{"id":6116,"date":"2019-07-08T13:55:13","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T12:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solar-panels.anytrades.co.uk\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2019-07-08T13:55:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T12:55:13","slug":"smart-export-guarantee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.local-quotes.co.uk\/guides\/information\/smart-export-guarantee\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Export Guarantee: Everything you Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Weighing up installing\nsolar panels? Or looking for the best way to benefit from your new PV solar\npanel system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government are\ncurrently confirming details of the Smart Export Guarantee \u2013 a system to help\nyou get financial reward for exporting renewable energy to the national grid.\nThis is on top of the savings you\u2019ll make on your energy bill by generating\nyour own electricity.  It\u2019s due to come\ninto force from 1st<\/sup> January\n2020.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the Smart Export Guarantee?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Smart Export Guarantee\n(SEG) is a system proposed by the government to help UK homeowners benefit\nfinancially from their solar panels. The idea is to provide an incentive for\nsmall-scale solar PV and other renewable electricity generators to export their\nspare electricity to the national grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the scheme, all\nlicenced energy suppliers (those with 150,000+ customers) will have to provide\nat least one Smart Export Guarantee tariff. That means they\u2019ll have to pay renewable\nenergy generators for every kWh of electricity they export to the grid. Smaller\nenergy companies will be able to opt-in to the scheme too, if they want to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the Feed-in Tariff scheme?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the main\nreasons the Smart Export Guarantee has been proposed is to provide a\nreplacement incentive for homeowners to install and use solar panels and other\nrenewable technology. This is instead of the Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs),\nwhich ended on 31st<\/sup> March 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a solar\npanel installation that was registered before\nApril 2019<\/strong>, you\u2019re still eligible to benefit from FITs, as long as you\napply to the scheme before 31st<\/sup>\nMarch 2020<\/strong>. It\u2019s the best way to financially benefit from your solar\npanels, as you get money for generating and exporting electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019ve got a\nsystem that didn\u2019t have its MCS certificate issued by 31st<\/sup> March\n2019, or are thinking about installing solar PV in the future, the SEG is the\nbest way for you to benefit from your panels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I make sure I\u2019m eligible for\nthe Smart Export Guarantee?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Similar to FITs, your\nsolar panel system and the installer you choose must be certified under the\nMicrogeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) or equivalent. When you apply for an\nSEG tariff from your energy supplier, they may ask you to provide an MCS certificate\nto prove that your system is up to standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve also got to\nhave a meter that is capable of reading exports on a half-hourly basis \u2013 even if\nthey\u2019re not required for the tariff. The meter must also be registered for\nsettlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, unlike FITs, you\nwon\u2019t have to prove that your property meets minimum energy efficiency\nstandards. Good news if you couldn\u2019t get a valid EPC certificate before!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much can I make from exporting my\nelectricity with the Smart Export Guarantee?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the moment there\u2019s\nno minimum tariff for the SEG \u2013 only that it\u2019s above zero at all times.\nHowever, it\u2019s hoped that energy companies will end up introducing a range of\ntariffs according to the time of day electricity is exported and how much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, SEG tariffs\nwill probably be quite straightforward with energy companies paying a fixed\nrate per kWh of electricity exported. But they may get more complicated over\ntime, and Ofgem<\/a>\nwill report on all the tariffs available and how many households are on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But can we guess how\nmuch we might be able to earn from solar panels? We can look to the export\ntariff in the final quarter of the Feed-in Tariff, which was 5.38p\/kWh<\/strong>. You can also see what\nsuppliers are already providing \u2013 for example, the energy supplier Octopus\noffers two different export tariffs for renewable energy generators already,\nand pays 5.5p\/kWh<\/strong> on their\nfixed-rate tariff. EON and Bulb also have export tariffs available.<\/p>\n\n\n

What about other grants or financial support?<\/h3>\n

\"solar<\/p>\n

You can combine the SEG with other grants you may have received for installing solar panels. The only exception is if you already get payments from the Feed-in Tariff scheme \u2013 these last for 20 or 25 years from your installation, depending on when you got solar panels.<\/p>\n\n\n

However, you can choose to opt-out of your Feed-in Tariff<\/strong>\nand receive SEG payments instead, so it\u2019s worth keeping an eye on what\nsuppliers start to pay in case it overtakes your FITs payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re eligible for\nother financial support, such as the Home\nEnergy Scotland loan<\/a> offered by the Energy Saving Trust, you can combine\nthe two together. That means you can maximise your savings and the financial impact\nthat your solar panel system could have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if I have a solar battery?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These days, lots of\npeople are getting a battery\nstorage system<\/a> installed alongside their solar panels. Your battery could\nstore electricity imported from the grid, known as brown electricity, then\nexport it later on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy suppliers don\u2019t\nhave to pay you for brown electricity exported from the grid \u2013 but they might\nchoose to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some suppliers may\nonly pay the SEG for the green electricity \u2013 the electricity your solar panels\ngenerate themselves \u2013 and not the brown electricity. They may ask you to show\nhow you separate the green electricity and brown electricity \u2013 so ask your\ninstaller about how to do this before you go ahead with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, although the\nFeed-in Tariff has been discontinued, the Smart Export Guarantee and the\nalready-available export tariffs show that there\u2019s still money to be made from\nsolar PV. Of course, this is on top of the savings you\u2019ll make on your energy\nbills by generating your own electricity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recap of the benefits of solar\npanels<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Even without the SEG,\nsolar panels are still a great way to save money and do your bit for the\nenvironment. Here\u2019s a quick reminder of the advantages of solar panels: <\/p>\n\n\n\n