Best solar export tariffs in the UK (SEG rates, 2026)
Search "best solar export tariff" and you get a wall of numbers, most of them undated and some of them wrong. This page ranks the real UK export tariffs with a date stamp on every rate — and then tells you the part the comparison tables leave out: export is the smaller half of what solar saves you, so the export rate should not decide whether you go solar at all.
What "best export tariff" actually means
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) pays you per unit (kWh) of surplus solar you send back to the grid. Every larger licensed supplier must offer at least one export tariff, but the rate they set is entirely up to them beyond a single rule: it has to be greater than zero. That's why the market is so spread out — from a token few pence to competitive double-digit rates — and why "best" is not just the biggest headline number. The best tariff for you is the highest rate you can genuinely qualify for, on terms you're happy with, without having to switch something that costs you more elsewhere. We unpack the scheme itself in full on the Smart Export Guarantee page; here we focus on the ranking and how to choose.
The best solar export tariffs, as at July 2026
Below are the leading UK export tariffs, each dated so you can see how current it is. This is where most guides fall down — they run 2025 rates, blur 12p and 15p together as if both were live, or quote no figure at all. Every rate here is stamped as at July 2026, and you should re-check it before you sign, because suppliers move these rates with little notice.
| Tariff | Export rate (as at July 2026) | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Good Energy | ~15p / kWh | Among the highest flat rates available, and open without switching your import supplier (check current terms). Often the best standalone option. |
| Octopus Outgoing Fixed / Panel Power | 12p / kWh | Cut from a rate that was 15p until 1 March 2026. The strongest widely-available flat rate, but usually needs you to be an Octopus import customer too. |
| Octopus flat SEG (standard) | 4.1p / kWh | The basic obligatory Octopus rate for anyone not on the enhanced Outgoing tariff — close to the mandatory floor. |
| Other big-supplier SEG (E.ON, British Gas, OVO, etc.) | ~3p–15p / kWh | A wide, shifting spread; several sit in the low single figures. Some fixed, some variable — compare the exact terms before accepting one. |
| Octopus Flux / Intelligent Flux | Closed to new customers | No longer open to sign up for. Ignore any comparison still presenting these as options you can join today. |
The honest summary: a strong flat SEG tariff earns you roughly 12–15p per exported unit today, and a weak one earns barely 4p. Do not read "15p" as the current Octopus headline — that was the pre-March-2026 Outgoing rate and it is out of date. You can confirm which suppliers are obliged to offer a rate on Ofgem's Smart Export Guarantee page.
Octopus Outgoing and Good Energy — the two front-runners
Octopus Outgoing / Panel Power is the tariff most people mean when they talk about a good export deal. At 12p per kWh it is the best-paying flat rate that's widely available, and Octopus is straightforward to deal with — but note the two catches. First, that 12p was 15p until 1 March 2026, so any figure you saw last year is stale. Second, the enhanced rate generally requires you to buy your electricity from Octopus as well, so it's really an import-and-export bundle rather than a pure export deal.
Good Energy is the other front-runner, at around 15p per kWh, and its appeal is that it has historically been open without forcing you to move your import supply. That makes it the tariff to beat if you want to keep your current electricity provider and simply add an export contract on top. Rates and eligibility do change, so treat both figures as "as at July 2026" and verify at the point of signing.
The tariffs to be wary of
Two things drag the average down. The first is the basic obligatory SEG rate: many large suppliers meet their legal duty with a low single-figure tariff — Octopus's own flat SEG is 4.1p, and several rivals are similar. There is no rule that you have to accept your current supplier's export rate, so a low one is a reason to shop around, not to give up. The second is closed tariffs: Octopus Flux and Intelligent Flux paid more in certain windows but are shut to new customers, so any guide still listing them as live options is out of date. Sign up only for something you can actually join today.
What you need to qualify
Three things must be in place before any supplier will pay you for export:
- An MCS-certified system. Your solar PV install must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme. No MCS certificate, no SEG payments — it is the gatekeeper, so confirm your installer is MCS registered before you commit.
- A smart or export meter. You need a meter that records the units you send back, normally a second-generation smart meter (SMETS2). Without accurate export readings, a supplier has no basis to pay you.
- DNO notification. Your installer must notify your Distribution Network Operator under G98 (systems up to 3.68kW per phase) or apply under G99 for larger arrays — routine paperwork a competent installer handles for you.
Get all three sorted and you're free to choose your export tariff from the whole market, not just your existing supplier.
You can pick any SEG supplier — here's how to choose
The single most useful thing to know is that you don't have to take your export tariff from your import supplier. Import (the electricity you buy) and export (the surplus you sell) are separate contracts, so you can buy from one company and sell to another. That opens the whole market to you — but it also creates the one trap worth avoiding: a few of the top export rates are reserved for a supplier's own import customers, so bundling can pay slightly more while quietly locking you into their import prices too.
A sensible way to choose:
- Check the standalone export rate you can get without switching your import supply (Good Energy is often the benchmark here).
- Compare it against the bundled rate you'd unlock by also moving your import — and check whether that import rate is actually competitive for your usage.
- Don't switch your import supplier purely to win a couple of pence on export. Export is the smaller half of the picture, as the next section explains.
The part comparison tables leave out: export is the smaller half
Here is why you should not choose solar — or lose sleep over the perfect export tariff — on the strength of the export rate. Solar puts money in your pocket two ways, and they are not worth the same:
- Electricity you use yourself avoids buying a unit from the grid at about 26p (the Ofgem price cap is 26.11p/kWh for July–September 2026).
- Electricity you export earns only about 12–15p a unit on even a good SEG tariff, as at July 2026.
So a unit you consume at home is worth roughly double a unit you export. Without a battery, a typical home uses only 45–50% of what its panels make and exports the rest at the lower rate. That's why realistic annual savings on a 4kWp system land around £400–£700 rather than the headline figures some installers imply — and it's why chasing the best export tariff is the wrong optimisation. The bigger win is using more of your own generation: running the dishwasher, washing machine, immersion heater or EV charger while the sun is out, or adding a battery to store the surplus. See the full breakdown on how much solar panels save, and check the numbers for your own roof with the savings calculator.
Why "lock in the best rate before it drops" is not real urgency
Because self-consumption does the heavy lifting, the export rate barely moves your bottom line. Even if SEG rates fell further tomorrow, most of your saving — the ~26p you avoid on every self-used unit — would be untouched. SEG tariffs are also typically 12-month contracts you can switch at renewal, so there's no permanent rate to secure by rushing a decision. We won't use the "rates are being cut, sign now" line you'll hear elsewhere, because on the maths it simply isn't true.
The genuine, dated reasons to act sooner are different ones: 0% VAT on residential solar runs only to 31 March 2027, then reverts to 5% (VAT Notice 708/6), and Chinese module prices are forecast to rise 10–15% during 2026 after China scrapped its PV export VAT rebate in April 2026 — a forecast, not a certainty. Those are real levers on your install cost; the export rate is not one of them. For how export income folds into the wider return, see solar panel payback and whether solar stacks up for you at all on is solar worth it.
The honest bottom line
Get an export tariff — it's real money for surplus you'd otherwise hand the grid for free — and get the best one you can qualify for, which as at July 2026 means Good Energy around 15p or Octopus Outgoing at 12p, not a basic 4p rate you don't have to accept. But keep it in proportion. A good export tariff is the tail, not the dog: it adds perhaps £70–£150 a year, while the bulk of your saving comes from using your own power at ~26p. If a salesperson's payback figure leans heavily on a high export rate, or still quotes a 15p Octopus rate that was cut back in March 2026, treat it as a red flag. Choose your system for self-consumption first, then take the best export rate you can get on top.