced, and an export payment for surplus sent to the grid. It was generous, but it closed to new applicants on 31 March 2019. Existing participants keep their payments for the remainder of their 20 to 25-year term, so if you bought a house with panels already on a FiT contract, that contract continues. For any new installation, however, FiT is simply not available — and any site still telling you to apply for it is badly out of date.
How the Smart Export Guarantee works
The Smart Export Guarantee launched in January 2020. Under it, every licensed electricity supplier with 150,000 or more domestic customers must offer at least one tariff that pays you for each unit of electricity you export to the grid. Smaller suppliers can join voluntarily. Unlike the old FiT, there is no payment for electricity you generate and use yourself — but of course that electricity is still valuable, because every unit you use is one you do not have to buy.
To qualify you need an MCS-certified installation (one more reason to use an accredited installer) and a smart meter, or another meter capable of providing half-hourly export readings. You register your system with your chosen SEG supplier, and payments are usually made quarterly.
What the best rates look like in 2026
SEG rates vary enormously, and they change regularly, so always confirm the current figure directly with the supplier before signing up. As a guide to the 2026 market, the gap between the worst and best tariffs is striking — a poor variable rate might pay only a few pence per unit, while the strongest deals pay far more.
- Best flat rate without a battery: some suppliers have offered fixed rates around the 24 to 25 pence per unit mark, broadly matching what you pay to import — though these often require you to take your import supply from the same company.
- Best for battery owners: half-hourly "agile" export tariffs reward you for exporting during the late-afternoon and evening peak, when wholesale prices spike. With a battery you can store cheap daytime or overnight power and discharge it to the grid at the most valuable time, with peak rates that have at times exceeded 30 pence per unit.
- Open to non-customers: a handful of suppliers let you take their SEG tariff without switching your import supply, typically at single-figure to low-teens pence rates.
The practical lesson is that switching your export tariff is now often more rewarding than switching your import tariff. If you are still on a 5 pence rate signed back in 2020 or 2021, you could be leaving a meaningful sum on the table each year. Our pages on how SEG payments are made and solar as an investment go further into the numbers.
Fixed versus variable export tariffs
Fixed rate
You receive the same price per unit whenever you export. This is simple and predictable, and it suits homes without a battery that export whenever the sun shines and cannot easily shift the timing of their exports.
Variable / agile rate
The price tracks wholesale electricity and changes through the day, paying most during peak demand. This rewards homes with a battery that can deliberately hold power back and export it during the high-priced evening window. It takes a little more engagement, but the rewards can be considerably higher.
Do you pay tax on SEG income?
For ordinary domestic generators, SEG payments are generally not taxed, but rules can change and individual circumstances differ, so check the current HMRC position or speak to an accountant if you generate at scale. We cover this in more detail on our page about whether you pay tax on solar income.
A worked example
Consider a typical home with a 4kW system generating about 3,400 units a year. Without a battery, it might export around half of that — say 1,700 units — to the grid. At a poor 5 pence rate that surplus is worth roughly £85 a year; at a strong 20 pence rate it is worth around £340. Same panels, same sunshine, but a difference of more than £250 a year purely from choosing a better export tariff. Over a 25-year system life that single decision can be worth several thousand pounds, which is why we urge every reader to review their SEG arrangement rather than leaving it on whatever rate they first signed.
Registering and switching
Registering for the SEG is straightforward: you provide your MCS certificate, proof of ownership and your meter details to your chosen supplier, who then sets up payments. If you later find a better rate elsewhere, you can usually switch your export supplier without disturbing your import tariff. Because the two are separate, the best strategy is often to keep a competitive import deal with one company while taking the highest-paying export tariff from another. Always read the terms — some of the headline rates require a minimum contract length, a compatible battery, or that you remain an import customer of the same supplier.
How to get the most from your exports
- Make sure your installation is MCS-certified and your meter can report half-hourly export.
- Compare current SEG tariffs across suppliers, not just your own.
- If you have a battery, look closely at agile export tariffs and shift exports to the evening peak.
- Review your tariff once a year — the market moves quickly.
