Export rates explained
When your solar panels generate more electricity than your home is using, the surplus flows back into the grid. Export rates determine how much you get paid for that surplus. The difference between a poor export deal and a good one can be hundreds of pounds a year, so it’s worth understanding your options.
What is an export rate?
An export rate is simply the price per kWh that your energy supplier pays you for electricity you send back to the grid. It works like your import rate in reverse. Your smart meter tracks how much electricity flows out of your home, and your supplier credits your account accordingly.
The rate varies hugely depending on your supplier and which export tariff you’re on. Some suppliers pay as little as 1p per kWh. Others, including Octopus, pay significantly more.
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)
The SEG is a government scheme that came into effect in January 2020. It replaced the old Feed-in Tariff (FiT) and requires all licensed electricity suppliers with 150,000+ customers to offer an export tariff to small-scale generators.
The key word is “offer.” The government sets no minimum rate. Some suppliers technically comply by offering a fraction of a penny per kWh.
Octopus’s basic SEG rate is 4.1p per kWh. This is their entry-level export tariff and, crucially, it can be paired with an import tariff from any other supplier. If you want to keep your current energy provider for import but still get paid for exports via Octopus, this is the option you’d use. At 4.1p it’s not especially generous, which is why most Octopus customers opt for one of the better export tariffs below.
To qualify for the SEG, your system must be MCS certified (installed by an MCS-accredited installer using approved equipment) and have a capacity under 5MW. You also need a smart meter or an export meter so your actual exports can be measured.
Outgoing Octopus (fixed rate)
This is the export tariff that most Octopus solar customers end up on, and for good reason. Outgoing Octopus currently pays a flat 15p per kWh for every unit you export, regardless of when you export it. No time-of-use complexity, no wholesale price tracking. Predictable and simple.
From 1 March 2026, this rate drops to 12p per kWh. It is the first rate change since September 2022. Even at 12p, Outgoing Octopus remains one of the most competitive fixed export rates from any major supplier. You do need to be an Octopus import customer to access it; that’s the key difference from the basic SEG above.
Agile Outgoing
Agile Outgoing is Octopus’s variable export tariff, and it’s fundamentally different from SEG. It’s paired with the Agile import tariff, and instead of a fixed rate, your export price changes every half hour based on wholesale market conditions.
When demand is high and wholesale prices spike, your export rate goes up with them. Winter evening peaks can push the rate to 30p, 40p or occasionally even higher. During periods of oversupply (think: sunny summer afternoons when solar generation across the country is at maximum), rates fall. They can drop to single digits or even hit zero.
The appeal of Agile Outgoing is the upside potential. If you can time your exports to coincide with expensive periods (which is where batteries become invaluable), you can earn significantly more than the fixed SEG rate. The risk is inconsistency. Your monthly export income will fluctuate.
Over the past year, the average Agile Outgoing rate has been roughly 10p per kWh, though this varies considerably by season. Agile Outgoing requires a smart meter with export capability, and you need to be on the Agile import tariff as well. You can’t mix and match.
Flux export rates
Flux is Octopus’s flagship tariff for solar and battery households, and its export rates are structured in three time bands:
- Off-peak (02:00-05:00): Around 5p per kWh export
- Day (05:00-16:00 and 19:00-02:00): Around 10p per kWh export
- Peak (16:00-19:00): Around 29p per kWh export
The peak evening window is where Flux really shines for exporters. Between 4pm and 7pm, when national demand is highest, you receive the best rate for every unit you push back to the grid. This is deliberately designed to encourage battery owners to store their daytime solar generation and release it during the evening peak.
If you have solar panels and a battery, Flux’s structure lets you play the spread: charge from solar during the day (free), export at the premium rate during the peak (maximum return). The combination of avoided import costs and premium export income makes Flux the most financially rewarding option for well-equipped households.
Intelligent Octopus Flux builds on standard Flux by letting Octopus automatically control your battery charging and discharging. It currently works with GivEnergy, Tesla, SolarEdge and Enphase systems. Peak export rates on Intelligent Flux are slightly higher (around 32p per kWh), and the automation means you don’t need to manually schedule charge windows.
How export is measured
Accurate export measurement matters because it determines what you get paid. There are two methods:
Smart meter with export MPAN: This is the gold standard. Your smart meter records actual export readings in half-hourly intervals, and your supplier reads them remotely. You need a second MPAN (meter point administration number) registered specifically for export. Your solar installer or your DNO (distribution network operator) can arrange this. All of Octopus’s export tariffs work with smart meter data.
Deemed export: If you don’t have a smart meter capable of recording exports, your supplier may estimate your export as 50% of your total generation. This is a rough approximation. If you’re out at work all day and actually export 70-80% of your generation, you’re losing out. Conversely, if you work from home and self-consume most of your generation, deemed export might pay you for electricity you never actually exported. Getting a smart meter fitted (free from Octopus) removes the guesswork entirely.
The old Feed-in Tariff
If your solar panels were installed before March 2019, you may be on the old Feed-in Tariff scheme. FiT rates were significantly more generous than anything available today. Some early adopters are on generation tariffs of 40p+ per kWh, index-linked and guaranteed for 20-25 years.
If you’re on FiT: do not switch away from it. Those rates are grandfathered and cannot be re-obtained once you leave. The FiT generation payment is separate from your export payment, so you can switch your import supplier to Octopus without affecting your FiT entitlement. Just make sure you keep your FiT export arrangement intact.
Which option pays the most?
There’s no single answer because it depends on your setup and behaviour:
| Export tariff | Best for | Typical rate | Predictability |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEG | Keeping a different import supplier | 4.1p/kWh | High |
| Outgoing Octopus | Solar-only households wanting simplicity | 15p/kWh (12p from Mar 2026) | High |
| Agile Outgoing | Households with batteries who can time exports | ~10p/kWh average (varies widely) | Low |
| Flux | Solar + battery households maximising peak export | 5-29p/kWh by time band | Medium |
| Intelligent Flux | Automated solar + battery optimisation | 5-32p/kWh by time band | Medium |
For a solar-only household without a battery, Outgoing Octopus is hard to beat. You can’t easily time your exports without storage, so the consistency of a fixed rate is valuable.
For households with a battery, Flux or Agile Outgoing will almost certainly earn more over a year. The ability to store cheap or free electricity and export it during expensive windows is exactly what these tariffs reward. See our battery storage strategies guide for more on how to make the most of this.