Green Homes Grant #1: Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)

Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is a government scheme introduced on 1st January 2020 for households or businesses that have installed solar PV panels or other renewable electricity generation.

Under the SEG, you may be eligible to get paid for every unit of electricity that you feed back into the grid from your renewable system. And you won’t be paid for any electricity that you use yourself.

Contents

1. What systems can be supported?
2. How do I get a SEG Tarrif?
3. How much will I get?

1. What systems can be supported?

The following installations up to 5MW (50kW for micro-CHP) are eligible:

• Solar PV – solar panels that generate electricity
• Wind turbines – household-scale or rooftop
• Micro CHP (with an electrical capacity of 50kW or less) – like a gas boiler, but it generates electricity too

The tariffs also apply to two other technologies you’re probably less likely to have:

• Hydro – only for sites with a suitable river, usually bigger than a domestic system
• Anaerobic digestion – generally for farmers, not individual households

If you installed your equipment before the SEG was introduced, you can still apply for a SEG tariff. If you are already getting export payments under the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme and want to take up a SEG tariff you will need to opt out of FIT export payments.

2. How do I get a SEG tariff?

To be able to get payment, your installed system needs to meet the requirements, which are: 

• Metering: You must have a meter capable of half-hourly export readings (typically a smart meter). Speak to your energy import supplier about getting a smart meter installed if you do not already have one.
• Certification: make sure that your installed equipment is safe.

If you’re installing solar PV, wind and micro-CHP installations up to and including 50kW, your installer and equipment must be properly certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) or equivalent scheme.

You can explore the available certification options by speaking to an energy supplier providing a SEG tariff. If you can’t show that both your equipment and the installer are suitably certified, suppliers may refuse to offer you a tariff.

See detailed requirement here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/smart-export-guarantee-seg/generators

For anaerobic digestion, hydro, and other technologies with installations above 50kW, you must as a minimum provide the same details as are required under MCS or an equivalent scheme. Make sure to check any additional requirements via your chosen supplier and installer.

The next step is speaking to an energy supplier providing a SEG tariff once you are sure about the eligibility. Compare different energy suppliers to ensure that you get the most suitable deal. A list of available SEG tariffs can be found here: https://solarenergyuk.org/resource/smart-export-guarantee/. 

3. How much will I get?

Suppliers have to offer you a tariff, but they decide what sort of tariff they offer. A list of suppliers offering SEG tariffs can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/seg-supplier-list

You won’t be paid for any electricity that you use yourself, but in this case you would be saving money through importing less from the grid.

Tariffs can be flat rate (i.e. paying the same price per unit of electricity at any time of day) or variable (paying more for electricity exported in the evening when prices are usually higher – this may be more attractive if you have a storage battery in your house).

You may be offered a more attractive rate for the electricity you sell if you also buy your electricity from the supplier, because the administration costs are lower – a bit like some suppliers offering a discount if you buy both electricity and gas from them.

You can use the energy saving trust’s solar energy calculator for an idea of the benefits you may see from installing solar PV and getting a SEG tariff. https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/tool/solar-energy-calculator/



If you have a storage device linked to your renewable system – for example a household battery, or an electric vehicle that has the ability to import and export electricity – it could also be used to benefit from the SEG.