SOLAR PANEL
Solar panels can help you save money on your electricity bills and reduce carbon footprint.
SELL ELECTRICITY BACK TO THE GRID
Smart Export Guarantee · Scotland & North England
Get paid for the solar power you don't use
When your panels make more electricity than your home is using, the surplus flows to the grid and your supplier pays you for every unit. Use the calculator below to see what that's worth for your roof, then download your figures as a PDF.
15.1ptop flat export rate per kWh (2026)
26.3pwhat each unit you buy costs (North Scotland price cap, Oct–Dec 2026)
£57mpaid out under the Smart Export Guarantee in its fifth year
Your roof, at a glance
£
value in year one
Saved on your bills£
Paid for exports£
How selling electricity back works
You don't sell power on purpose. Your home always uses solar first, and whatever it can't use at that moment is exported automatically.
1
Your panels generate
Output follows the sun. A typical 4 kWp roof in central Scotland makes roughly 3,000–3,300 kWh a year, about three-quarters of it between April and September.
2
Your home takes what it needs
Fridges, kettles and laptops draw solar power first. Every unit used at home is one you don't buy from the grid at around 26p.
3
The rest is exported, and paid for
Your smart meter logs export every half hour. Your Smart Export Guarantee supplier pays a rate per kWh: from 2p to just over 15p on today's flat-rate tariffs.
One day on your roof in
An illustrative day for the system in the calculator. Where the solar line rises above your home's use, the gap is exported.
Solar generation
Home use
Solar used at home
Exported to the grid
kW kW0
00:0006:0012:0018:0024:00
Generated kWh
Used at home kWh
Exported kWh
Home used in total kWh
×
The rule that drives everything
A kWh you use yourself saves you p. A kWh you export earns you p. So using your own solar is worth times as much as selling it. That's why running appliances in daylight, or adding a battery, raises the value of the same panels. Exporting is the bonus on top.
Export calculator
What could your roof earn?
Set your home's details. Every figure and chart on this page updates as you go.
440 W panels. Most semi-detached roofs fit 8–12.
kWh
It's on your bill or app. Add about 2,000 kWh if you charge an EV at home.
p per kWh
£
%
Applies to bill savings only. Export rates are held flat.
Your year-one value£
Bill savings£
Export payments£
Generated a year kWh
Used at home%
Exported kWh
Pays back in
25-year gain
Month by month
Bars show solar generated. The dash marks what your home uses.
Used at home
Into battery
Exported
Home use
Tallest bar: kWh. Hover a month for its numbers.
When it pays for itself
Running total: install cost, then each year's savings and export payments.
Still paying back
In profit
Which export tariff pays most?
Your kWh of exports a year, priced on each of today's main flat-rate tariffs. Tap a tariff to use it in the calculator.
Read the small print. The highest rates usually need you to buy your electricity from the same supplier, so compare the whole package, not just the export rate. Open tariffs pay less but let you keep any import deal.
Rates move. Outgoing Octopus fell from 15p to 12p on 1 March 2026. Time-of-use battery tariffs can pay over 30p at the evening peak; they work differently and aren't modelled here. Rates shown were published April–October 2026.
Four things you need to get paid
- 01
An MCS-certified install
Suppliers ask for your MCS certificate number before they'll pay you, so the installer needs to be MCS certified.
- 02
A smart meter that reads export
It has to record half-hourly export. If yours can't, your supplier can arrange a replacement.
- 03
Grid notification
Your installer tells the network operator: G98 for most homes up to 3.68 kW per phase, a G99 application above that.
- 04
Sign up to an export tariff
Have your MCS certificate, address, system size in kWp and your meter's MPAN and serial number ready.
Questions people ask us
Do I need a battery to sell electricity back?
No. Any solar your home isn't using is exported automatically. A battery keeps more of it for the evening instead, and each kWh it shifts is worth the gap between your import and export prices. On a flat export rate that gap is modest; batteries earn more on time-of-use tariffs. More in our guide to battery storage and falling export rates.
Do I have to switch energy supplier?
Not to get paid. Open tariffs such as Octopus SEG (4.1p) or E.ON Next Flex Export (6p) take anyone. The best rates, 12p to 15.1p, generally need you to buy your electricity from the same supplier.
Is Scotland sunny enough for this to be worth it?
Yes. Central and southern Scotland typically produces 740–830 kWh a year for every kWp installed, and long summer days mean big surpluses from April to September, which is exactly when you export most.
How is my export measured and paid?
Your smart meter records how much you send to the grid every half hour and passes the readings to your export supplier, who pays per kWh. How often you're paid, monthly, quarterly or yearly, depends on the tariff. See how the Smart Export Guarantee works.
Can export rates change after I sign up?
Variable tariffs can change with notice; fixed tariffs lock the rate, usually for 12 months. That's why the calculator lets you test lower rates. You can switch export supplier when a better deal comes along.
Free PDF report
Get your personalised export report
Your figures from the calculator in a PDF you can keep: what your roof should generate, what you'd save and earn, when it pays for itself, and how every export tariff compares for your home.
- Your year-one value and payback
- Month-by-month generation and exports
- All 8 export tariffs priced for your home
Prefer to talk? Call 0800 048 7425 or WhatsApp 07355 091961.
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Assumptions and sources
Estimates only, not financial advice. Import prices are the Ofgem price cap for 1 October–31 December 2026 by region (North Scotland 26.3p, South Scotland 26.1p, GB average 26.32p per kWh, VAT-free electricity). Yields of 790, 810 and 860 kWh per kWp are typical for a south-facing, unshaded roof in each area; your survey gives the figure to rely on. The installed-cost default is a rough guide (£1,200 + £1,000 per kWp + £600 per kWh of battery); your quote replaces it. Export rates were checked April–October 2026.
BATTERY STORAGE
Battery storage lets you store excess solar energy, cut bills, and stay powered after sunset.
HEAT PUMP
Air source heat pump offers a cost-effective solution for heating your home and providing hot water.