What are the best SEG rates?

Best SEG rates: at a glance

You can make money from sending your excess solar electricity to the grid – but to get the highest returns possible, you have to pick the right rate for your home.

There are dozens of tariffs with different requirements, and even the best ones are often only the right choice for certain households. In this guide, we’ll run through the best export rates for the different types of solar homes.

To qualify for any of these tariffs, you’ll need a smart meter and documents to prove your solar installation is certified. However, you can access these tariffs regardless of whether you've paid the upfront cost of solar panels or opted for a solar subscription.

If you would like to see the savings you could get from a solar & battery system, just answer a few quick questions below, and we’ll provide an estimate.

What are the best Smart Export Guarantee rates?

The best overall export tariff is Intelligent Octopus Flux.

With this tariff, customers who choose Octopus as their energy supplier can typically gain 29.4p for every kWh (kilowatt-hour) of solar electricity they export between 4pm and 7pm, and 22.1p per kWh at all other times.

After that, it's standard Octopus Flux, which pays three rates: off-peak, day, and peak. The average rates you’ll receive are 4.6p, 13p, and 26p, respectively.

Overall, this works out better than the next best tariff, which is E.ON's 21p per kWh offering.

If you don’t want to switch your energy supplier, your best choice is ScottishPower’s SmartGen tariff, which currently pays all solar generators 12p per kWh.

The best SEG rates: explained

1. Intelligent Octopus Flux

Intelligent Octopus Flux is the best choice for Octopus customers who have solar panels and a compatible brand of battery.

If the only thing stopping you from signing up for this tariff is having to switch to Octopus, we’d recommend doing so in most cases – as long as it makes financial sense to your household.

With Intelligent Octopus Flux, you’ll receive 29.4p per kWh you send to the grid from 4pm to 7pm, and 22.1p per kWh the rest of the day.

This is a massively profitable pair of rates – and you can earn more by exporting all your excess electricity at peak times, which Octopus can do for you.

With Intelligent Octopus Flux, you’ll also maximise your profits by engaging in electricity arbitrage – meaning the supplier will buy electricity from the grid at night, when it’s cheapest, then sell it back to the grid at peak times, when it’s most expensive.

Everything you need to know

2. Octopus Flux

Octopus Flux is a variable tariff that pays you different amounts depending on when you export your solar electricity, and also where you live in the UK.

Generally speaking, if you export between 2am and 5am, you’ll only be paid about 4.6p per kWh – but if you send your electricity to the grid between 4pm and 7pm, the rate will rocket up to around 26p per kWh.

If you export your energy at other times, you’ll typically make about 13p per kWh – but if you export as much electricity as you can during peak hours, you can earn a lot more.

All you need to access this rate is to be an Octopus customer, and own a solar panel system that includes a battery.

This tariff doesn’t pay as much as Intelligent Octopus Flux, but it is less restrictive about which battery you can have.

However, you’ll have to use your solar app – usually created by the inverter’s manufacturer – to manually set your battery to export at a certain time every day.

Everything you need to know

3. E.ON Next Export Premium v2

This is E.ON's best export tariff, after the company ended its 40p per kWh Premium Plus rate in October 2024, after just six months.

The Premium v2 tariff should be less of a flash in the pan – though it does require you to buy your solar panels through E.ON's Solar and Storage team, and import your electricity from E.ON too.

You don't need to get a battery to qualify, but a solar panel system is usually more profitable with one – and if you get it installed at the same time, it typically cuts your battery costs.

Everything you need to know

4. OVO SEG Tariff (exclusive)

If you receive electricity from OVO, and buy its solar package – which includes a storage battery – you can access the company’s highest SEG rate of 20p per kWh.

Like most export tariffs, OVO’s offering applies at any time of the day – though 20p is the highest flat rate available, if you’re happy to switch suppliers.

Apart from requiring you to buy solar panels, a battery, and grid electricity through OVO, the main drawback of this tariff is that it’s not nationwide.

When OVO Solar launched in 2023, it was only available in Wales and south-west England – some of the best places in the UK to have solar panels.

The campaign has since expanded to most parts of England and Scotland, but it’s still not available in places including Cambridge, Ipswich, Liverpool, Manchester, and Northampton.

Everything you need to know

5. EDF Empower Exclusive

Energy giant EDF launched this 20p per kWh tariff in June 2024, after more than four years of paying solar customers a maximum of 5.6p per kWh.

It’s an import and export tariff, meaning you also have to receive your grid electricity from EDF, and it comes without an electricity standing charge, which will save you around £220 per year.

You’ll also pay 10p less than the Ofgem price cap for electricity you import between 1am and 4am – but there's a catch. You'll pay 10p more than the cap for any electricity you use at the peak time of 4-7pm.

And in its eligibility criteria, EDF cautions potential customers: “If we’re unable to communicate with your meter at any time, we won’t be able to keep you on our Empower Exclusive tariff and you’ll be placed on our single rate Standard Variable tariff.”

EDF’s standard variable export tariff currently pays 3p per kWh rate, so be warned.

Everything you need to know

Everything you need to know

7. E.ON Next Export Exclusive

If E.ON supplies you with electricity, you can take advantage of this decently generous export tariff without needing to get E.ON-installed solar panels.

16.5p per kWh rate is the highest rate you can get without needing to either buy your solar installation through the same company – in the case of OVO – or get a specific piece of gear, in the case of Octopus’s battery requirements.

Just like with OVO and Good Energy, you’ll be guaranteed to receive this rate until your contract ends – but you have to request quarterly payments, or E.ON will pay you annually.

Everything you need to know

8. British Gas Export and Earn Plus

In October 2024, British Gas raised this tariff from 15p to 15.1p per kWh, successfully launching it above the 15p per kWh tariffs.

Its qualifying conditions are pleasingly limited: you just have to import your electricity from British Gas.

Households don’t even need a full solar installation to be eligible – so if you don’t have panels yet, you can start using this tariff with just a battery.

Everything you need to know

9. Octopus Outgoing Fixed

This is Octopus’s simplest export tariff.

All you need to do is get your grid electricity from Octopus, and every month you’ll receive 15p for every kWh your solar panels export, which is a reasonably good rate.

If you’re not looking to get a solar battery, and if you’d rather have Octopus as a supplier than E.ON or British Gas, this is your best choice.

To sign up for Octopus Outgoing Fixed, click the button below.

Everything you need to know

10. ScottishPower SmartGen+

This 15p per kWh tariff is a good offer for households who want to purchase either solar panels or a battery from ScottishPower, but not their grid electricity.

This flexibility makes SmartGen+ stand out in a crowded field – and if you’re completely wedded to your energy supplier, this is the option for you.

However, if you don’t mind switching suppliers to earn more from your solar output, there are better choices.

Octopus Flux and E.ON Next Export Exclusive tariffs offer higher rates, and don’t mind which company is responsible for your solar installation, as long as it’s appropriately certified.

SmartGen+ is variable, so you could technically end up making more with ScottishPower – but all else being equal, you won’t.

Everything you need to know

11. Good Energy Solar Savings

This is the best choice for customers who want Good Energy to supply their grid electricity, but would rather have flexibility in all other areas.

The Solar Savings tariff requires you to own solar panels and a battery, but you don’t have to go through Good Energy to get them installed.

However, if you’re willing to use a different electricity provider, you can make more on other tariffs.

Everything you need to know

12. OVO SEG Tariff

To access this 15p per kWh rate, you’ll need to have solar panels installed through OVO, and to get your electricity through the Bristol-based company too.

Like OVO’s other export tariffs, it comes with a £15 exit fee, and is only available in certain areas – a list which includes London, Birmingham, and Edinburgh, but not Liverpool or Manchester.

So if you like getting your electricity from OVO, live in an eligible region, and would rather not buy a battery through OVO – or at all – this may be the tariff for you.

However, if your only issue is not wanting to buy a battery, E.ON's 16.5p per kWh rate is both higher and widely available across the UK.

Everything you need to know

13. ScottishPower SmartGen

ScottishPower SmartGen is the best tariff on the market for customers who want to choose their energy supplier and solar installer.

If you don’t like being forced to use a specific product, this 12p per kWh is significantly better than the next-best option of its kind, Pozitive Energy’s 5p per kWh tariff.

If you’re choosing between the two, you can earn 140% more by signing up with ScottishPower for your SEG tariff – with no strings or downsides.

Everything you need to know

What is the best SEG rate for you?

The highest SEG rate for a household with solar panels and a battery is Intelligent Octopus Flux.

However, every home’s energy consumption and preferences are different, so no tariff will be perfect for every customer.

If you add an electric vehicle to your solar and battery system, you may well make more money on Intelligent Octopus Go, while heat pump customers will probably get better returns on Cosy Octopus.

You should also ask yourself whether you’d be comfortable switching suppliers, how much it matters to you who installs your solar panel system, and whether you want the security of a fixed tariff, or the potentially higher profits of a variable rate.

There’s a best SEG rate for everyone. For example, if you don’t mind who your supplier or installer is, you should generally choose Intelligent Octopus Flux – but if you don’t want a battery, E.ON Next Export Exclusive is your best option.

And if you decide you’re not ready for solar panels yet, but you do want a storage battery, there’s a best SEG rate for you too: British Gas’s Export and Earn Plus tariff.

At Sunsave, we’ll always help you choose the best export tariff for your situation.

Just solar panels

If you already have solar panels and don’t fancy adding a storage battery, your best options are E.ON Next Export Exclusive – which pays 16.5p per kWh – and Octopus Outgoing Fixed, which pays 15p per kWh.

If switching suppliers isn’t for you, but you don’t mind buying your solar panels through ScottishPower, the supplier’s 15p per kWh SmartGen+ tariff could suit you perfectly.

Alternatively, ScottishPower’s SmartGen tariff is available to anyone with solar panels, no matter your electricity supplier – though it only pays 12p per kWh.

Solar panels and a battery

Intelligent Octopus Flux is the ideal tariff for households with solar panels and a battery.

However, if you don’t have – or want to get – one of the batteries that’s compatible with this tariff, you can get Octopus Flux, the second-best export tariff on the market at the moment.

And if you don’t want to have to change suppliers, you could get a solar & battery system from EDF and sign up to the 20p per kWh Empower Exclusive tariff.

If you don’t want to have to go through EDF to get your system, Octopus’s 15p per kWh Outgoing Fixed rate is the tariff for you. All you need is a system.

Solar panels, battery, & heat pump

If you want to use some of the free solar electricity you’ll generate to lower your heating bills, you may want to get a heat pump.

In this case, you should probably choose Cosy Octopus, which comes with a Cosy Rate from 4am to 7am, 1pm to 4pm, and 10pm to 12am that’s around 50% cheaper than your region’s Flexible Octopus rate.

If your solar panel system is bigger than 5kWp though, Intelligent Octopus Flux will likely be the better choice for you.

Solar panels, battery, & EV charger

The average household with an EV charger will use roughly 5,000kWh per year.

If your home’s usage is lower than that, you should consider choosing Octopus Outgoing Fixed for your export tariff (and Intelligent Octopus Go for your import tariff).

Alternatively, if you consume less than 5,000kWh of electricity each year, Intelligent Octopus Flux will almost certainly be your ideal pick.

Solar panels, battery, heat pump, & EV charger

If you’re using electricity to power your heat pump and EV, you’ll likely consume around 8,000kWh annually.

It’s therefore most likely that your household should sign up to Octopus Outgoing Fixed.

However, if your consumption is lower than 6,000kWh, you may be better off choosing Intelligent Octopus Flux.

In all cases though, we’ll help you make the right choice for your home.

Next steps

Export tariffs have come a long way since the Smart Export Guarantee was introduced in 2020.

With Intelligent Octopus Flux, you and your supplier will pay each other identical amounts for each kWh of electricity. Whether it’s the solar power you send them, or the electricity you get from the grid, it costs the same.

That represents huge progress, as does the sheer amount of variety, which allows households to pick a decent export rate no matter their inclinations over suppliers, installers, and types of system.

Sunsave can help you model your consumption and lay out all the best options for you, so you can choose the best tariff for your home.

If you’re interested in how much you could save with a solar & battery system, just answer a few quick questions below, and we’ll provide an estimate.

Best SEG rates: FAQs