How Much Do I Get for Selling Electricity Back to the Grid in the UK?

What you earn for sending surplus electricity to the grid is a more variable figure than most guides suggest, and the difference between a realistic number and a vague rate range is significant when you are making a financial decision. The answer depends on which scheme applies to your installation, which tariff structure you choose, how much electricity your system actually exports, and whether you have battery storage in place. 

This guide works through each of those factors with a concrete worked example, so you can calculate a realistic figure for your own situation rather than working backwards from a rate quoted out of context.

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Key Takeaways

• Under the Smart Export Guarantee, UK homeowners typically receive between 4p and 20p per kilowatt hour for metered exports, with variable time-of-use tariffs capable of moving above this range during peak demand periods.
• A typical 4kWp solar installation exporting 40 to 50% of its annual generation will earn roughly £136 – £340 per year from export, depending on tariff structure, making self-consumption the stronger financial lever for most households.
• Export income from the Smart Export Guarantee falls within HMRC’s £1,000 miscellaneous income allowance for the majority of households, meaning it does not need to be declared on a Self Assessment return.
• The volume of electricity a household can physically export is governed by Distribution Network Operator connection rules, so adding more panels does not automatically increase export earnings without confirming the connection agreement allows it.

What Is the Smart Export Guarantee and Who Can Use It?

The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is the UK government scheme that requires licensed electricity suppliers to pay owners of eligible small-scale renewable generation for every unit of electricity they export to the national grid. In plain terms, it is the rate your supplier pays you for surplus electricity your solar panels produce but your home does not use.

The SEG replaced the legacy Feed-in Tariff (FiT) for new installations from January 2020. Ofgem regulates the scheme, requiring any electricity supplier with 150,000 or more domestic customers to offer at least one SEG tariff. Smaller suppliers may participate voluntarily.

SEG Eligibility at a Glance

• Your system is certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), confirming it meets the technical standards required for grid connection and scheme participation
• You have a smart meter capable of recording half-hourly export data
• Your system has a capacity of 5MW or less
• You apply to a supplier holding an SEG licence

MCS certification is confirmed through the specific operating entity that installed your system, not through a brand name alone. It is a legal requirement for SEG eligibility, not a quality differentiator.

How Much Do You Get Per kWh for Selling Electricity Back to the Grid?

Under the Smart Export Guarantee, UK homeowners typically receive between 4p and 20p per kilowatt hour for metered electricity exported to the grid, though variable time-of-use tariffs can pay significantly more during peak demand periods and considerably less at off-peak times. That wide spread isn’t arbitrary. Three factors determine where your earnings will actually sit:

• Tariff structure – Fixed tariffs pay the same rate whenever you export. Variable tariffs move with wholesale prices or time-of-day demand.
• Smart meter capability – Your meter must support half-hourly export metering to access any SEG payment at all. Without it, no payment can be made.
• Time of export – Solar panels generate most electricity around midday, but peak grid demand, and therefore peak variable tariff rates, typically falls in the late afternoon and evening. Exporting without storage usually means selling at the lower-value times of day.

It’s worth contrasting this with the legacy FiT, which paid a deemed export rate of 50% of total generation regardless of whether your electricity was actually metered leaving the property. SEG pays only for verified, metered exports. Ofgem’s SEG guidance confirms that suppliers must pay above zero per kilowatt hour, but that doesn’t guarantee a commercially meaningful rate.

Fixed vs Variable SEG Tariffs: What Is the Difference?

Choosing between a fixed and variable SEG tariff comes down to one trade-off: predictability versus the potential for higher earnings, and neither is automatically the better choice for every household.

Variable tariffs are not universally superior. A household exporting mainly at midday on a variable tariff may earn less than the same household would on a modest fixed tariff, because midday is typically a lower-demand period on the grid.

Why Time of Export Affects What You Earn

Solar panels produce most electricity between roughly 10am and 3pm. On variable export tariffs, this period often attracts lower rates than the evening peak, when grid demand rises and generation from solar falls. The practical result is that a household exporting without storage sells its electricity at the least valuable time of day.

Battery storage addresses this directly. Midday generation is stored, and can then either:

• Serve evening household demand, reducing import costs, or
• Be exported during higher-value tariff windows

Upvolt’s proprietary Skygate® home energy management system automates this time-shifting based on live tariff data, removing the need for manual scheduling. Whether the financial benefit of time-shifting justifies adding battery storage depends on the tariff structure you can access and your current usage pattern, a decision covered in more detail in our guide to whether storing or selling your surplus power delivers more value.

How Much Can You Realistically Earn in a Year from Solar Export?

The rate per kilowatt hour matters less than the volume of electricity you actually export, and that volume depends primarily on system size, household consumption, and whether battery storage is present.

Consider a typical 3 to 4 bedroom home with a 4kWp south-facing solar installation in southern England. A system of this size generates approximately 3,400kWh per year. For a household consuming 3,500 to 4,000kWh annually, roughly 40 to 50% of generation, around 1,360 to 1,700kWh, is likely to be exported rather than consumed on-site.

These figures are illustrative assumptions. Roof orientation, shading, and seasonal variation all change actual generation. For a fuller picture of how much electricity your solar panels are likely to generate, the calculation depends on your specific roof and location.

Adding a battery storage system typically reduces export volume, because more generation is stored for self-consumption. However, it may increase per-unit export value if the storage allows you to export during peak tariff windows. The stronger financial benefit of solar for most households remains self-consumption, which reduces bills at the full retail electricity rate rather than earning the lower export rate. 

For context on how export rates affect the overall return on your solar investment, the interaction between self-consumption and export income is the key variable.

The Smart Export Guarantee vs the Old Feed-in Tariff: What Changed?

The Feed-in Tariff and the Smart Export Guarantee aren’t two versions of the same thing, they pay differently, cover different installations, and can’t be combined.

The Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants in March 2019. Homeowners who registered before that date continue to receive FiT payments under their existing contracts and are not affected by SEG. The structural difference between the two schemes comes down to what’s in the table above: FiT’s deemed export rate meant no metering was required, while SEG pays only for what’s actually measured leaving the property.

A FiT recipient cannot hold both schemes simultaneously. Switching away from an active FiT contract to SEG would mean forfeiting the generation tariff, which for most legacy customers makes switching financially unattractive. Confirming your current scheme status and contract terms is the starting point. Check gov.uk for authoritative guidance on your position.

Do DNO Export Limits Affect How Much You Can Sell Back?

Sending electricity back to the national grid is governed by engineering standards administered by regional Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), not simply by how many panels you have installed.

For systems up to 3.68kW per phase, Engineering Recommendation G98 applies. This allows installation to proceed under a simplified notification process without detailed DNO approval. Systems above this threshold fall under Engineering Recommendation G99, which requires a formal application and approval process. This can take several weeks and may result in conditions being placed on the system, including an export limiter.

An export limiter curtails the system’s output to the grid beyond a set threshold. If one is in place, increasing your panel count may raise self-consumption but will not increase your export earnings beyond the agreed limit. This is particularly relevant for homeowners considering adding panels to an existing installation. A qualified installer addresses DNO requirements as a standard part of system design, not as an afterthought.

Is SEG Income Taxable in the UK?

For the majority of UK households, SEG income falls within HMRC’s guidance on miscellaneous income and its £1,000 annual trading and miscellaneous income allowance, meaning it does not need to be declared on a Self Assessment return. A household earning £136 – £340 per year from export, as illustrated in the worked example above, sits comfortably within this threshold.

Households with significantly larger arrays, or those receiving both substantial FiT generation tariff payments and SEG export income, may exceed the £1,000 threshold and should review their position individually. This is a general explanation, not tax advice. Anyone uncertain about their specific position should consult HMRC directly.

Do You Need a Smart Meter to Get Paid for Solar Export?

A smart meter capable of recording half-hourly export data is a requirement under the Smart Export Guarantee. Unlike the FiT, which used a deemed export rate and required no actual metering, SEG pays only for verified metered exports.

Not all first-generation smart meters (SMETS1) are compatible with all SEG suppliers. A second-generation smart meter (SMETS2) is the more reliable option for ensuring compatibility across the market. 

Homeowners without a compatible meter can request one from their electricity supplier, typically at no charge. For a fuller explanation of smart meter compatibility with solar panels, including what to check before applying to an SEG licensee, the compatibility question depends on your current meter generation and supplier.

How Upvolt Helps You Maximise the Financial Return from Solar Export

System design determines how much of your solar generation is available to export in the first place. Getting that foundation right is where the financial return from export begins.

System Sizing That Accounts for Export Limits and Self-Consumption

Upvolt’s MCS-certified operating companies assess roof capacity, DNO connection thresholds, current consumption patterns, and SEG tariff ambitions before specifying a system. The goal is to size correctly from the outset, balancing the household’s self-consumption potential against the export capacity the DNO connection agreement will support. In our experience, households are often surprised to find that a moderately sized, well-positioned system outperforms a larger system that bumps against an export limit.

Integrating Battery Storage for Time-of-Use Export Optimisation

Where battery storage is financially justified, Upvolt installs systems that can hold midday generation and direct it toward evening household demand or peak-window export, depending on the homeowner’s chosen SEG tariff structure. Skygate® automates this decision using live tariff data, removing the need for manual scheduling. The financial case for adding battery storage is assessed on the basis of the household’s actual usage and available tariff, not as a default add-on to every installation.

Ongoing Visibility into What You Are Earning from Export

With monitoring in place, homeowners can verify that export payments match actual metered data and compare the financial value of export against self-consumption over time. This matters because the right balance between storing and exporting changes as tariff structures and usage patterns evolve. Having clear data makes those adjustments straightforward rather than speculative.

Upvolt works with homeowners across southern England who are weighing up whether export income, battery storage, or a combination delivers the strongest return for their specific circumstances. 

Let’s Recap

Under the Smart Export Guarantee, UK homeowners typically receive between 4p and 20p per kilowatt hour for metered exports, with variable tariffs capable of exceeding this range at peak times. For a typical 4kWp installation exporting 40–50% of its generation, realistic annual income falls between £136 and £340, a genuine benefit, but secondary to the larger saving from self-consumption, where every unit used on-site avoids the full retail price rather than earning the lower export rate.

Tariff structure is the main lever on where your earnings land within that range: fixed rates offer predictability, variable rates reward households that can time exports to peak demand. Battery storage enables that time-shifting but also reduces export volume, since more generation stays on-site. DNO connection rules cap what you can export regardless of system size, so confirm your connection agreement before expanding.

For most households, the practical priority is the right tariff, not more panels. Whether to store or export depends on your import rate, usage pattern, and available SEG rate, a household with battery storage on a time-of-use import tariff often gains more from charging overnight than exporting midday generation at a modest fixed rate.

Existing FiT recipients keep their payments; new installations use SEG only. Either way, confirm smart meter compatibility before applying, and know that SEG income sits within HMRC’s £1,000 allowance for the vast majority of households, so no Self Assessment declaration is needed.

About Upvolt

Upvolt is a residential and commercial solar installer whose MCS-certified operating companies design systems around genuine financial return rather than maximum panel count. Every installation assessment includes export capacity planning as a standard element, taking into account the household’s DNO connection limits, consumption patterns, and the SEG tariff structure most likely to suit their usage profile.

Upvolt installs residential solar panels, battery storage, and Skygate® across southern England. For homeowners who want export income to form a meaningful part of their system’s financial return, that requires the right system size, the right tariff structure, and, where appropriate, battery storage configured to hold generation until it can be exported at the most valuable time of day.

The rate per kWh is the number everyone fixates on, but it’s your export volume, tariff choice, and self-consumption balance that actually decide what you’ll earn, and none of those show up on a generic rate table. Upvolt can work out that balance for your specific roof and usage with a get a free, no-obligation quote, before you commit to anything.

FAQ

Which Energy Suppliers Offer the Best Smart Export Guarantee Rates?

SEG rates change frequently and vary by tariff structure, so the most useful comparison is between rate types rather than named suppliers at a fixed moment. Fixed tariffs typically range from 4p to 15p per kilowatt hour; variable tariffs can exceed this range during peak periods but may pay less at midday, which is when most solar generation occurs. Ofgem maintains a register of SEG licensees, which is the most reliable starting point for comparing current options. The right tariff depends on whether you have battery storage to time-shift your export and how your generation profile aligns with peak demand periods.

Can I Sell Electricity Back to the Grid If I Do Not Have Solar Panels?

The Smart Export Guarantee covers eligible low-carbon generation technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines, and micro combined heat and power systems. Without a qualifying generation technology installed and MCS-certified, you cannot access the scheme. Battery-only systems that store grid electricity and re-export it do not qualify, because SEG is designed to reward generation rather than storage arbitrage.

Do I Need to Tell My Electricity Supplier That I Have Solar Panels?

Informing your electricity supplier of a solar installation is not a universal legal requirement, but without doing so, your export will flow to the grid unpaid. To register for SEG payments, you must apply formally to an SEG licensee and provide evidence of your MCS certificate and smart meter details. Separately, your supplier may need to update your meter settings to correctly record two-way energy flow.

Is There a Minimum System Size Required to Sell Electricity Back to the Grid?

There is no minimum system size under the Smart Export Guarantee. The only capacity limit is a 5MW maximum, well above any domestic installation. Smaller systems generate less export volume and therefore earn lower total annual income, but they are not excluded from the scheme. The more practical constraint is ensuring the installation meets G98 or G99 requirements and that a compatible smart meter is in place.

Will Adding More Solar Panels Increase How Much I Earn from Export?

Adding panels increases total generation and can increase export volume, but only up to the limits set by your DNO connection agreement. Systems above 3.68kW per phase move from the simplified G98 notification into the G99 application process, which may result in an export limit being applied. If an export limiter is already in place, additional panels may raise self-consumption without increasing export earnings. Assessing the full picture, including generation uplift, self-consumption, and connection capacity, gives a reliable financial case for any expansion.

Alex Lomax

CEO & Co-Founder

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