What is the Smart Export Guarantee?

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With recent reports of an uptick in homes making use of the Smart Export Guarantee, even amongst COVID restrictions, we thought we’d take a brief look at what the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) actually is and how it could benefit you, whether you already have a solar battery installation, or are looking into contacting a solar supplier in the UK to add solar to your home. We’ve gathered some information from Ofgem and some of the leading solar suppliers in the UK to answer some of the key questions related to the SEG and how it works.


When did the Smart Export Guarantee start?


In the UK, the Smart Export Guarantee came into effect on 1st January 2020.



Which energy sources does the Smart Export Guarantee cover?


The SEG is open to anyone who has installed - up to a capacity of 5MW - technologies including:

- Solar photovoltaic (solar PV) - Wind - Hydro

What are the key features of the Smart Export Guarantee for solar?

- The SEG states that energy suppliers are required to provide payment to homeowners for any electricity exported back to the Grid from their solar installation.

- Only those energy suppliers with more than 250,000 customers are required to offer payment for exported electricity, with smaller suppliers able to opt-in to the SEG if they wish to do so.

- Any export included in the SEG must be metered, not simply estimated as has happened with the Feed-in Tariff previously. This means that only those households with a meter will qualify.

- Any participating supplier is required to register their contracted installations with the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC). All participating installations must also be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).


How do I know if my energy supplier is signed up to the SEG?

The most recent list we could source detailing the energy suppliers currently participating in the Smart Export Guarantee is put together by Ofgem and is available here.


How much would I be paid for my solar energy under the SEG?

It is difficult to offer exact estimates on this, as energy suppliers are given a measure of flexibility in terms of what they are paying per unit, with a recent survey by Which in August 2020 finding that suppliers in the UK were paying anywhere between 1p/kWh and 5.6p/kWh.

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