Export payments and the Smart Export Guarantee explained

When your panels make more than your home is using, the surplus flows out to the grid. Under the Smart Export Guarantee, the larger licensed electricity suppliers must offer to pay you for it. This guide explains how that works, what you need, and how to think about the numbers.

What you need to be paid

We handle the MCS certificate and the grid notification as part of every installation, and we register you for an export tariff before handover. If your meter needs changing, we tell you at the survey.

• An MCS certificate for your installation, issued when the system is commissioned
• A smart meter that can record what you export, usually every half hour
• An export tariff with a supplier. It does not have to be the supplier you buy from

How the rate is set

Each supplier sets its own export rate, and the rates vary widely. Some are a few pence per unit, some are several times that, and the best rates usually come with conditions, such as taking your import supply from the same company or having a particular battery. Rates change often, so we do not print them here. At the survey we show you the current options for your household and choose one with you.

Why export is the smallest part of the saving

Export is paid at a fraction of what you pay to import. A unit you use yourself is worth the full price you would have paid for it. A unit you export is worth the export rate. The gap between the two is why the design matters more than the tariff: a system that keeps more of its power in the house saves more than one that sells more of it.

That is the job of a battery, and of sizing the panels to how you actually use power. A large array on a house that is empty all day exports most of what it makes. The same house with a battery keeps it for the evening.

Fixed export and smart export

Some tariffs pay a flat rate for every unit. Others pay a rate that changes through the day, higher in the evening peak and lower at midday. With a battery, a smart tariff can be worth having: the battery charges from the roof by day and exports in the evening when the rate is highest. Without a battery, a flat rate is usually simpler and often as good. We choose the one that suits your system and your routine.

If you already have panels on the Feed-in Tariff

The Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants in 2019. If your panels are on it, a battery can usually be added without affecting your payments, and we check the detail of your arrangement at the survey before anything is designed.

What this means for your decision

Choose an installer, and a system, on how much of your own power you will keep. The export rate is a small part of the result. Your Home Energy Plan shows both numbers for your house: what you will use yourself and what you will export, with the payment at the tariff we recommend. That is the figure we check against your real bills at year one.