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The Octopus Smart Export Guarantee tariff pays households and other eligible generators for renewable electricity exported to the grid. It is primarily intended for people who want Octopus to handle their export payments while continuing to buy their household electricity from another supplier. Octopus currently pays a flat rate of 4.1 pence for every eligible kilowatt hour exported. This guide was checked on 10 July 2026.
The Smart Export Guarantee, usually known as SEG, is a government backed scheme that requires licensed electricity suppliers to offer payment for eligible low carbon electricity exported to the public network. The scheme began after the Feed in Tariff closed to new applicants. It does not provide a government fixed payment rate. Each participating supplier decides its own export price, contract structure and conditions, although the rate must remain above zero. Eligible generation includes solar photovoltaic panels, onshore wind, hydroelectric systems, anaerobic digestion and qualifying micro combined heat and power. The maximum installed capacity is normally 5 megawatts, except for micro combined heat and power, where the limit is 50 kilowatts. Most domestic applicants will have a much smaller solar installation, but the wider limits allow the scheme to include community and commercial scale generators as well as individual homes.
Octopus Smart Export Guarantee currently pays a flat 4.1 pence per kilowatt hour. The rate applies regardless of the time when the electricity is exported. A unit sent to the grid at midday receives the same payment as one exported during the evening. A household exporting 2,000 kilowatt hours over a year would therefore earn ยฃ82 at the current rate. A system exporting 3,000 kilowatt hours would earn ยฃ123. Those figures describe export income only. They do not include the value of renewable electricity used inside the property, which can reduce the amount of electricity purchased from the grid. The tariff is described by Octopus as a fixed export tariff. The applicable rate is the one agreed when the customer joins, subject to the contract terms provided during the application. Octopus contacts customers before a fixed export period ends and can offer a replacement tariff.
Standard Outgoing Octopus currently pays 12 pence per kilowatt hour, nearly three times the SEG rate. The important difference is that Outgoing Octopus is generally offered to customers who also buy their imported electricity from Octopus. The 4.1 pence SEG tariff allows the customer to remain with another electricity supplier for import. This may be useful where the household has a particularly valuable fixed deal, electric vehicle tariff or other arrangement that it does not want to surrender. The lower export payment should therefore be compared with the value of the existing import tariff. For example, moving the import supply to Octopus might increase export income, but it could also remove access to a cheap overnight charging rate with another company. The total annual result matters more than the export rate viewed by itself. A household should calculate the expected cost of imported electricity, daily standing charges and export income under each possible combination before switching.
Octopus describes its SEG product as an export only option for customers who do not want Octopus to supply their imported electricity. The import and export sides of the same property can be administered by different companies. This arrangement may suit a solar owner who is satisfied with another supplier but still wants payment for measured exports. It can also provide a straightforward route for small wind, hydro or other eligible generators that meet the scheme requirements. Octopus advises applicants with technologies other than solar to contact the company because the certification and application details may differ. Customers already buying electricity from Octopus should normally compare the SEG product with Outgoing Octopus and the other export tariffs available to Octopus import customers. The higher rate may make Outgoing more attractive, although compatibility still depends on the chosen import tariff and household technology.
SEG payments are based on electricity that genuinely crosses the meter and enters the grid. They are not calculated from the rated capacity of the solar panels or from an estimate of how much the system might have produced. The property needs a meter capable of supplying half hourly export readings. In most homes this will be a compatible smart meter. Octopus also requires a dedicated export Meter Point Administration Number, commonly called an export MPAN. The export MPAN is separate from the number identifying the property's imported electricity supply. If one has not already been created, Octopus applies to the local distribution network operator as part of the application process. Octopus estimates around two days for its own initial processing. Creation of the export MPAN by the distribution network operator may take between one and four weeks, followed by around five days for enrolment onto the Octopus system. These are indicative periods and delays can occur. Once the export supply has been enrolled, Octopus asks for an opening export meter reading and a photograph confirming the reading. Payments cannot begin until the export MPAN is active and usable meter information is available.
Customers who also buy their electricity from Octopus can usually see import charges and export credits together on the same monthly statement. Where Octopus supplies export only, the customer must provide an export meter reading each month. If no reading is supplied for three months, the statement may use an estimate until accurate data becomes available. Keeping regular readings reduces the risk of delayed or inaccurate payments. The export register should not be confused with the ordinary import reading shown by the meter.
Octopus normally requires the renewable installation to be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme or an equivalent recognised scheme such as Flexi Orb. It also asks for confirmation that the local distribution network operator has approved the system and its export connection. These documents demonstrate that the equipment has been installed through an accepted certification route and that the network operator is aware of the generation system. A missing certificate does not always make export impossible. Octopus has an alternative assessment process for certain installations without standard certification, although additional technical evidence and an administration charge may be required. Applicants should resolve certification and network approval before assuming that export income will begin immediately after the panels are commissioned.
Older renewable installations may still receive payments through the Feed in Tariff scheme. These payments can contain two separate elements: a generation payment for the electricity produced and an export payment for electricity sent to the grid. A customer cannot receive both a Feed in Tariff export payment and a Smart Export Guarantee payment for the same exported electricity. They may opt out of the Feed in Tariff export element while retaining the generation payment. This decision needs careful calculation. Some older installations receive deemed export payments, where export is estimated as a proportion of generation rather than measured directly. Deemed payments can be valuable where the household consumes a large share of its renewable generation inside the property. Moving to SEG means export is paid according to actual meter readings. A household that exports less than the amount assumed under its deemed arrangement could receive less, particularly at a rate of 4.1 pence per kilowatt hour. There may also be a gap between the old export payment stopping and the new Octopus export account becoming active. Existing Feed in Tariff customers should coordinate the dates with both providers rather than cancelling the old arrangement too early.
A home battery can change when electricity is used or exported, but Octopus only has to pay for energy produced by an eligible generation asset. Its export terms exclude what Octopus calls brown export. This includes electricity that was not generated by an eligible renewable installation, such as power taken from the grid, stored in a battery and later exported. Solar electricity stored during the day and exported later may qualify, provided the installation and metering arrangements allow Octopus to establish that it came from an eligible source. Battery owners should not assume that buying cheap electricity overnight and exporting it later will earn SEG payments. The scheme supports renewable generation rather than general electricity trading.
Export payments are calculated from metered electricity and the applicable unit rate. VAT is not added to domestic export tariff payments under the current Octopus terms. Customers who also have an Octopus import account will normally see export earnings credited against their electricity charges. If exports are worth more than the imported electricity used during the billing period, the account can move into credit. A cash refund can be requested through the online account when readings are up to date. Export only customers receive statements showing their exported electricity and the payment due. Customers can leave the export tariff at any time. Octopus states that cancellation will normally take effect within seven calendar days after it receives the request, with outstanding export payments appearing on a later statement.
The Octopus Smart Export Guarantee is unlikely to offer the highest payment available to a household that already buys electricity from Octopus. At 4.1 pence per kilowatt hour, it pays substantially less than the current 12 pence Outgoing Octopus rate. Its value is flexibility. It allows the household to keep an import tariff with another supplier while appointing Octopus to purchase eligible renewable exports. That can be worthwhile where the existing import deal saves more than the household would gain by moving to a higher Octopus export tariff. The most useful calculation begins with twelve months of expected import and export. Compare the complete cost of remaining with the current import supplier and receiving 4.1 pence for export against the cost of moving import to Octopus and receiving a higher export rate. Solar owners should also account for self consumption. Using one unit of solar electricity in the home may avoid purchasing a much more expensive unit from the grid. Exporting every available unit simply to earn 4.1 pence is rarely the strongest financial strategy. Octopus SEG is therefore a practical export only arrangement rather than the company's premium solar tariff. It is best suited to customers whose import supply is more valuable elsewhere and who want a clear, measured payment for the renewable electricity they genuinely send to the grid.
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