Metered export, deemed payment and no payment
Ofgem’s Smart Export Guarantee guidance describes payments for eligible exports under participating suppliers’ terms. It is export income after generation, not an upfront installation grant. Confirm certification, meter and application requirements with the supplier before modelling receipts.
Existing FIT owners may receive a legacy deemed-export payment. Do not assume reducing actual exports reduces that payment in the same way, or switch arrangements on the basis of a generic calculation. Check the agreement, metering and changes with the licensee first.
Flat and time-varying offers answer different needs
A flat product applies one stated unit price; it may still be variable over time. A half-hourly product values exports when they occur. A time-banded product depends on which hours receive exports. Annual generation alone cannot produce a reliable dynamic-tariff forecast.
Our tariff register includes selected Octopus structures with their import-pairing and smart-meter conditions, checked 1 November 2026. Rates can change. We avoid treating a single advertised rate as a permanent calculator default or presenting these selected entries as the whole market.
Higher export value can reduce battery benefit
For metered exports, a battery gives up income on every solar kWh diverted, including energy later lost. At 90% delivered efficiency, 30p avoided imports and 30p exports, shifting 1,000 kWh produces GBP 270 avoided imports but gives up GBP 300 exports. The additional result is negative before maintenance.
Use your own rate in the battery comparison. The solar-only baseline remains visible, and no grid-trading bonus is added. For deemed or unknown payment, the tool asks for the missing agreement details instead of issuing a financial verdict.
Compare the whole annual bill
Record import unit prices, standing charges, export structure, required products, exit conditions and any installation tie. Do not move to an expensive import tariff simply because the export number looks attractive. Read the Octopus-specific conditions and verify the current official offer before applying.
Our internal review interval for fast-moving tariffs is 30 days. A source checked once is not labelled current indefinitely. The source notes below preserve the check date and limited scope.
Sources and review dates
Research-based guidance. Source checks do not imply product testing or verification of an individual installer.
- Ofgem: Smart Export Guarantee. Eligibility and supplier-set export terms; export payments are not installation grants. Scope: Great Britain. Checked .
- Ofgem: FIT generators. Existing FIT arrangements require agreement-specific checks before storage or export changes. Scope: Great Britain. Checked .
- Octopus Energy: Outgoing Octopus. Flat and time-varying export pricing, import pairing and smart-meter conditions. Scope: Great Britain. Checked .
Registry sources-2026-11-01. Tariffs have a 30-day internal review interval. Methodology and assumptions.