British Gas is the UK’s largest energy supplier, and because it has far more than 150,000 domestic customers it is a mandatory licensee under the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). That means it is legally required to offer at least one tariff that pays you for the electricity your solar panels export to the grid. The headline question for most people is simple: how much does British Gas pay, and is it worth staying with them for export?
The short answer
What is the British Gas SEG tariff?
The Smart Export Guarantee replaced the old Feed-in Tariff in January 2020. Unlike the Feed-in Tariff, the SEG has no government-set rate: each obligated supplier chooses its own export price. British Gas splits its SEG payment into four named tariffs, and which one you land on is decided by who supplies your electricity and how big your system is, not by anything you choose. The names changed during 2026: Export and Earn Plus was withdrawn in June 2026, and the Export & Earn Flex branding no longer appears on British Gas’s tariff page at all. If you are reading an older guide that quotes those names, the rates alongside them are out of date too.
British Gas measures your export using your smart meter’s export register and credits the payment to your energy account, typically quarterly. You do not receive a separate cheque: the export earnings offset what you owe for imported electricity, and any surplus is carried as credit on the account.
British Gas SEG export rate (2026)
British Gas runs four export products. The names and rates below are British Gas’s own, taken from its tariff page on 25 September 2026. British Gas calls each one a variable tariff whose price can go up or down, so verify against the Ofgem register or the British Gas website before applying.
| British Gas product | Approx. export rate | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Export Premium | 12p/kWh | British Gas electricity customers, systems up to 15kW |
| Export Extra | 8p/kWh | British Gas electricity customers, systems over 15kW |
| Export VoidCare SEG | 6p/kWh | Social landlords on VoidCare, systems up to 15kW |
| Export SEG | 3p/kWh | Developers, non-British Gas electricity customers, and VoidCare customers over 15kW. This is the plug-in solar rate unless British Gas supplies you. |
Rates taken from British Gas’s published tariff page, last checked 25 September 2026. British Gas revises these periodically, so confirm the current figure before switching.
The pattern here is common across the “big six” legacy suppliers: a low baseline rate, with a much better rate reserved for customers who also buy their import electricity from the same supplier. British Gas’s 12p Export Premium matches what Octopus pays, so the gap is not about British Gas being ungenerous. It is about whether you are willing to move your import supply to get it.
Who is eligible for the British Gas SEG tariff?
To register for any SEG tariff, British Gas included, you must meet the scheme’s standard eligibility conditions:
- Your generation technology must be solar PV, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion or micro-CHP, with a total installed capacity of 5MW or less (50kW for micro-CHP). A balcony solar system is comfortably within this limit.
- You must have a meter capable of measuring export every half hour. In practice, a SMETS1 or SMETS2 smart meter operating in smart mode, or a separate export meter.
- Your installation must hold a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate (or the equivalent Flexi-Orb certification) covering both the equipment and the installation.
The MCS barrier affects balcony solar owners
How British Gas SEG compares to other suppliers
The single most important thing to understand about the SEG is that the spread between suppliers is enormous. The best export rate on the market is roughly five times the British Gas baseline. If you generate and export a meaningful surplus, the supplier you choose for export matters far more than any other decision.
| Supplier | Rate open to anyone | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy | 4.1p/kWh (SEG, export-only) | Outgoing Octopus pays 12p and Prime Outgoing 16p at peak, but both require you to be an Octopus import customer |
| E.ON Next | 6p/kWh | Next Flex Export, no import requirement. Next Export Exclusive 13p needs E.ON import; Next Export Premium 17.5p needs E.ON to have installed the system |
| Scottish Power | 6p/kWh | SmartGen, open to anyone. Premium 12p and Premium Plus 15p are gated |
| OVO Energy | 4p/kWh | Standard SEG rate. The 12p and up-to-20p tiers need an OVO supply account |
| British Gas | 3p/kWh | Export SEG. Export Premium pays 12p, but only if British Gas supplies you |
| EDF | 3p/kWh | SEG Export Variable, rising to 5.6p with EDF import; see our EDF SEG guide |
Open rates taken from each supplier’s own tariff pages, all checked 17 August 2026. Rates change often, so always verify before switching.
For a fuller side-by-side of every major UK export rate, see our dedicated SEG export rates comparison for 2026. If you are specifically weighing British Gas against EDF, our EDF SEG tariff guide breaks down EDF's four SEG tariffs in detail. We also cover the market-leading Octopus SEG tariff and the tiered E.ON SEG tariff in dedicated guides.
How to apply for the British Gas export tariff
British Gas sets out the process on its SEG page, and it is the same for every one of its export tariffs. You apply online, get an email confirmation, and wait for the account to be set up, which British Gas says can take up to four weeks. It creates the export MPAN for you. If the online form fails there is a dedicated email address on the page and a phone line.
What it asks for before it will pay you for exported electricity:
- A Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate, a Flexi-Orb certificate or an accreditation certificate for the solar installation.
- Proof of grid connection, the G98 or G99 confirmation from your DNO.
- A smart meter that records export readings every 30 minutes, at an address in England, Scotland or Wales.
- Bank details for the export payment.
Payments go out every three months, within 28 days of British Gas receiving the export reading. If you already receive Feed-in Tariff export payments you cannot take both; you can switch the export element to the SEG, but only once in any 12 months. None of that is peculiar to British Gas. It is the Ofgem SEG framework, applied by an energy supplier that has to offer it because of its size.
Should you switch away from British Gas for export?
You do not have to take your export tariff from the same supplier that provides your import electricity. The SEG explicitly allows you to import from one company and export with another. So if you are a British Gas import customer, you can stay with British Gas for your day-to-day bills and still sign up to Octopus Outgoing purely for export: the two arrangements are independent.
Whether it is worth the effort depends on how much you export. Consider a modest example: a household exporting 200 kWh a year (typical for a small system with high self-consumption). At the British Gas baseline of ~3p that is £6 a year; at Octopus’s ~12p it is £24 a year. The £18 annual difference is real but small. For a larger rooftop system exporting 2,000 kWh a year, the same rate gap is worth £180 a year, clearly worth switching for.
The catch for many switchers
What this means for balcony solar specifically
British Gas is the one big supplier saying it will change this. Its SEG page answers “Can I apply for a SEG tariff with plug-in solar panels?” with “Yes, we’re currently working to make this possible and expect to have some good news soon”, and its plug-in explainer says “We’ll also make our SEG tariff compatible with plug-in solar, so any spare energy can be sold back to the grid.” It has not said when, at what rate, or what paperwork it will ask for. As at 25 September 2026 the paperwork above still applies, so a self-installed kit pays you back through self-consumption, not export payments. British Gas also says it is about to sell its own plug-in kits. We will update this page when either launches.
For how the other suppliers treat plug-in kits, including Octopus’s rule that only kits bought from Octopus qualify for its export tariffs, see our SEG rates comparison.
That makes maximising the share of your generation you use yourself far more valuable than chasing export rates. Our self-consumption guide and smart tariffs guide cover how to get the most from every unit you generate while SEG access for plug-in solar remains pending.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the British Gas SEG export rate in 2026?
British Gas runs four SEG tariffs. Export Premium pays 12p per kWh to British Gas electricity customers with systems up to 15kW, Export Extra pays 8p on systems over 15kW, Export VoidCare SEG pays 6p to social landlords on VoidCare, and Export SEG pays 3p to everyone else, including anyone who buys electricity from another supplier. The older Export & Earn names have been retired. Confirm the current figure on the Ofgem SEG register or the British Gas website before applying.
How do I apply for the British Gas SEG tariff?
Online, through the application form on British Gas’s Smart Export Guarantee page. You need an MCS, Flexi-Orb or accreditation certificate for the installation, the G98 or G99 connection confirmation from your DNO, a smart meter recording half-hourly export readings, an address in England, Scotland or Wales, and your bank details. British Gas confirms by email, creates the export MPAN and says set-up can take up to four weeks. Payments then arrive every three months.
Who pays the best export tariff, British Gas or another supplier?
For a British Gas electricity customer, Export Premium at 12p per kWh sits in the same band as the headline rates from Octopus, E.ON Next and OVO in the comparison table above, all of which also require you to import from them. For anyone else British Gas pays 3p, which is among the lowest SEG rates on the market, and a supplier-neutral tariff such as E.ON Next Flex Export at 6p or Octopus’s open Outgoing rate pays more. The best export rate is the one attached to the cheapest import tariff for your usage, not the biggest number.
Can I get the British Gas SEG tariff for balcony solar?
Generally not. British Gas asks for MCS or Flexi-Orb certification. That isn’t universal across the market, though: Ofgem points to accreditation under EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065 rather than naming MCS, and at least one licensee publishes a documented route without it. What stops a self-installed plug-in kit either way is that every route needs paperwork an electrician signs for work an electrician did. Our guide to SEG without MCS checks each licensee individually. British Gas says it is working to make its SEG tariff available to plug-in solar and expects “good news soon”, but has not given a date.
Do I have to be a British Gas customer to use its SEG tariff?
No, but it costs you four times the rate. Export SEG at 3p is open to households that import their electricity from another supplier. Export Premium at 12p is reserved for British Gas electricity customers with systems up to 15kW, so switching your import supply is what unlocks it. You are free to import from one supplier and export with another under the SEG rules.
Is the British Gas SEG tariff worth it, or should I switch?
If you export a meaningful surplus, you are usually better off on a higher-paying export tariff such as Octopus Outgoing (~12p/kWh) rather than the British Gas baseline (~3p/kWh). For a household exporting 2,000 kWh a year, that rate gap is worth around £180 annually. For a small system exporting only 200 kWh, the difference is around £18 a year, still worth having, but less pressing. Always compare the combined import and export cost, not the export rate alone.
Related reading
SEG Tariffs Compared: Best Smart Export Guarantee Rates (Sep 2026)
Every UK supplier's export rate checked at source: Fuse 13p open to anyone, 6p at E.ON and ScottishPower, what the 12p to 20p rates need, and plug-in solar's position.
Octopus Outgoing 2026: Export Rates, Prime, SEG and Eligibility
Outgoing Octopus pays 12p, Prime Outgoing 16p at peak and the export-only SEG 4.1p to anyone. What happened to Outgoing Fixed, who qualifies, and the plug-in solar rule.
EDF SEG Tariff 2026: Export Rates 3p to 18p, How to Apply
EDF's four SEG export tariffs, checked 23 September 2026: 3.0p for anyone, 5.6p and 13p for EDF customers, 18p for EDF installs. Eligibility, how to apply, how EDF pays.
E.ON SEG Tariff 2026: Export Rates & Eligibility
The E.ON Next Smart Export Guarantee explained: Next Export rates from 6p to 17.5p/kWh, who qualifies, the MCS barrier, and how E.ON compares to Octopus.
Work out what export is worth to you
Estimate your generation and self-consumption first: for balcony solar, that is where the savings come from today.