Energy Tariff Comparison for Solar Panel Owners UK (2026 Guide)

The right tariff setup can be worth hundreds of pounds more per year than the wrong one — often without changing a single piece of hardware. Most people spend a lot of time choosing the right solar panels but far fewer spend the same time looking at their energy tariff.

Why Your Energy Tariff Matters as Much as Your Solar System

A lot of solar owners assume that once the system is installed, most of the hard decisions are over. In reality, the tariff you put that system on can make a surprisingly big difference.

Take a typical 4kWp solar system generating 3,400 kWh a year, with 60% used in the home and 40% exported (1,360 kWh). If you are paid 5p per kWh for that export, you earn roughly £68 a year. At 12p, that rises to around £163. At 25p, it reaches approximately £340. The system has not changed at all. Only the tariff has.

That said, export income is only part of the story. The biggest savings usually come from using your own solar electricity directly. Every unit you use from your panels is a unit you do not need to buy from the grid. At the Ofgem Q2 2026 residential rate of 24.67p/kWh, that direct saving is worth much more than most export payments. A good tariff helps you get the most out of the system you already have. A poor one quietly reduces its value.

How Solar and Battery Systems Interact With Tariffs

The best tariff depends on what kind of setup you have. A home with solar panels only will not usually need the same tariff as a home with solar and battery storage. Add an EV into the mix, and the picture changes again.

If you have solar panels and no battery, your home uses solar power directly during the day. Any extra electricity you do not use is exported to the grid. Later in the day, when panels are no longer producing enough, you buy electricity from the grid at your import rate. Self-consumption is usually around 40–60%, so the export tariff matters quite a lot. Best fit: a decent import rate paired with the strongest flat-rate SEG tariff you can get.

Once you add a battery, the goal changes. Instead of sending all spare daytime electricity to the grid, you can store it and use it later in the evening. Self-consumption typically rises to 60–80%. That means you export less overall but have more control over when you import and when you export. This is why time-of-use tariffs often suit battery owners so well — charge cheaply overnight, store spare solar through the day, and in some cases export during the most valuable evening window.

If you also have an EV, cheap overnight electricity becomes even more useful. The car and the battery can both charge when electricity is cheapest, while your panels cover daytime use. For this setup, the best tariff is often one that gives you a cheap overnight rate and, ideally, a strong export deal too. The import side matters just as much as the export side here, because overnight charging can save a lot of money on the right tariff. For a full step-by-step guide to combining solar with an EV charger, see our solar and EV charger guide.

The Five Tariff Types — and How Each One Works With Solar

There are five main tariff types to know about. All of them can work with solar, but some make much more sense than others depending on your setup.

Standard Variable Tariff (SVT)

This is the default tariff many households are on. It follows the Ofgem price cap, which changes every quarter, and it usually has no exit fees. For solar owners, the main advantage is flexibility — you are free to change if a better option comes along, and your export arrangement can still be with a completely different supplier through SEG. The downside is that SVTs are not usually the cheapest option. Simple and flexible, but not usually the best choice for squeezing maximum value from solar.

Fixed rate tariff

A fixed tariff gives you one set import rate for a contract period, usually 12 or 24 months. For solar owners, a fixed tariff can work well if you think prices are likely to rise, or if you prefer predictability. It can still be paired with any SEG export supplier separately. The catch is that fixed is not automatically better — if prices stay flat or fall, you could end up paying more than you would on an SVT.

Time-of-use tariffs

Time-of-use tariffs charge different prices at different times of day — usually cheaper overnight and more expensive during the evening peak. This is the tariff type that becomes most interesting once a battery is involved. With the right setup, you can charge the battery cheaply overnight, use your own solar through the day, and sometimes export during the high-value evening period. UK examples include:

• Economy 7 and Economy 10
• Octopus Go
• Octopus Agile
• Octopus Flux
• Intelligent Octopus Flux

These tariffs can outperform flat rates very clearly, but only if they suit the way your household uses electricity. For a detailed breakdown of when electricity is cheapest and how these tariffs interact with solar, see our guide to the cheapest times to use electricity in the UK. If your home uses a lot of power during the expensive 4–7pm period and the battery cannot cover it, the tariff can work against you instead of for you.

Prepayment tariffs

Prepayment tariffs work on a pay-as-you-go basis. They are compatible with SEG in many cases, but they often limit access to the widest choice of fixed and time-of-use deals. If you are installing solar and are currently on prepayment, it is worth asking about moving to a smart meter and standard credit setup if possible — that usually opens up better options.

Green tariffs

Green tariffs are designed for households that want their electricity use matched with renewable energy purchases, usually through certificates called REGOs. For a solar owner, this is more about values than financial optimisation — the electricity coming into your home is still the same grid electricity as everyone else uses. If you already have solar panels, you are already contributing renewable electricity to the grid. A green import tariff may still matter to you, but it is usually not the main driver of savings.

Import and Export Are Separate Decisions

This is the point many solar owners never get told clearly enough. In most cases, you do not need to use the same supplier for importing electricity and exporting it. You might import from EDF and export to Octopus. You might import from British Gas and export to OVO. These are separate choices, and that matters because it means you do not have to accept a weak export rate just because you are happy with your import tariff.

SEG registration is a separate application. You apply directly to the supplier you want for export, and they pay you for what you send to the grid. That sits alongside your normal electricity supply, not inside it. There are exceptions — some of the most attractive customer-only tariffs, such as Intelligent Octopus Flux, do require you to import from the same supplier. But those are exceptions, not the general rule.

It is also worth being realistic about headline export rates. Some of the very highest rates in the market are installer-linked, meaning the supplier only offers that rate if they or their own partner installed the system. So when you see a very high number, always check whether it is actually open to you before treating it as a real option.

SEG Explained — and What the Current Rates Actually Are

SEG stands for Smart Export Guarantee. It is the scheme that pays you for electricity you export to the grid. It only covers the electricity that actually leaves your home — it does not pay you for all the electricity your panels generate. To join, you normally need an MCS certificate, a compatible smart meter, and an application to the SEG supplier you want to use. Payments are usually made every quarter.

The important thing is not just the number in the table. It is whether you can actually get that rate, whether it is flat or time-limited, and whether it makes sense with your import tariff as well. For homeowners with battery storage, that combined view matters more than any single figure on its own.

Which Tariff Suits Which Setup?

Different homes need different tariff combinations. Start with the kind of system you have and match the tariff to the way your home uses energy.

In the end, the right answer usually comes down to three things: what equipment you have, when your home uses most electricity, and how involved you want to be in managing it. Some households want the strongest possible return. Others want something simpler and easier to live with. Both approaches can be right, as long as the tariff actually fits the setup. If you’re weighing up whether solar panels are worth it for your home, our dedicated guide covers the full financial picture.

FiT vs SEG — What If You’re on the Old Scheme?

If your solar system was installed before April 2019 and you joined the Feed-in Tariff, you are in a very different position from newer solar owners. FiT pays you for generation, not just export, and those generation payments are usually much more valuable than modern SEG rates.

Smart Meters — The Requirement Nobody Mentions Upfront

You need a SMETS2 smart meter if you want SEG payments. Without one, your supplier cannot measure your exports properly, which means they cannot pay you for them.

If your system is already installed and you do not yet have a compatible meter, contact your electricity supplier and request an upgrade. This is usually free, but it can take a few weeks depending on who you are with and where you live. If you are still planning your installation, it is worth checking this in advance. A SMETS1 meter may or may not be compatible depending on whether it has been enrolled properly. It is much better to confirm this early than find out after the system is already on the roof.

Tips for Switching Energy Tariffs

Switching energy tariffs — especially export tariffs under the SEG — is often one of the simplest ways to improve the financial return on your solar system. Rates, supplier offerings and eligibility criteria shift regularly, and what was competitive a year ago may now be underperforming.

• Check your tariff at least once a year — SEG rates and tariff options can change quickly
• Keep your MCS certificate handy — you will need it for SEG registration
• Remember that you can switch export supplier without changing import supplier in most cases
• Expect a short gap in payments when switching SEG suppliers, though most back-pay once the new tariff is live
• Use Ofgem’s SEG supplier list to check that the supplier is properly registered before applying
• If your current export rate is much lower than the strongest open-market options, switching is usually well worth the small amount of admin involved

Conclusion

The tariff your solar system sits on matters much more than most homeowners realise. In some cases, getting this right can be worth more than any small hardware change you might make later. There are really two decisions to make: what you pay to import electricity, and what you earn when you export it. Reviewing both sides properly — and checking them again each year — is the final step in making sure the system performs as well as it should.

A lot of solar owners underperform on tariff choice simply because they do not know how much choice they have. Some assume the highest export rates must be available to everyone. Others assume they need to keep import and export with the same supplier. Both mistakes can leave real money on the table. Once you understand how your system works, what your household needs, and which rates are genuinely available to you, it becomes much easier to choose well. The right tariff is one of the last pieces of the puzzle — and one of the easiest ways to improve the value of the system you already have.

If you’re still in the early stages and considering solar panel installation, it’s worth getting the full picture from the start. The Solar4Good team can guide you not just on system design, but on how to maximise long-term savings through the right tariff choices.

Frequently Asked Questions