The Smart Export Guarantee pays you roughly the same as a third of the average annual electricity bill for a typical three-bedroom home — around £180 per year for a 4 kW solar system in 2026.
If you have solar panels, the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is how you get paid for the electricity you don’t use. For a standard 4 kWp solar PV system, the typical annual export payment in 2026 is around £180. That figure assumes a south-facing system in England generating 3,800 kWh per year, with 50% exported (1,900 kWh) at an average rate of 9.5 p/kWh (Energy Saving Trust, 2026).
The best Smart Export Guarantee tariff in 2026 pays 15p/kWh from Octopus Energy. A typical 4kW system earns around £180 per year, covering roughly one-third of the average electricity bill.
- Octopus Energy pays 15p/kWh on its Outgoing Fixed tariff.
- E.ON Next Export Plus pays 12p/kWh fixed rate.
- British Gas Smart Export pays 10.5p/kWh fixed rate.
- Typical SEG payment for a 4kW system is £180/year.
- SEG requires a smart meter and import tariff from the supplier.
- The Smart Export Guarantee pays you roughly the same as a third of the average annual electricity bill for a typical three-bedroom home — around £180 per year for a 4 kW solar system in 2026.
- The three highest-paying SEG tariffs available in 2026
- Who qualifies for the Smart Export Guarantee — the eligibility rules in plain English
- How to check if your installer and equipment meet SEG requirements
- Quick numbers — SEG tariff rates and typical payments in 2026
- The direct answer to "smart export guarantee tariff" — what it pays and how it compares to the old FiT
- How to switch your SEG tariff without losing your eligibility
To put that in context, the average UK household electricity bill for 2026 is about £540 per year under the default tariff cap (Ofgem, 2026). So your SEG payment covers roughly one-third of that bill. The SEG is a mandatory scheme for licensed electricity suppliers with over 150,000 domestic customers, but each supplier sets its own tariff rate — the government does not set a minimum rate (GOV.UK, 2026). Remember, SEG pays only for electricity you export to the grid, not for everything your panels generate.
The three highest-paying SEG tariffs available in 2026
Based on the latest Ofgem compliance data and Energy Saving Trust tariff tables, the three highest-paying SEG tariffs for the 2026/2027 period are:
- Octopus Energy Outgoing Fixed 15p — 15.0 p/kWh, fixed rate. You must also buy your electricity from Octopus and have a smart meter installed (Energy Saving Trust, 2026).
- E.ON Next Export Plus — 12.0 p/kWh, fixed rate. Requires an E.ON Next import tariff and a smart meter (Ofgem, 2026).
- British Gas Smart Export — 10.5 p/kWh, fixed rate. Available to British Gas import customers with a smart meter (Energy Saving Trust, 2026).
A fixed-rate tariff pays you a set p/kWh for every unit exported, regardless of wholesale prices. A variable-rate tariff changes with the market. The SEG guidance from GOV.UK explains that variable rates can go up or down, so your income is less predictable (GOV.UK, 2026). A warning: the highest headline rate may not be the best value if the supplier’s import tariff is also higher than the market average. Always check the combined cost of import and export together.
Who qualifies for the Smart Export Guarantee — the eligibility rules in plain English
To qualify for the SEG, you must be a domestic microgenerator with a renewable technology up to 5 MW capacity — typically solar PV, wind, hydro, or anaerobic digestion (GOV.UK, 2026). Your installation must be completed by an installer certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) (MCS, 2026). You also need a smart meter or an export meter that can measure half-hourly export data (Ofgem, 2026).
You can only receive SEG payments from one supplier at a time. If you want a better rate, you must switch to a new supplier entirely — you cannot hold multiple SEG contracts simultaneously.
How to check if your installer and equipment meet SEG requirements
The installer must be MCS-certified, and your equipment (solar panels, inverter, battery if included) must appear on the MCS Product Directory (MCS, 2026). You can check both on the MCS website using their Find an Installer tool. TrustMark is a quality mark for installations but is not a mandatory SEG requirement (TrustMark, 2026).
If you have a battery storage system, you may need a specific export meter or a smart meter that can differentiate between self-consumption and export (Ofgem, 2026). At the end of the installation, ask your installer for a copy of the MCS certificate. Without it, you cannot join the SEG scheme.
Quick numbers — SEG tariff rates and typical payments in 2026
| Supplier | Tariff name | Export rate (p/kWh) | Fixed or variable | Estimated annual payment (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy | Outgoing Fixed 15p | 15.0 | Fixed | £285 |
| E.ON Next | Export Plus | 12.0 | Fixed | £228 |
| British Gas | Smart Export | 10.5 | Fixed | £200 |
| Scottish Power | SEG Fixed | 8.0 | Fixed | £152 |
Data source: Ofgem SEG annual compliance report, 2026; Energy Saving Trust SEG tariff table, 2026. The estimated annual payment assumes a 4 kWp system in a south-facing location in England generating 3,800 kWh per year, with 50% exported (1,900 kWh).
What it pays and how it compares to the old FiT
The Smart Export Guarantee tariff is the per-kWh rate a supplier pays you for surplus electricity you export to the grid (GOV.UK, 2026). The average SEG rate in 2026 is approximately 6.5 p/kWh (Ofgem, 2026). Compare that to the old Feed-in Tariff (FiT) export rate, which was 4.9 p/kWh in 2019 and index-linked to RPI (Ofgem, 2019).
So SEG rates are higher than the old FiT export rate. But the FiT also paid a generation tariff for every kWh your system produced, which SEG does not. The FiT generation tariff for a typical solar installation was around 4.0 p/kWh in its final years, meaning total FiT income was roughly double what you can expect from SEG alone.
How to switch your SEG tariff without losing your eligibility
You can switch your SEG supplier at any time, but you must give your current supplier at least 30 days’ notice (GOV.UK, 2026). Switching does not affect your MCS certificate or your installation’s eligibility. However, some suppliers require you to be a customer for their import tariff as well, so check the terms of the new tariff before switching.
Use a comparison tool like the Energy Saving Trust’s SEG tariff table to find the best rate, then contact the new supplier directly. You will need your MCS certificate number and your meter point administration number (MPAN) for the export meter. how to read your solar export meter readings comparing solar panel quotes in 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
The best SEG tariff in 2026 is Octopus Energy Outgoing Fixed at 15p/kWh, based on Energy Saving Trust tables. You need to buy electricity from Octopus and have a smart meter.
A typical 4kW solar system earns around £180 per year under SEG in 2026, according to the Energy Saving Trust. The exact amount depends on your export rate and how much you export.
Yes, SEG is mandatory for licensed suppliers with over 150,000 domestic customers, as confirmed by GOV.UK. Each supplier sets its own rate, and the government does not set a minimum.
Yes, most SEG tariffs require a smart meter to measure export accurately. Octopus, E.ON, and British Gas all list a smart meter as a condition, per the Energy Saving Trust.
Fixed-rate SEG tariffs pay a set p/kWh for every unit exported, while variable rates change with the market. GOV.UK notes variable rates are less predictable for your income.
