Export Payments for Solar Panels in Northern Ireland

What Are Solar Export Payments?

When your solar panels generate more electricity than your home is using at any given moment, the surplus flows back into the electricity grid. Export payments are the money you receive for that surplus electricity. In simple terms, you are selling your excess solar power to an energy supplier.

For most NI homeowners with a standard 4kW system, self-consumption (the electricity you use directly) covers around 30-50% of total generation. The remaining 50-70% is exported, unless you have a battery to store it. Without export payments, that exported electricity earns you nothing. With them, every kilowatt-hour you send to the grid puts money back in your pocket.

Export payments are not going to make you rich. They are a secondary benefit that sits alongside the primary saving, which is the electricity you generate and use yourself. But over a 25-year panel lifespan, they add up to a meaningful amount.

The Smart Export Guarantee Explained

The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is the UK Government scheme that requires licensed electricity suppliers to offer a tariff for exported solar electricity. It replaced the old Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in January 2020. Unlike the FiT, which offered generous fixed rates guaranteed for 20 years, the SEG allows suppliers to set their own rates and terms.

Under the SEG, any electricity supplier with more than 150,000 customers must offer at least one export tariff. The rate must be above zero, but there is no minimum floor price. Smaller suppliers can offer SEG tariffs voluntarily.

The key eligibility requirements are straightforward. Your solar panel system must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). The installation must be under 5MW capacity (virtually all domestic systems are well under this). And you need metering that can measure your exports.

How Export Payments Work in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has a slightly different energy market compared to Great Britain. The electricity market here is regulated by the Utility Regulator rather than Ofgem, and the supplier landscape is different. However, the SEG still applies, and NI homeowners are entitled to export payments.

The practical process works like this. Your solar panels generate electricity throughout the day. Your home uses what it needs in real time (your kettle, fridge, lights, and so on). Any surplus that your home cannot absorb at that moment flows through your meter and into the grid. Your export meter records how much you have sent out. Your SEG supplier pays you for those exported units, typically quarterly.

It is worth noting that the NI electricity grid and metering infrastructure has its own quirks. Smart meter rollout has been slower in Northern Ireland than in England and Scotland, which can affect how exports are measured and paid.

Current Export Rates

SEG rates in Northern Ireland typically fall between 4p and 6p per kWh. Some suppliers offer fixed-rate tariffs that lock in a price for a set period, while others offer variable rates that can change.

To put these numbers in context, you are currently paying around 24-28p per kWh for electricity you buy from the grid. That means every unit you use yourself saves you roughly five times more than every unit you export. This is a crucial point we will return to later.

Rates change regularly, so it is always worth checking current offers before signing up. You are not tied to your existing electricity supplier for your SEG tariff. You can have one supplier for your import electricity and a different one for your export payments.

How to Sign Up for Export Payments

The sign-up process involves a few steps, but it is not complicated.

First, make sure your system qualifies. It must be MCS certified, which means it was installed by an MCS-accredited installer. If you used a reputable installer in NI, this should already be in place. You will have received an MCS certificate after installation.

Second, arrange export metering. You need a meter capable of measuring electricity flowing back to the grid. In Northern Ireland, this typically means having an export meter installed or upgrading to a smart meter. Your installer may arrange this as part of the installation, or you can contact your electricity supplier. There may be a small cost for meter installation if it was not included in your solar package.

Third, choose a SEG supplier and apply. Compare the available tariffs, considering both the rate per kWh and whether it is fixed or variable. Apply through the supplier’s website or by phone. You will need your MCS certificate number, meter details, and proof of installation.

The application is usually processed within a few weeks. Once approved, your export payments will begin from your next meter reading.

Deemed Export vs Actual Export

There are two ways your exported electricity can be measured, and it is important to understand the difference.

Actual export measurement uses a smart meter or export meter to record exactly how much electricity you send to the grid. This is the more accurate method and is increasingly the standard for new SEG sign-ups.

Deemed export is an estimate. When actual metering is not available, some suppliers assume you export a fixed percentage of your total generation, typically 50%. This was common under the old Feed-in Tariff and is still used in some situations. However, most SEG suppliers in NI now require actual export metering.

If you have a battery, actual metering works in your favour because you will be storing more electricity and exporting less. Your payments reflect what you genuinely export. With deemed export, you might be credited for electricity you actually used yourself, which sounds like a bonus, but the rates are often lower to compensate.

Maximising Export Income vs Self-Consumption

Here is the most important consideration for any NI homeowner thinking about export payments. The maths strongly favours self-consumption over export.

If you use a unit of solar electricity yourself, you avoid buying that unit from the grid at 24-28p. If you export that same unit, you receive 4-6p. The difference is stark. Using your own solar electricity is worth four to six times more than exporting it.

This means the smartest strategy is to maximise self-consumption first. Run your washing machine, dishwasher, and tumble dryer during daylight hours when your panels are generating. Charge devices during the day. If you work from home, your natural daytime usage already helps.

Export payments are best thought of as a bonus for the electricity you genuinely cannot use, not as a target to aim for. You should not be avoiding electricity use during the day just to export more.

Export Payments vs Battery Storage

This trade-off leads naturally to the battery storage question. A solar battery stores your surplus generation for use in the evening and overnight, reducing what you export.

On the surface, a battery reduces your export income. But because self-consumed electricity is worth so much more than exported electricity, the battery typically delivers a far greater financial benefit than export payments alone.

Consider a scenario. Without a battery, you might export 2,500 kWh per year and earn £125 at 5p per kWh. With a battery, you might export only 800 kWh (earning £40) but use an extra 1,700 kWh yourself, saving around £450 on grid electricity. The net gain from adding a battery in this example is around £365 per year.

Of course, batteries cost £3,000 to £6,000, so you need to weigh the upfront cost against the annual savings. But from a pure economics perspective, capturing your own electricity beats selling it to the grid at current rates.

Making the Most of Both

The ideal approach for most NI homeowners combines sensible self-consumption habits, a battery if the economics work for your household, and an SEG tariff to earn something from whatever surplus remains.

Sign up for a SEG tariff regardless of whether you have a battery. There is no cost to joining, and it ensures you are paid for any electricity that does make it to the grid. Even with a battery, you will still export during long summer days when generation exceeds both your usage and your battery capacity.

Review your SEG tariff annually. Rates and suppliers change, and switching is straightforward. A percentage point difference on your export rate might only mean £20-30 per year, but it is free money for a few minutes of comparison.

Export payments are one piece of the wider solar savings picture. They will not transform your finances on their own, but combined with high self-consumption and sensible energy habits, they ensure you are getting value from every unit your panels produce.