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What’s your export worth?

Most plug-in kits can’t get the Smart Export Guarantee, so the spare power they send to the grid usually earns nothing. See how much you’d export, what it would be worth used at home, and how to use more of it.

a year exported by an 800 W kit in a typical Birmingham home
386 kWh
paid for it, without a certified installation
£0
what it would save if you used it at home
£99
An electricity pylon against a blue sky with white clouds
Photo: Yuan Yang / Unsplash
1Where will the panels go?
2Which way will they face?

South

The best direction for solar.

3Is someone home in the day?

Have half-hourly smart-meter data? The self-consumption calculator uses your real pattern.

4Kit and prices

Most 800 W kits have 800–1,000 Wp of panels.

Leave at 0 unless your supplier has confirmed in writing that it pays for your plug-in kit.

Your kit would send to the grid

386 kWh

a year, 45% of the 853 kWh it makes

£0

paid for it, with no export tariff

£99

it would save if you used it, at 25.6p

Each kWh you use at home saves 25.6p. Each one you export earns nothing. That’s why using more of it beats any export rate.

Run the washing machine, dishwasher or tumble dryer, or charge things, in the middle of the day. Your appliance’s energy label shows its kWh per cycle.

That saves about £27 a year more.

Used at homeSpare, sent to the grid
Monthly output: used at home and exported
MonthkWh
Jan31
Feb44
Mar73
Apr96
May106
Jun106
Jul106
Aug95
Sep79
Oct54
Nov35
Dec27

PVGIS output for Birmingham, 30° tilt, 800 W cap. Self-use from our 170 W daytime-load model, as in the calculator.

The short answer

Can a plug-in kit get the Smart Export Guarantee?

Usually not. The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) makes larger suppliers offer an export tariff, but only to an “eligible installation”. For solar up to 50 kW, that means one “certified under MCS or an Equivalent Scheme” and “installed by an MCS or equivalent installer”, with an export meter that can take half-hourly readings and has an export MPAN (Schedule A to standard licence condition 57, which the SEG Order 2019 points to).

A plug-in kit is fitted by the householder, so it has no installer certificate. DESNZ’s impact assessment for plug-in solar says so plainly:

“without an MCS-accredited installation of domestic solar consumers are not entitled to the Smart Export Guarantee in Great Britain” (para 61)

Ofgem’s guidance for generators leaves one door open: if you can’t show your installation is certified, “a SEG licensee is not obliged to offer payments under the SEG, but they can make payments if they wish” (para 1.14). So any payment for plug-in export is up to your supplier. We found no MCS scheme for plug-in kits.

What to do

Plan on £0 for export

  • Value export at zero when you work out payback. Our calculator does unless you enter a rate.
  • Ask your supplier if you already have an export tariff (for example from rooftop panels). Get any “yes” in writing before you count on it.
  • Octopus is the one supplier offer we found: Octopus says buyers of its own plug-in kits who get their electricity from Octopus can join its Prime Outgoing tariff after ENA registration and network-operator approval. Kits bought elsewhere can’t.
  • Use more of it yourself. A kWh used at home saves 25.60p on the price cap; the best export rates we found pay less than that.

More detail in our export guide and the Smart Export Guarantee glossary entry.

Worked examples

How much a kit exports in Birmingham

An 890 Wp kit with an 800 W inverter, no shading. “Worth if used” is the same kWh at the 25.60p price cap rate. Without an export tariff, you’re paid nothing for it.

Kit set-upMakes a yearOut most of the dayHome some of the dayHome all day
South, garden stand (30°)853 kWh537 kWh exportedworth £137 if used386 kWh exportedworth £99 if used271 kWh exportedworth £69 if used
South, balcony railing (90°)630 kWh359 kWh exportedworth £92 if used243 kWh exportedworth £62 if used157 kWh exportedworth £40 if used
East, upright (90°)440 kWh208 kWh exportedworth £53 if used136 kWh exportedworth £35 if used86 kWh exportedworth £22 if used
West, upright (90°)427 kWh198 kWh exportedworth £51 if used127 kWh exportedworth £32 if used79 kWh exportedworth £20 if used

Output from PVGIS 5.3 for Birmingham. Self-use from our daytime-load model (100 W, 170 W, 240 W for the three households), the same as the calculator. For your real usage pattern, use the self-consumption calculator.

Supplier rates

Export rates, and who can get them

Rates as shown on each supplier’s own page, checked on 12 Oct 2026. Rates change, so check the link before you sign up. Every rate here pays less than the 25.60p price cap unit rate.

Supplier and tariffRate per kWhConditionsPlug-in kits?
Octopus EnergySmart Export Guarantee4.1pOpen to non-customers. Needs MCS or equivalent certification, a half-hourly meter and an export MPAN from your network operator.No: needs a certified installation
Octopus EnergyOutgoing Octopus12pOctopus electricity customers with a smart meter that sends half-hourly export data. Variable.Not stated; Octopus says kits bought elsewhere can’t join its export tariffs
Octopus EnergyPrime Outgoing Octopus16p (4–7pm), 9p other timesOctopus electricity customers with a half-hourly smart meter. 12-month fix. Octopus says buyers of its own plug-in kits who get their electricity from Octopus can join it.Only for plug-in kits bought from Octopus
British GasExport SEG3pFor non-customers. Needs an MCS, Flexi-Orb or accreditation certificate, proof of G98/G99 connection and half-hourly export readings.No: needs a certified installation
British GasExport Premium12pBritish Gas electricity customers, systems up to 15 kW. Same certificate and meter rules.No: needs a certified installation
E.ON NextNext Flex Export6pOpen to anyone. MCS or Flexi-Orb certified installation and a half-hourly smart export meter.No: needs a certified installation
E.ON NextNext Export Exclusive13p (12-month fix)E.ON Next import customers, not on time-of-use tariffs. Same certificate and meter rules.No: needs a certified installation
EDFSEG Export Variable3.0pOpen to anyone. MCS certificate and a half-hourly export meter.No: needs a certified installation
EDFSEG Export Variable Value5.6pEDF customers only. MCS certificate and a half-hourly export meter.No: needs a certified installation
OVOSEG4pCustomers of any supplier. MCS-certified system or equivalent and a smart meter.No: needs a certified installation
OVOSEG Beyond Exclusive12pOVO electricity customers, systems under 30 kW. Same certificate rule.No: needs a certified installation

We list a rate only if we could read it on the supplier’s own page. We couldn’t confirm ScottishPower’s rates. The SEG rules require any SEG tariff to be above zero, but they set no minimum beyond that. Know of a supplier paying for plug-in export? Tell us and we’ll check it.

Export and plug-in solar: questions

Can I get the Smart Export Guarantee for a plug-in solar kit?

Not usually. Suppliers only have to pay the Smart Export Guarantee to an installation that is certified under MCS or an equivalent scheme and fitted by a certified installer, with a meter that records half-hourly export. A kit you plug in yourself has no MCS certificate. DESNZ says that “without an MCS-accredited installation of domestic solar consumers are not entitled to the Smart Export Guarantee in Great Britain”. Ofgem’s guidance adds that a supplier can still choose to pay an uncertified installation, but doesn’t have to.

How much does a plug-in kit export?

More than most people expect. An 890 Wp kit facing south at 30° in Birmingham makes about 853 kWh a year. In a home where someone is in for some of the day, about 386 kWh of that isn’t used as it’s made and goes to the grid. Used at home instead, it would be worth about £99 a year at the 25.60p price cap rate.

What would a kit earn if it did get an export tariff?

Not much. At Octopus’s 4.1p Smart Export Guarantee rate (checked 12 Oct 2026), the 386 kWh in our example would earn about £16 a year. Even the best-paying export tariffs pay less per kWh than you pay to import, so using the power yourself is always worth more.

Does Octopus pay for plug-in solar export?

Only in one case. Octopus says that if you buy your plug-in kit from Octopus and Octopus supplies your electricity, you can join its Outgoing Prime export tariff, once the kit is registered with the ENA and your network operator has approved it. For a kit bought elsewhere, it says you won’t be able to sign up for an Octopus export tariff.

Do I need a smart meter to export?

Your kit will send spare power to the grid whatever meter you have. To be paid for it, you need a meter that records half-hourly export and an export MPAN from your network operator, as well as a supplier willing to pay.

How do I use more of my solar instead of exporting it?

Run flexible appliances, such as the washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer, in the middle of the day, ideally one at a time. Use timers and delay-start buttons if you’re out. Charge laptops, e-bikes and tools while the sun is up. If your daytime use is low, a smaller kit or upright panels that spread output through the day can suit you better.

Sources

  1. The Smart Export Guarantee Order 2019 (SI 2019/1005)
  2. Ofgem: Smart Export Guarantee guidance for generators (December 2019), paras 1.7–1.17
  3. BEIS: SEG supply licence conditions as laid (SLC 57, Schedule A, paras 2.1 and 3.1)
  4. GOV.UK: Smart Export Guarantee (SEG): earn money for exporting the renewable electricity you have generated
  5. DESNZ plug-in solar final-stage impact assessment (16 July 2026), para 61
  6. Octopus Energy: plug-in solar FAQ (export tariffs)
  7. EU JRC PVGIS 5.3

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